This is a story of affluent teenagers and the struggles they go through. It is about the challenges of coming of age. .

This one just didn't work for me. I didn't find myself connecting with the story.

Thank you for the chance to read it early.

This title also ended up surprising me. I mean, virtually NONE of the relationships turned out the way I thought they would and that was SO cool! In addition, who knew it would be a treatise on suicide prevention??? So cool and so necessary without being an IN-your-face kind of thing. I applaud the author for creating this book at this time in history.

I really enjoyed how this book was told through multiple perspectives. It was a little depressing subject matter with multiple suicidal teens and especially that much worse when you hear it is based on a true story.

One of my favorite author's first attempt at YA. It deals with teen suicide so it's not her usual comedic writing. Her memoirs are still my favorite but this was solid AND important.

I think all school counselors need to read this book. Maybe not because they have already lived it. Perfect lives, perfect grades, high ambitions (another MIT bound kid who is putting all his mother's hopes and dreams into getting into this school). With a slew of kids who are committing suicide, there are other students who are seeing that they need to do something about it. Mallory, who is the cheerleader extraordinaire, Simone who is the artistic Londoner transplant questioning the bizarre strains on students, Nate who is the soccer champion just trying to make everyone happy, Stephen, Braedon, Owen, etc. All kids we get to know and feel like we are in the trenches with them. Parents who try their best, but missing the mark by a lot. There are so many emotions in the book. Well written, pretty accurate, and definitely a good one for student empowerment to help each other in crises.

THE GATEKEEPERS by Jen Lancaster was definitely of interest due to its setting – fictional North Shore, Illinois. And the story’s subject is all too real – teen anxiety, depression and suicide. Unfortunately, the book is really slow and long (roughly 450 pages). Plus, it is told from too many characters’ perspectives and will therefore be difficult to keep students interested. It honestly feels like the author is trying too hard to express the kids’ angst about absent parents, peer pressure and college acceptance. Of course, that all exists and often poses difficult challenges, but this re-telling did not feel sincere. Three stars is probably generous; turn instead to the well-written and memorable All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

It was slow getting into the book and it took me a while to become fully hooked and invested. However, by the end of it I was 100% enmeshed in the story and eager to figure out where things were going. I was constantly surprised by which characters grabbed my heart and wound up being my favorites, and I think the subject matter (a rash of suicides among an elite North Shore, Illinois community) is extremely important. It's a hard read, because it deals with such an intense subject, but it's so, so important.

Wow. If you have never quite understood the pain caused by depression, The Gatekeepers is a great start down the path of empathy and understanding. There is one particular character (who I will not name because, you know, spoilers) that I will never get out of my head. This character was so real to me. I gave this four stars because it wrapped up a little too pretty and neat for my taste, but the power and vividness of the characters and their struggle overpower the happily-ever-after ending. This book is for a YA audience, but I also recommend it to parents and teachers of that age group. Especially to the parents.

I went through a huge Jen Lancaster phase about a decade ago. I enjoyed her memoirs and became a fan of her voice. When I read her fiction debut I was confused about why her husband's name was different. I had thought it was another memoir. That's when I realized that she is a one-trick-pony voicewise. I was not surprised to hear her voice again in her YA debut, but it did make me wonder if younger readers will enjoy it as much as us 40-year-olds who are used to it will.

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances and life happening, I was unable to download and read The Gatekeepers before it was archived. Truly 100% my fault. My apologies. This will not happen again. I'll be checking out from a fellow library to give fair review and contemplate ordering. Thank you.

North Shore High School is a real pressure cooker. The students aren't all from affluent families, but most of them are. The students aren't all overachievers, but most of them are. North Shore High School has a shameful secret, though. The students are killing themselves. The most recent victim was one of the most popular guys on campus and everybody is shocked. But even in their shock, everything goes back to normal. One thing is for sure, though. Suicide is going to keep plaguing North Shore High School. Will the next victim be Mallory the tightly wound perfectionist with a narcissistic mother? Or the first generation Korean who feels the weight of his family's honor on his shoulders? Or the transfer student from England who had to leave everything behind? Or the pot-smoking kid who saw Braden step in front of the train? Or will the students of North Shore High School band together to keep another one of their classmates from thinking that there is no hope?

