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karissachaput's review
4.0
I've never felt more heartbreak, sadness and pity for a couple in my whole entire life. This book might as well have tore my heart out.
reisoup's review
5.0
read this book back in 2014, and recently did a reread. i remembered why i loved this book so much. i even bought the audio book.
i do not understand a lot of the criticisms people have with this book, but it is one of my all-time favorite novels. heartbreaking yet beautiful, it tells a story about a toxic relationship and it’s abrupt and grotesque demise. it’s a story about things that can happen in real life.
this was never meant to be a romance novel in my eyes. it’s a story about a teenage girl who learns a life lesson in one of the worst ways possible.
i do not understand a lot of the criticisms people have with this book, but it is one of my all-time favorite novels. heartbreaking yet beautiful, it tells a story about a toxic relationship and it’s abrupt and grotesque demise. it’s a story about things that can happen in real life.
this was never meant to be a romance novel in my eyes. it’s a story about a teenage girl who learns a life lesson in one of the worst ways possible.
lauren_davis's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emjay24's review
2.0
Gannon is a teen who feels neglected by her parents as they deal with her scary problem brothers. She has no real friends as she lets no one in, and her only things she likes are woodworking and cutting herself. She begins dating another problem teen who hooks her in and they begin an obsessive relationship. The main character and her family are not likable, although her neglected friends are. The whole story is such a mess it's often laughable, although the results are depressing. Another just ok book.
pussnb00ks's review
3.0
Ok... That was journey.
If you're ever asked to describe a toxic relationship, Gannon and Brooks are a prime example.
The beauty of this novel is that the protagonist is not the only confused about the affects the boy is having on her. As a reader you are pulled back and forth between hating Brooks and appreciating the small ways in which he "helps" Gannon.
Gannon becomes a very realistic character, and her feelings suck you right in.
All in all, the story gripped me from page one. Really enjoyed it and will probably pick up again for another devastating read.
I cannot wait to check out some of Christa Desir's other work.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
1) i was expecting some sort of resolution between Gannon and her family, especially with her brothers. They play a big part in the story, but in the end i was hoping for a miraculous sibling reunion and a happy family. But then i realized that that would be too easy. The end is a lot more realistic that your expectations and you have to accept it.
2) Im not entirely sure (and i could be completely wrong), but from what i got from what Brooks said... did he get sexually assaulted in juvie? AGAIN i could be wrong... but thats what i got from what he said.
3) There were times where Gannon's pain felt so real, it was almost too real. It took me a while to really understand why she was the way she was. At first I thought it was kind of ridiculous that the reason for all of her issues was the adoption of her brothers, but the more you get to see of the family dynamic, the more you begin to understand it all. The time Gannon and Brooks spend in Minneapolis was heart wrenching. Gannon felt so realistic and her emotions jumped out of the page and straight into my heart.
4) the scenes where Brooks and Gannon have their "cutting ritual" were so disturbing. The atmosphere that Desir creates around it is so captivating you get a little disgusted with yourself.
If you're ever asked to describe a toxic relationship, Gannon and Brooks are a prime example.
The beauty of this novel is that the protagonist is not the only confused about the affects the boy is having on her. As a reader you are pulled back and forth between hating Brooks and appreciating the small ways in which he "helps" Gannon.
Gannon becomes a very realistic character, and her feelings suck you right in.
All in all, the story gripped me from page one. Really enjoyed it and will probably pick up again for another devastating read.
I cannot wait to check out some of Christa Desir's other work.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
1) i was expecting some sort of resolution between Gannon and her family, especially with her brothers. They play a big part in the story, but in the end i was hoping for a miraculous sibling reunion and a happy family. But then i realized that that would be too easy. The end is a lot more realistic that your expectations and you have to accept it.
2) Im not entirely sure (and i could be completely wrong), but from what i got from what Brooks said... did he get sexually assaulted in juvie? AGAIN i could be wrong... but thats what i got from what he said.
3) There were times where Gannon's pain felt so real, it was almost too real. It took me a while to really understand why she was the way she was. At first I thought it was kind of ridiculous that the reason for all of her issues was the adoption of her brothers, but the more you get to see of the family dynamic, the more you begin to understand it all. The time Gannon and Brooks spend in Minneapolis was heart wrenching. Gannon felt so realistic and her emotions jumped out of the page and straight into my heart.
4) the scenes where Brooks and Gannon have their "cutting ritual" were so disturbing. The atmosphere that Desir creates around it is so captivating you get a little disgusted with yourself.
lcmarie19's review
4.0
Wow.. what an incredibly sad and painful read. But the story was very compelling. I've never read anything by Desir before, but after this book I am definitely intrigued and would like to read more by her.
