Girl In Pieces By Kathleen Glasgow

this book was so real. it was so emotionally investing and it was so realistic. my hurt heart for charlie because she reminds me of someone i know. the process she has to go through and how she has to learn more about herself and her triggers was such a painful process to read and to watch her go through but it also was such a worth it read. i think this author knows how to write about grief so well and how different people have different types of coping skills and this book is another example of that!

This book is dark. My 13 year old granddaughter thought she wanted to read it but something about the cover gave me the willies so I thought I would read it first. I’m glad I did. It’s about an older teenage girl who is into self harm. She’s in a group home or hospital with others of a similar mindset and the reader gets to meet all of them. I recommended to my granddaughter and to her parents that she not read this book. At least not until she’s much older. It goes into detail about how these girls hurt themselves and that’s not really something for a young teen to be thinking about. They have enough on their plates. It is good for parents to be aware of though so I would recommend it for parents with teens.

Its a great book I don’t not want to spoil but if you are looking for a book thats showcases adversity this book will be a great read for you.

As somebody who has struggled with loss, mental health, and self-hard a lot on the past, this book hit really close to home in the best way.

The story is definitely not light, or recommended for younger audiences, but for people like 17+ it deals with a really important topic.

Throughout the book my heart just aches for her, and every time she made another horrible choice my mind would immediately just go “Oh, baby…no.”

I teared up a lot as she spoke about her past and the way she felt in depth, and it really hurt to think about how these are the same thoughts that run through the minds of so many teenagers irl.

There were times that I laughed, and smiled, and that she acted like any other teenager who had never had a dark thought in her life, but it’s mostly a very dark story that is full of heartbreaking emotions that we get to feel alongside our main character.

We first meet Charlotte “Charlie” Davis as an uncommunicative and angry seventeen-year-old during a stay at a mental health facility after she has a self-destructive breakdown. When her medical insurance runs out, Charlie is discharged into the care of her estranged mother. When that arrangement immediately falls through, Charlie is put on a bus from Minnesota to Arizona where a friend is waiting for her. From there, Charlie struggles to put her life back together.

I finished this book yesterday and I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it. There’s absolutely no denying that this is a gritty, dismal and depressing book. Yet, that does not make this a bad book by any means.

The rational, analytical side of me wanted to pick apart some of the events that occur in this book. Yes, patients are cut loose from medical facilities all the time because of an inability to pay. But would any reputable facility not try to provide some sort of follow-up care for a minor child? That, to me, was a definite recipe for disaster right there. Knowing how disastrous mental health care is in this country, I was quickly willing to let this go, however.

Moving on to the characters – I flip-flopped when it came to Charlie. I connected with her and felt for her, but then I didn’t. Clearly, we’re dealing with a teenager who has not been guided in any way or given any sort of coping skills. Hence, the immediate need to get into a relationship. Most addicts understand that embarking on a relationship early on in recovery is almost certain doom. Yet, Charlie does this repeatedly. It was difficult for me to feel any empathy for her. She was a mess of a girl, who allowed practically everyone to walk all over her. And, her constant jealousy became tedious after a while. But as a former seventeen-year-old girl myself, I was willing to look past this. After all, her lack of coping and people skills were what caused her to self-harm in the first place.

I intensely disliked Riley’s character. A grown man in his late twenties, who was clearly a broken person, hell bent on breaking everyone around him – and this included a seventeen-year-old girl – isn’t exactly likable. To me he was despicable. I didn’t give a darn about what happened to him. There were a few likable supporting characters scattered throughout.

At times, I felt the dialogue could have been stronger and more powerful, but it just wasn’t there for me. The writing is good, not fantastic, but darn good. So definite points for that.

As mentioned in the book’s description and in other reviews, this book reminded me a lot of Girl Interrupted – which I thoroughly enjoyed. Strangely enough, it also reminded me of White Oleander. I felt both of these books were stronger and more compelling than Girl in Pieces.

I would like to say that the subject matter in this book can most certainly be triggers for anyone who suffers from addiction, self-mutilation and depression – so know this going in and be prepared. It’s not an uplifting, happy book. The ending was tidy and I found it unexpectedly hopeful. It took guts for the author to write about a subject that was so close to her. Kudos to her for that. Thanks to Blogging for Books and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book.

As someone who has self harmed and felt lonely this book just brought so much awareness and changes in my life which in a positive way has helped me with my journey to soberity, I love how the author shows this in a way and shows us the way it can affect and effect.