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lostingothicmusic's review against another edition
2.0
Not to put too finer point on it, this novel barely scratches the surface of the complexities of this behaviour. It's also a little cliched. I thought that Skin Game (a memoir on self harm) and Red Tears (YA fiction) were better. However that's not so say that there isn't anything good about the book. The teenagers were realistically portrayed and the plot was well paced. I felt the story would have benefited from further character building and bringing the story further along the protagonist's path. I did like the inconclusive ending though. That was truest thing of all.
stephenking's review against another edition
2.0
nice and quick but read like a middle grade book which was weird because of the topic of the book. I felt no emotion from this book at all
molly888's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mickysbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Not my usual kind of book however I did enjoy it.
Gabi is a strong and unhappy girl. I feel every women and girl can identify with her during parts of this book.
I remember being 15 and feeling like no one understood me. So dealing with everything she has going on as well must have been horrific.
It’s good that authors are now taking these taboo subjects such as self harm and discussing them. Hopefully this will help people that need support to reach out and take it.
Gabi is a strong and unhappy girl. I feel every women and girl can identify with her during parts of this book.
I remember being 15 and feeling like no one understood me. So dealing with everything she has going on as well must have been horrific.
It’s good that authors are now taking these taboo subjects such as self harm and discussing them. Hopefully this will help people that need support to reach out and take it.
teeannon's review against another edition
2.0
This book was meh. Like I almost didn’t finish it and the only thing that made me do so was the fact i had like 50 pages left. Gabi (mc) was just so unbelievably unlikable that it made it hard for me to root for her in the way me were meant to. Two stars because despite how much I didn’t like this book i think the author payed lost of attention to the (TRIGGER WARNING) self harm and grief of the main character and these scenes were particularly well done which is probably a hard thing to write. But seriously, this book was so depressing and could be really triggering for many people so I’m not sure I recommend it.
leilalee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
missusb21's review against another edition
3.0
Harrowing, yet I felt distanced from the main character.
lucychanning's review against another edition
3.0
Trigger Warnings: Self-harm (There is mentions of self-harm in this review so if that’s something that triggers you or makes you feel uncomfortable, please just be aware) , Alcoholism
This book was a disappointing read for me. That doesn’t, however, make it a bad read, but rather I was just hoping for something a little more.
The main plotline of this book is about Gabi, who starts self-harming after the death of her grandad. This book is a little graphic in terms of the description. It could of been worse in terms of graphic detail, but I just still feel that the description was enough to be triggering as well as the topic in general. It obviously talks about ways of self-harming so all of this is just something to be aware of going into it.
I really liked how Ainsworth showed the descent into self-harm rather than Gabi one day just picking up a blade. While I’m not suggesting someone picking up a blade isn’t possible or anything, I just personally liked how it started off ‘small’ and built up to cutting. But if there’s one thing to remember as I’m saying this, self-harm is self-harm, if you purposely hurt yourself in anyway, that is self-harm. Self-harm isn’t always just cutting and burning which is what I like about this book. It does show that.
However, I did feel like there was something off about the self-harming storyline which I later figured was probably due to the end. The ending was hopeful, I did quite like the end in some senses, but I just felt like it made self-harm easy to recover from when that’s far from the truth. It’s difficult to judge because it didn’t say that this was the complete end to Gabi’s self-harming but personally, I would have preferred an end that portrayed the ups and downs. So for this reason, I felt like some areas of the book could have done with being slightly longer.
But that being said, the storyline about how her grandfather died felt well concluded even though there was a part where Gabi didn’t feel ready to announce what happened to her family but I felt like this did give the possibility that this would happen at some point and that her saying it would just take time.
Another interesting thing I feel that was brought up in this book was the idea of self-harm being attention seeking, with one side character in particular. Unfortunately, this didn’t feel wrapped up enough to make me satisfied and it felt like this side character was very much brushed off. While this wasn’t the side character’s story, it would have been interesting to get her perspective of things in some way or another (as in Gabi perhaps talking to her).
I was never really sure how I felt about the characters. I found them okay, but they weren’t my favourite characters of all time. What I did enjoy was Gabi’s relationship with her family. There was a lot of tension between Gabi and her mother and she got on with her father better. While I know there will be teenagers and children out there that don’t get on with either of their parents, it was nice to see her parents were actually featured even if she didn’t get along with one as well. Because we all know there’s nothing worse than absent parents in a YA book. Her parents were busy with their lives, but like I said, they were still there. There’s point in the book where they acknowledge they haven’t been there for Gabi that much which I really appreciate being mentioned.
Would I recommend?
If you’re easily triggered by the topics mentioned above, then definitely not, but if you’re looking for a book that helps you understand self-harm a bit better, then perhaps, yes, but just be aware of the ending like I said. I haven’t really got a go to book yet that deal with self-harm but there were aspects of this book I really liked.