Teen suicide is a scary subject to talk about, let alone write about. And reading about it - when you have teens? Well, it is terrifying, to be honest. The pressure that teens feel today is not anything that I can comprehend. I think the author did a great job of exposing those pressures. The Gatekeepers has a real "John Hughes" feel to it, which is not surprising given the author, Jen Lancaster, does not keep her adoration a secret. The characters in the book are all good kids - a product of their environment, both at home and at school. There was a traumatic point in the book where I had to stop reading and set the book aside. It wasn't graphic, but it was tough to read. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. I liked how the author took the traumatic events and created something positive with the group The Gatekeepers, a group of students who mean to look out for their friends, act as "Gatekeepers" between them and suicidal thoughts.

Bottom Line - Jen Lancaster is known for her wit and humor, but you could not tell the topic was out of her comfort zone. In The Gatekeepers, she tackled the tough topic with dignity, respect and a little bit of her trademark wit. The Gatekeepers is the kind of book you should read with your teen and open that dialogue.

Details:
The Gatekeepers by Jen Lancaster
On Instagram
Pages: 464
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: 10/10/2017
Buy it Here!

I love Jen Lancaster, especially her memoirs, because they are laugh-out-loud hilarious. I enjoyed her novel, too, so I was really intrigued to see what she would do with a YA book.

The Gatekeepers deals with the pretty heavy subject of teen suicide, and it's set in a wealthy suburb of Chicago. Jen Lancaster seems to stick with what (or where) she knows, which lends some authenticity to the story. The setting rings true, even if she isn't a teen herself or even a parent (as she herself shares in the acknowledgements). We are introduced pretty quickly to a John-Hughes-like cast of characters, but with a smidge of diversity thrown in. There's some danger of sticking to stereotypes here, with the popular football player, the beautiful blond queen bee, the Korean American genius, etc. etc., but there is some actual character development. You actually do get to see that everyone has their struggles and issues that they're dealing with over the course of the novel.

Seeing how these highly pressured students respond to a surprising suicide in their school community is relatable. I did feel that sometimes things were glossed over a bit, or problems solved a bit too quickly given the circumstances, but the book is already over 450 pages, so I doubt more story would have been truly helpful. Overall, I enjoyed the reminder that life is valuable, no matter what. Even though there were many characters, I found myself connecting with them and worrying about their wellbeing.

This would be a good read for students, their parents, and teachers alike. The drug use and drinking may throw some off, but the kids end up making mostly good choices in the end.

Jen Lancaster taps into a very hot topic and one that is personal to her given that similar events happened in her hometown, but this overall work didn't work for me. Lancaster's strong suits (self deprecation, quips, John Hughes and 80s references) can't really find a home here in contemporary teenage characters. And there are many, many characters that each have a piece of the story to tell. The multiple narratives make the story hard to follow since it's easy to mix people up, plus it causes the timeline to jump around more than usual. On the plus side, she paints a great picture of how easy it is for teens to feel like life is too much to handle anymore or that no one would care if they were gone.

(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

The Gatekeepers tells the story of a high-pressure school in a Chicago suburb, and the teen suicide epidemic there. It is told through multiple viewpoints.

This book was not for me, and I ended up not finishing it at 60%. I think the author wanted to achieve a Breakfast Club feel around a very tough, necessary discussion point, but the teens were not relatable enough for me. My biggest hangup was how /preachy/ and /self-aware/ literally every single narrator would get... it would make sense to have one teen who had a firm grasp on the pressure network, but the fact that all of them seemed to understand it made one wonder why the system of parental control hadn't collapsed yet.

<i>With our folks, it's like their self-worth has become inexorably linked to ours. If we aren't out there winning, if we aren't out there overachieving, if we aren't representative of the very highest standards of success, then there's hell to pay. Like they're somehow flawed if we don't get in early decision at Princeton, if we don't crush our ACTs, if we don't win a state title.

Kent believes a lot of the NSHS suicides are the result of students having too much academic pressure, and that makes me want to weep. There's something profoundly wrong when kids feel like they have no other alternative when they don't reach their goals.</i>

Basically, every narrator seems to also use the Voice of the Author, and it wore me down fast. It's always hard to dislike a book when you know the topic is important AND when you know that it's important to the author.