BLEED LIKE ME follows Gannon and her budding unhealthy relationship with her schoolmate, Brooks. Gannon, having been neglected by her parents turns to alternative methods of coping, which ultimately leads to her finding and developing a destructive relationship with him.
The characters in this book are VERY unstable and extremely vulnerable. The struggles were very believeable and I found myself sympathizing with Gannon more than once. Brooks was a difficult character for me to get a real read on for a majority of the book, but as the plot progressed, I soon understood why. The compatibility between Gannon and Brooks was off the charts, but soon molded into something else. It was a gradual progression, which I give great credit to Desir.
The synopsis of this book already hints at a not-so-easygoing relationship between our two characters, but I dont quite get how hard it's going to be until I start reading deeper and deeper. I'm going to be honest, my mouth dropped one or two times in this book because there was just SO much emotional. So much pain and hurt. These aren't just some kids who got their hands slapped and are bitter about time out. This is some raw pain that Desir displays with great methods.
There's one particular scene where a HUGE tragedy occurs and you KNOW that no one is coming back from it the same. It's that intense. It's these moments where I see that Desir has no real intentions of playing it safe with this story or with these characters. She's being real and authentic and quite brave in my opinion. Because these are the types of stories that need to be told more often.
While a story like this is not my typical thing, I found myself so invested in this story and its characters. The plot progression was good and the characters were just spot on. I don't want to say the characters developed well, because in a way, they didn't. They didn't develop at all -- with the except of Gannon at a particular point. But I think the point of the story IS that there is NO development of character because that would mean something a bit more positive than I think I'd like to associate with this story.
It is definitely a painful read. It's a real one, but a painful. I highly recommend it, though. While I was very emotional when I finished, I still thought about it the next day. It was that compelling.
BLEED LIKE ME follows Gannon and her budding unhealthy relationship with her schoolmate, Brooks. Gannon, having been neglected by her parents turns to alternative methods of coping, which ultimately leads to her finding and developing a destructive relationship with him.
The characters in this book are VERY unstable and extremely vulnerable. The struggles were very believeable and I found myself sympathizing with Gannon more than once. Brooks was a difficult character for me to get a real read on for a majority of the book, but as the plot progressed, I soon understood why. The compatibility between Gannon and Brooks was off the charts, but soon molded into something else. It was a gradual progression, which I give great credit to Desir.
The synopsis of this book already hints at a not-so-easygoing relationship between our two characters, but I dont quite get how hard it's going to be until I start reading deeper and deeper. I'm going to be honest, my mouth dropped one or two times in this book because there was just SO much emotional. So much pain and hurt. These aren't just some kids who got their hands slapped and are bitter about time out. This is some raw pain that Desir displays with great methods.
There's one particular scene where a HUGE tragedy occurs and you KNOW that no one is coming back from it the same. It's that intense. It's these moments where I see that Desir has no real intentions of playing it safe with this story or with these characters. She's being real and authentic and quite brave in my opinion. Because these are the types of stories that need to be told more often.
While a story like this is not my typical thing, I found myself so invested in this story and its characters. The plot progression was good and the characters were just spot on. I don't want to say the characters developed well, because in a way, they didn't. They didn't develop at all -- with the except of Gannon at a particular point. But I think the point of the story IS that there is NO development of character because that would mean something a bit more positive than I think I'd like to associate with this story.
It is definitely a painful read. It's a real one, but a painful. I highly recommend it, though. While I was very emotional when I finished, I still thought about it the next day. It was that compelling.
maggiemaggio's review
3.0
To say I was excited about Bleed Like Me is a bit of an understatement, I thought Desir's Fault Line was completely brilliant, but, even with my love of Fault Line I went into Bleed Like Me with tempered expectations. The idea of a "Sid and Nancy" relationship for teens didn't do anything for me and while I find cutters and the idea of cutting to be really psychologically interesting, it's also not something I was really seeking out in a book.
Most of the time I think I'm fairly good at separating myself from characters and realizing that they're their own people who make their own decisions, but I struggled with that in Bleed Like Me and that definitely colored my opinion of the book. The thing about Bleed Like Me is that everything felt like just a push too far. Gannon, the main character has a truly terrible life. Her parents were fine parents for a long time, but several years before the book starts they adopted three boys from Central America and the boys are complete and utter nightmares. They obviously had a tough upbringing on the streets, but their misbehavior, malice, and ungratefulness was so horrifying that I never bought into it and eventually it became more of a caricature.