This book was a disappointing read for me. That doesn’t, however, make it a bad read, but rather I was just hoping for something a little more.
The main plotline of this book is about Gabi, who starts self-harming after the death of her grandad. This book is a little graphic in terms of the description. It could of been worse in terms of graphic detail, but I just still feel that the description was enough to be triggering as well as the topic in general. It obviously talks about ways of self-harming so all of this is just something to be aware of going into it.
I really liked how Ainsworth showed the descent into self-harm rather than Gabi one day just picking up a blade. While I’m not suggesting someone picking up a blade isn’t possible or anything, I just personally liked how it started off ‘small’ and built up to cutting. But if there’s one thing to remember as I’m saying this, self-harm is self-harm, if you purposely hurt yourself in anyway, that is self-harm. Self-harm isn’t always just cutting and burning which is what I like about this book. It does show that.
However, I did feel like there was something off about the self-harming storyline which I later figured was probably due to the end. The ending was hopeful, I did quite like the end in some senses, but I just felt like it made self-harm easy to recover from when that’s far from the truth. It’s difficult to judge because it didn’t say that this was the complete end to Gabi’s self-harming but personally, I would have preferred an end that portrayed the ups and downs. So for this reason, I felt like some areas of the book could have done with being slightly longer.
But that being said, the storyline about how her grandfather died felt well concluded even though there was a part where Gabi didn’t feel ready to announce what happened to her family but I felt like this did give the possibility that this would happen at some point and that her saying it would just take time.
Another interesting thing I feel that was brought up in this book was the idea of self-harm being attention seeking, with one side character in particular. Unfortunately, this didn’t feel wrapped up enough to make me satisfied and it felt like this side character was very much brushed off. While this wasn’t the side character’s story, it would have been interesting to get her perspective of things in some way or another (as in Gabi perhaps talking to her).
I was never really sure how I felt about the characters. I found them okay, but they weren’t my favourite characters of all time. What I did enjoy was Gabi’s relationship with her family. There was a lot of tension between Gabi and her mother and she got on with her father better. While I know there will be teenagers and children out there that don’t get on with either of their parents, it was nice to see her parents were actually featured even if she didn’t get along with one as well. Because we all know there’s nothing worse than absent parents in a YA book. Her parents were busy with their lives, but like I said, they were still there. There’s point in the book where they acknowledge they haven’t been there for Gabi that much which I really appreciate being mentioned.
Would I recommend?
If you’re easily triggered by the topics mentioned above, then definitely not, but if you’re looking for a book that helps you understand self-harm a bit better, then perhaps, yes, but just be aware of the ending like I said. I haven’t really got a go to book yet that deal with self-harm but there were aspects of this book I really liked.
sofiasaghir's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a good read. It’s been on my TBR for 2 years and I don’t know why I put it off because I loved both of her previous two YA novels, 7 Days and Crush. It was a hard hitting, intense, fast paced contemporary YA novel about self harm that was just so good. Her books are so incredibly short yet they pack a punch. If you haven’t read any of her books, I highly recommend picking them up.
leahmichelle_13's review against another edition
2.0
Damage by Eve Ainsworth has had quite a bit of buzz on social media and, before we go any further, let me tell you that if you’re triggered by self-harm, this is probably not the book for you. (And before anyone screams SPOILERS!!!! at me, self-harm is mentioned on the back of the book.) Damage is an incredibly quick read, I devoured it in just over an hour and while it was an interesting look at self-harm, I also feel like it could have been so much more.
First up: Gabi is incredibly disrespectful to her family. Now, before anyone says “All teens are disrespectful” that’s not true. While I understand a lot of teens are, I was brought up not to be, and I don’t know why parents in YA novels just accept their kids screaming at them, calling them a “stuck up, skinny bitch” or throwing a box at their face. If I did even one of those things, my mother would kill me, literally, and rightfully so because I was brought up not to act that way to my parents. To have respect. To know that if I DID do something like that (which would be so out of character for me) I would be punished. Yet, Gabi gets away with it. ALL three of those things. I mean, what? Have we really come to a point where kids can just do whatever they like without action or consequences? Where parents are too weak to actually parent?
I also would have liked more pages in this book, to accurately portray self-harm. I’m not saying it was inaccurately portrayed (I don’t know enough about self-harm to say that for sure) it felt rushed. The book is only 280 pages long with wide spaces around the edges of each page, so I would have liked a more in-depth look at a) why Gabi was self-harming, yes there’s a traumatic incident referred to, but what was it about that traumatic incident that made her feel like she had evil inside her? I didn’t get that part and b) the after-effects once family members and friends get involved and knew what Gabi was doing. It kind of felt like, “Well, you’re doing this thing *Shrugs*” almost like it wasn’t really happening. Gabi’s mum learns of her self-harm and doesn’t somehow drag her kicking and screaming to a doctor? Or a counsellor? Or removes all blades from the house? Again, I don’t know, maybe parents don’t do that. But it all felt a bit shallow, even more so since Gabi freely admits that, when a girl in their group self-harmed, she thought it was for attention, etc, until that girl was phased out (which kinda seemed like bullying?!). It just didn’t feel right.
