Book review- Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

“Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.”

This recent read is mostly sad, full of struggle and little dark for me. The book is filled with hardship and somewhat gloom for my personal taste. It portrays a world that feels distant from my own experiences. Nevertheless, it serves as a stark reminder that the difficult circumstances depicted are the reality for some individuals in this world.

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Davis is shattered, having experienced more loss than most face in a lifetime. She copes by self-harm, the physical pain offering a temporary escape from the memories of her father's death by the river, the loss of her best friend, and her emotionally depleted mother. Each new scar hardens Charlie, yet the pain persists, eventually leading to a point of numbness. This apathy, the novel suggests, is sometimes a necessary stage before one can begin to heal. The story portrays a cast of characters each grappling with their own struggles.

This book is about healing, accepting, moving on, and realizing what we love and who.

While "Girl in Pieces" wasn't really my cup of tea because of how dark it was. Yet, I appreciate Kathleen Glasgow for being so bold about tackling self-harm, which is a really tough subject. The book doesn't hold back at all in showing what the main character goes through, and reader definitely feel her pain and the messiness of her self-destructive behavior. I was really relieved by how it ended. It actually gave some hope, which I think is super important so the whole thing isn't just depressing. It wraps this review with kudos to writer for talking about something so sensitive.

“Because when everything is said and done... the world runs on kindness. It simply has to, or we'd never be a able to bear ourselves. It might not seem so to you now, but it will when you're older."