Once the brothers come into the picture Gannon's parents need to spend all of their energy on the boys and Gannon, and her parents' relationship, suffers as a result. When the book starts Gannon doesn't have much in her life, she hates being home because of her brothers' behavioral issues and the way it wears at her parents, she's a mediocre student, and she has no real friends. The only good thing in her life is her job at the local hardware store. The store's owner is kind of like a gruff father figure and her co-worker, a fellow high school student, obviously cares about Gannon. Bleed Like Me wasn't this kind of book, but I still found myself wishing that there had been more about her job at the hardware store and her relationship with the owner and her coworker.
When Gannon meets Brooks she is ripe to fall under the influence of a charming, bossy boy who pays her quite a bit of attention. Brooks is where I had the most difficult time distancing my thoughts about the book and its characters from my own personal feelings and opinions. I had expected Brooks to be more charming and slick, but he turns out to be just as much as a mess as Gannon and I just didn't understand his appeal. Brooks comes from his own complicated background and I never was able to really grasp if he was intentionally manipulative (which is what I expected) or if he was just as lost as Gannon and didn't really understand what he was doing. In the end I didn't really think it mattered so much, the truth is probably somewhere in between, but I still never really got a grasp on Brooks as a character and as much as I tried to put myself in Gannon's shoes I just couldn't understand, even with how terrible the rest of her life was, the appeal of Brooks and how much she gave up for Brooks because, as he was at the time, he was no prize.
The biggest surprise of Bleed Like Me was how little the act of cutting and Gannon's issues around being a cutter played into the story. I'm certainly not going to say I wanted more cutting in the story, but, given what the unique and compelling way Desir handled sexual assault in Fault Line I was looking forward to seeing how she handled the problem of cutting, something that has affected/still affects many people I know. But the way the story played out the cutting was maybe not even a secondary story, but a tertiary or quaternary story. When the cutting did come into the story, which really was probably only a handful of times, the connection to the rest of Gannon's life never materialized and I found myself having to connect a lot of the dots to figure out how she ended up being a cutter.
A lot of this has been critical, but I still think Desir is a brilliant writer. She is truly not afraid to go to dark places and tackle tough topics and she handles both of those things, for the most part, really beautifully. Even though I often felt like, combined, many of the things Gannon does and experiences felt a tad over the top, many of the things Desir writes about here are pressing problems to a lot of teenagers and families out there. Kids with behavioral problems, absentee parents, parents with marital problems, feeling like an outsider, toxic relationships, drug use, and cutting are all problems many teenagers and families will sadly experience in one way or another and I love that there's an author out there writing so honestly and bravely about these topics. Whether it's a good or bad thing the story of Bleed Like Me was also never predictable and I appreciated that I had no clue how the story was ultimately going to play out.
Bottom Line: I would love to say that Bleed Like Me had the same impact on me as Fault Line, but it just didn't. Whether it's because of my own bias or because of the over-the-top nature of the story the emotional connection to the story just wasn't there. I still admire Desir's writing and her ability to handle sensitive subjects, but I wish she had handled this one a little differently.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.
Most of the time I think I'm fairly good at separating myself from characters and realizing that they're their own people who make their own decisions, but I struggled with that in Bleed Like Me and that definitely colored my opinion of the book. The thing about Bleed Like Me is that everything felt like just a push too far. Gannon, the main character has a truly terrible life. Her parents were fine parents for a long time, but several years before the book starts they adopted three boys from Central America and the boys are complete and utter nightmares. They obviously had a tough upbringing on the streets, but their misbehavior, malice, and ungratefulness was so horrifying that I never bought into it and eventually it became more of a caricature.
Once the brothers come into the picture Gannon's parents need to spend all of their energy on the boys and Gannon, and her parents' relationship, suffers as a result. When the book starts Gannon doesn't have much in her life, she hates being home because of her brothers' behavioral issues and the way it wears at her parents, she's a mediocre student, and she has no real friends. The only good thing in her life is her job at the local hardware store. The store's owner is kind of like a gruff father figure and her co-worker, a fellow high school student, obviously cares about Gannon. Bleed Like Me wasn't this kind of book, but I still found myself wishing that there had been more about her job at the hardware store and her relationship with the owner and her coworker.
When Gannon meets Brooks she is ripe to fall under the influence of a charming, bossy boy who pays her quite a bit of attention. Brooks is where I had the most difficult time distancing my thoughts about the book and its characters from my own personal feelings and opinions. I had expected Brooks to be more charming and slick, but he turns out to be just as much as a mess as Gannon and I just didn't understand his appeal. Brooks comes from his own complicated background and I never was able to really grasp if he was intentionally manipulative (which is what I expected) or if he was just as lost as Gannon and didn't really understand what he was doing. In the end I didn't really think it mattered so much, the truth is probably somewhere in between, but I still never really got a grasp on Brooks as a character and as much as I tried to put myself in Gannon's shoes I just couldn't understand, even with how terrible the rest of her life was, the appeal of Brooks and how much she gave up for Brooks because, as he was at the time, he was no prize.
