A review by lexythebookworm_
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

3.0

3 ⭐️

I was searching for trauma/violence books on a GoodReads list (for a research I’m holding on this topic) and I came across this one as one of the top rated ones there. That’s how I decided to get myself a copy of it.
If I have to be honest, I’m not a fan. I didn’t hate it either, but I feel kind of neutral about it. I was definitely expecting something different and much more than it was. Maybe that’s why it didn’t have such a great effect on me.

This is the first book I read about a cutter and it was very hard for me to do so. All the cutting/blood descriptions made me feel a bit sick, so I guess it must be well put into words. This made me feel divided between two strong opinions, because, on the one hand, I do love it when a book makes me feel something physically, but, on the other hand, I didn’t enjoy what this book made me feel at all.
There’s also a lot more going on, like drugs, sex abuse, etc, which might make the story a little bit too much when mixing all those components together in one storyline.
I did like the way it’s narrated in short parts and short chapters, similar to diary entries. It makes you feel like it’s a light read even when it’s not because of the theme/subject/story. But it does make it look easier to put up with.

There was a part in which I was entirely bored and didn’t understand the reason behind some of the author's choices but it’s just a matter of personal opinion and taste.
I didn’t expect everything to go to shit in the last part, which I enjoyed and made me feel more into the story. Really liked the ending and how the author resolved it.

I do feel it’s a bit too childish/adolescent so maybe I would recommend it for younger crowds. Definitely not for a struggling audience though since it might make them lose a bit of grip on their self control (even if it tries to accomplish otherwise).