SST Review + Giveaway: Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow


Title: Girl in Pieces
Author: Kathleen Glasgow
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Mental Health
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Pages: Kindle, 416
My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The thick glass of a mason jar cuts deep, and the pain washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.


  I was given an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in 
exchange for an honest review as part of the Sunday Street Team. 

When I first read the blurb for Girl in Pieces, it was either in early January or not even 2016 yet, but I already felt like I needed to read the book. So just imagine my surprise and happiness when I got approved for this book! I was really excited and began to read immediately.

However, to be honest, I didn't really like it at first. Yes, I was excited to be reading a book about cutting but it felt awkward at first because the writing style is very much unique. I also felt like the way the other characters (Blue, Luisa, Ariel, etc.) was weird and unnatural. I don't know why it felt that way, but it felt like that at the start. As I read on though, the way they talked either became better and more natural, or I just got used to it.

"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 pieces should go there, and that one there."

What I really love about this book is how the author truly understands cutting. Kathleen Glasgow understands the struggle of trying to fight something that's always on your mind, and how your worst enemy is yourself. Throughout Girl in Pieces, Glasgow showed the characters' relapses, despite wanting to get better. This is a dark, dark book, and I felt like it really took me into the mind of a cutter. A cutter who is not looking for attention, but one who is only trying to help herself in the only way she knows how.

This book is heavy in both the topic and the emotion. It talks about living on the streets, mental facilities, cutting, sexual abuse, alcoholism - all the things that we prefer not to mention in our everyday conversations when these are precisely the things that we should be talking about. I truly admire Kathleen Glasgow so much for bringing all these into attention, and for making people not only aware but feel that these things truly exist.

"I cut because I can't deal. It's simple as that. The world becomes an ocean, the ocean washes over me, the sound of water is deafening, the water drowns my heart, my panic becomes as large as the planets. I need release, I need to hurt myself more than the world can hurt me, and then I can comfort myself."

This book also brought about heavy emotions for me. The characters experienced a lot of complicated things in their past. They suffered through so much and they're all broken in different places. No matter how hard they tried, they tended to go back to their all tendencies and habits. They experienced things going the complete opposite way of how they wanted things to me. They had to help themselves because otherwise, no one would. They had to go through a lot of shitty and crazy and traumatic things because the universe just wasn't listening to them. These are all struggles of everyone, but theirs were in a much larger scale. Everything just felt so real to me while reading the book that I couldn't finish it in one go.

When I got to the end of the book, I felt like wanting to cry and hug Charlie and the author at the same time. Then I got to the author's note and I wanted to hug Kathleen Glasgow even more. Kathleen, you obviously won't be reading this, but I admire you so much for being brave enough to share your story to the world; for being able to show the world your strength and weakness. Thank you for creating the words for those who, like Charlie, couldn't voice their struggles out. Thank you for bringing cutting into the attention of everyone. Thank you for writing so beautifully, and for touching my heart. As early as now, I can say that this will be one of the closest books to my heart. Thank you.

"My own body is my deepest enemy. It wants, it wants, and when it does not get, it cries and cries and I punish it. How can you live in fear of your very self?"

I highly encourage everyone to read this book. It's a wonderful novel that everyone truly needs to read. It's unique and heart-wrenching, but you will come out of it better and more understanding. Truly, Kathleen Glasgow is an author to look forward to!

4.5 you-have-my-heart stars



If you or someone you know is struggling and 
needs help, please consider contacting:
Crisis Text Line: Text START to 741-741
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
To Write Love on Her Arms: https://twloha.com/find-help/local-resources/
National Runaway Hotline: 1-800-621-4000  


About the Author:

Kathleen Glasgow lives in Tucson, Arizona. She writes for the radio show The Writer's Almanac and can probably provide you with some interesting anecdotes about historical literary figures if you asked nicely. You can find out more about Kathleen by following her on Twitter: @kathglasgow, Instagram, @misskathleenglasgow (where she posts about sunsets, depression, spirit circles, and books) or her website: kathleenglasgowbooks.com.




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