If you're familiar with Jen Lancaster's previous books for adults and teens, you may want to adjust your expectations for The Gatekeepers. While the author has made her name with her humorous memoirs, in The Gatekeepers, Lancaster tackles the difficult topic of teen suicide. At North Shore High School, the students are constantly competing for the highest grades, the most impressive extracurriculars, and admission to the best colleges. The expectations are high, and the risks are real as this wealthy community has also seen many more than their share of students taking their own lives. This book reinforces the impacts of these expectations on teens, and the importance of awareness and vigilance from their friends, family, and community. The teens in this book are struggling with a wide variety of issues in addition to trying to figure out how to save each other. It's definitely a tough read in spots, and may be too difficult for those who are too close to the topic. However, I was overall impressed with what Lancaster has accomplished in this book and the sense of hope that persisted through the ending.

The Gatekeepers is set in a wealthy suburb of Chicago. The families in the story are very aware of "keeping up with the Joneses" and making sure the children in the family are the best and brightest in their endeavors, no matter the cost to the children's mental health. The Gatekeepers is the name of a group developed after several teen suicides in the community, due to the pressures of high school, high parental expectations, not being able to follow a path in which the parents do not participate. The subject matter is solemn but Jen Lancaster manages to infuse her writing with her standard wit. Some of the expressions the teens use don't seem to keep up with the things I hear teens saying in 2017. Some of the focus is on 1980's movies that were popular, such as Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. While those movies are considered classic teen movies, I'm not sure many teens today can relate to them. They seem more relatable to the generation of the author (of which I am). This book does stand out, though, because Ms. Lancaster does seem able to relate to the problems that teens have from generation to generation - peer pressure, academic pressure, parental pressure, etc. I would recommend this book for ages twelve to sixteen and any fan of Jen Lancaster.

Stephen, Owen, Kent, Mallory, and Simone all live in an upper class suburb of Chicago. This town thrives on the concept of "keeping up with the Jones's," which has resulted in a history of suicide clusters. The summer before this school year, a new suicide cluster has begun. The characters are reeling from the loss of their classmates and working to ways to keep more from dying.

I had a hard time with believing the voices within this book. Many of the perspectives did not feel like teenagers, with outdated pop culture references and teenager boys saying things that were completely unrealistic. In fact, many of the male characters felt very similar to the queen bee female character. I felt that the motivations behind certain character's motivations needed to be better developed. For example, how can Mallory be a complete jerk, but also be a great peer counselor, it didn't seem to fit. I also felt that there was not a balanced portrayal of suicide, it was more dark comedy mixed with statistics. This book wasn't for me, but might work for Lancaster's typical adult readers.

For a more in-depth review watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXoze0pT8F8&feature=youtu.be

The residences of town of North Shore, IL strive for perfection especially with their children. However, the pressure to succeed is too much for the teens of North Shore and the town develops suicide clusters. Can a group of teens join together to help their peers overcome the pressures.

I really wanted to like this book but I just didn't. It just felt way too long with too many characters and the plot dragged through most of it. Many of the multiple narrators had the exact same voice that with the dated references make the story feel disingenuous. The whole book ended up having the feel of a YA book that was actually written for adults.

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very well written book about an extremely timely topic. Taking place a very competitive North Shore, Illinois high school, this is the story of how the pressures on teens today can impact their mental well being. As a high school English teacher, and the mother of an 8th grader, I found this to be a very compelling read. Told in alternating view points, the reader gets to know Simone , Mallory, Stephen, Kent and Owen. Through their alternating voices, the reader gets to know these characters and how the pressures of their daily lives are impacting them. When a student dies as a result of a suicide, after two previous suicides earlier in the year, the death hit all of the students the story is focused on in different ways.

There is a lot going on in this book but at the core is the idea that we need to be aware of those around us. There need to be "gatekeepers" who are asking those questions to those they see starting to struggle. It also brings to light that even the kids who seemingly have it all together on the outside could be struggling on the inside and the awareness must be there. I really like this story and I felt that the message was presented well. Though there are many different view points, it was not confusing to the reader but helped to make the story stronger and well rounded. I definitely will be recommending that our librarian order a copy because this is a book kids need to read.