I wanted to really like Damage. I wanted it to be hard-hitting and impactful, to give me a good look at self-harm and what makes someone do that, but instead I found Gabi wanting. I wanted to like her so hard, but she was just an awful person. She acts like her Granddad was this saviour, this hero, that her mother was clearly hating on her father for no reason, when Gabi knew nothing, as her mother told her. She basically tried to belittle her mother’s pain, her mother’s past. All because her granddad took her to the beach or let her practice her skate-boarding. Gabi goes on and on about how she’s the outsider, how no one listens to her, and then turns around and doesn’t listen to anybody, including her mother. She was a bit of a hypocrite and while I have no doubt she was hurting over everything that had happened, and I did feel for her, I also felt like she needed to look at her own actions, because everything she accused her mother of doing, she did herself to her mother.
The worst bit for me, the absolute worst bit, was how Gabi lets herself be treated by Alfie. I've said my pieces on Gabi, how I feel she was disrespectful and treated her parents poorly, but she also lets herself be treated poorly. Alfie and Gabi skate together, they're friends and there's a hint of something more, and towards the end of the book there's a party and at the party there's an incident and Alfie blows up at Gabi. He says some mean, hurtful things; things that are not acceptable, and yet Gabi doesn't actually tell him to sling his hook.
I just... yeah. This book didn't really work for me.
First up: Gabi is incredibly disrespectful to her family. Now, before anyone says “All teens are disrespectful” that’s not true. While I understand a lot of teens are, I was brought up not to be, and I don’t know why parents in YA novels just accept their kids screaming at them, calling them a “stuck up, skinny bitch” or throwing a box at their face. If I did even one of those things, my mother would kill me, literally, and rightfully so because I was brought up not to act that way to my parents. To have respect. To know that if I DID do something like that (which would be so out of character for me) I would be punished. Yet, Gabi gets away with it. ALL three of those things. I mean, what? Have we really come to a point where kids can just do whatever they like without action or consequences? Where parents are too weak to actually parent?
I also would have liked more pages in this book, to accurately portray self-harm. I’m not saying it was inaccurately portrayed (I don’t know enough about self-harm to say that for sure) it felt rushed. The book is only 280 pages long with wide spaces around the edges of each page, so I would have liked a more in-depth look at a) why Gabi was self-harming, yes there’s a traumatic incident referred to, but what was it about that traumatic incident that made her feel like she had evil inside her? I didn’t get that part and b) the after-effects once family members and friends get involved and knew what Gabi was doing. It kind of felt like, “Well, you’re doing this thing *Shrugs*” almost like it wasn’t really happening. Gabi’s mum learns of her self-harm and doesn’t somehow drag her kicking and screaming to a doctor? Or a counsellor? Or removes all blades from the house? Again, I don’t know, maybe parents don’t do that. But it all felt a bit shallow, even more so since Gabi freely admits that, when a girl in their group self-harmed, she thought it was for attention, etc, until that girl was phased out (which kinda seemed like bullying?!). It just didn’t feel right.
I wanted to really like Damage. I wanted it to be hard-hitting and impactful, to give me a good look at self-harm and what makes someone do that, but instead I found Gabi wanting. I wanted to like her so hard, but she was just an awful person. She acts like her Granddad was this saviour, this hero, that her mother was clearly hating on her father for no reason, when Gabi knew nothing, as her mother told her. She basically tried to belittle her mother’s pain, her mother’s past. All because her granddad took her to the beach or let her practice her skate-boarding. Gabi goes on and on about how she’s the outsider, how no one listens to her, and then turns around and doesn’t listen to anybody, including her mother. She was a bit of a hypocrite and while I have no doubt she was hurting over everything that had happened, and I did feel for her, I also felt like she needed to look at her own actions, because everything she accused her mother of doing, she did herself to her mother.
The worst bit for me, the absolute worst bit, was how Gabi lets herself be treated by Alfie. I've said my pieces on Gabi, how I feel she was disrespectful and treated her parents poorly, but she also lets herself be treated poorly. Alfie and Gabi skate together, they're friends and there's a hint of something more, and towards the end of the book there's a party and at the party there's an incident and Alfie blows up at Gabi. He says some mean, hurtful things; things that are not acceptable, and yet Gabi doesn't actually tell him to sling his hook.
I just... yeah. This book didn't really work for me.