Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow Review

Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Release Date: August 30, 2016

Pages: 416

Summary: 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 broken glass 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.

My Rating:★★★★☆ 

My Thoughts:4/4.5!! Still deciding on a rating!

A raw & powerful read about a girl who undergoes a journey to put herself back together.

Charlotte “Charlie” Davis has been through a lot. She’s lost her father, her best friend and suffered from a difficult home life with her mother.

She finds that the only way she can be free of her pain is to self-harm.

Glasgow delivers a raw and powerful debut novel that taught me more about what people who self-harm go through and the struggles/obstacles they can face mentally, etc. when trying to recover.

She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects/topics and in turn, it really evokes emotion and delivers such a realistic story.

The story starts off with Charlie in a psychiatric clinic where she, along with other women, are being treated due to self-harm. After spending quite some time there, she is able to leave and hopes to heal and begin a new chapter in her life.

This novel shows Charlie’s road to recovery and the obstacles she must face to get there.

The novel is told in a unique first person POV. I will admit the writing took me a while to get used to. It took around 50+ pages or so to get into the writing style and really immerse myself into the story and there were small moments here and there where I felt the plot could have moved a little faster. (Hence the 4/4.5).

Regardless the writing style flows well with the story being told and as the the novel progressed I found myself rereading sentences/passages b/c they beautifully written & evoked such emotion!

There were moments where I felt the topics were too much for me to read personally and had to take breaks while reading the book. But overall it showed me just how powerful Glasgow’s writing was!

The characters themselves are all very well written and have such depth that I could really see these characters through Charlie’s eyes.

The relationship Charlie develops with Riley one of the main characters was done well. I will admit over the course of the story I struggled to connect with Riley’s character and found moments when they faced issues/struggles in their relationship was difficult to read at times.

This novel was Charlie’s journey to find herself and create a new and better life. While I don’t usually read novels with subjects such as this one, I found many underlying messages that people could relate to who not only self-harm, but also may feel alone or unsure of who they are in the world.

2 important message I found throughout this novel were: You are not alone and can always find people who understand & help you. + No matter what difficulties/obstacles you face you can find the strength to keep moving forward.

I also found elements of feminism which was very inspiring! There are moments when Charlie struggles to find her voice + feels powerless but finds a way to speak her mind!

Overall this was a powerful read that deals with a number of tough topics and handles them in a realistic way. It also provides deep and moving messages about hope and putting yourself back together when all seems lost.

Have you read Girl In Pieces or are planning to?

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