The biggest surprise of Bleed Like Me was how little the act of cutting and Gannon's issues around being a cutter played into the story. I'm certainly not going to say I wanted more cutting in the story, but, given what the unique and compelling way Desir handled sexual assault in Fault Line I was looking forward to seeing how she handled the problem of cutting, something that has affected/still affects many people I know. But the way the story played out the cutting was maybe not even a secondary story, but a tertiary or quaternary story. When the cutting did come into the story, which really was probably only a handful of times, the connection to the rest of Gannon's life never materialized and I found myself having to connect a lot of the dots to figure out how she ended up being a cutter.
A lot of this has been critical, but I still think Desir is a brilliant writer. She is truly not afraid to go to dark places and tackle tough topics and she handles both of those things, for the most part, really beautifully. Even though I often felt like, combined, many of the things Gannon does and experiences felt a tad over the top, many of the things Desir writes about here are pressing problems to a lot of teenagers and families out there. Kids with behavioral problems, absentee parents, parents with marital problems, feeling like an outsider, toxic relationships, drug use, and cutting are all problems many teenagers and families will sadly experience in one way or another and I love that there's an author out there writing so honestly and bravely about these topics. Whether it's a good or bad thing the story of Bleed Like Me was also never predictable and I appreciated that I had no clue how the story was ultimately going to play out.
Bottom Line: I would love to say that Bleed Like Me had the same impact on me as Fault Line, but it just didn't. Whether it's because of my own bias or because of the over-the-top nature of the story the emotional connection to the story just wasn't there. I still admire Desir's writing and her ability to handle sensitive subjects, but I wish she had handled this one a little differently.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.
black0star's review
2.0
I appreciate what Desir was trying to say with her book but I felt like it was poorly executed and the ending was too abrupt and made no sense to me. I didn’t know if it was hinting a possibility of new move or what.
I would have understood the passion and intensity of Brooks and Gannon’s relationship if Ali wasn’t in the picture. If you’re wrapped up in someone because you’re lonely, it’s because you have no friends. But Gannon has Ali, and it’s her own fault for not wanting to open up to her. Ali was way too good of a friend considering how shitty Gannon was.
I couldn’t stand Gannon as a character and didn’t see the appeal of Brooks.
I also felt like her adopted brothers were too wild and dark to be real. They are pure evil and I can’t believe her mom wouldn’t give up on them. They were ungrateful little shits. Considering that they were poor and starving in another country, they should be more appreciative and tame.
I know I’m never reading this book again.
I would have understood the passion and intensity of Brooks and Gannon’s relationship if Ali wasn’t in the picture. If you’re wrapped up in someone because you’re lonely, it’s because you have no friends. But Gannon has Ali, and it’s her own fault for not wanting to open up to her. Ali was way too good of a friend considering how shitty Gannon was.
I couldn’t stand Gannon as a character and didn’t see the appeal of Brooks.
I also felt like her adopted brothers were too wild and dark to be real. They are pure evil and I can’t believe her mom wouldn’t give up on them. They were ungrateful little shits. Considering that they were poor and starving in another country, they should be more appreciative and tame.
I know I’m never reading this book again.
nicolerojasp's review
3.0
Este fue un libro que aun despues de leerlo me quede sin la mas minima idea de que pensar de el.
Es un libro lleno de toxicidad, amistades, relaciones, familias y sustancias toxicas y de comos estas pueden afectar el estilo de vida de quien se rodea de los mismos.
Es la historia de dos jovenes con estilos de vida y educacion familiar totalmente distintas pero que ambos comparten una misma adiccion y de como la presencia de uno y el otro hacen que se complementen volviendose luego una obsesion.
No me encanto el libro pero si me gusto el mensae que deja sobre los topicos mencionados anteriormente. No creo sea un libro recomendable para personas susceptibles o vulnerables a adicciones ya que incita mucho.
Es un libro lleno de toxicidad, amistades, relaciones, familias y sustancias toxicas y de comos estas pueden afectar el estilo de vida de quien se rodea de los mismos.
Es la historia de dos jovenes con estilos de vida y educacion familiar totalmente distintas pero que ambos comparten una misma adiccion y de como la presencia de uno y el otro hacen que se complementen volviendose luego una obsesion.
No me encanto el libro pero si me gusto el mensae que deja sobre los topicos mencionados anteriormente. No creo sea un libro recomendable para personas susceptibles o vulnerables a adicciones ya que incita mucho.
dawnarchitects's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0