A review by duchess_fayte
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"It's not Chuck, Isis. It's Charlie. Charlie Davis" 

I could write an entire essay on this book. It has such a stronghold on my heart I feel like I'll never be able to part with the characters written in it. The characters in this book were one of the main things, I feel, that made it such a good book. The main character, Charlie, has dealt with SO much in her life. However, she's able to make and keep friends with similar experiences to her, and she tries so hard to overcome her hardships. The author does a wonderful job of showing that after dealing with so much shit, it is possible to become a better person, and she does this without romanticizing the problems in this world
such as, drug/alcohol abuse, sexual harassment/sexual assault, eating disorders, relapsing on self-harm
and the recovery that goes along with them.  

I love how, as a reader, I just get immersed into Charlie's life, with each chapter we figure out more about Charlie's past and what moulded her into her current being. She goes through a lot after leaving Creeley
The first rule of rehab/getting clean/getting sober is to not enter relationships, and that's exactly what she does. Relationships are not healthy when you're still working on yourself, and Charlie learns about that after her heart gets ripped out and stomped on.
 

Riley was also a very interesting character to follow and learn about, purely because of how much he changed throughout the book. His personality is revealed slowly throughout the story, and when I thought his character had been built completely, something else about him or his past would be revealed. I thought it was fascinating how he could be so synonymous with the mc, but also would end up being the person that hurt her the most. 

I definitely think that the characters with realistic, relatable hardships made the book more enjoyable, but also much more emotional and that's why Girl in Pieces is one of my favourite books I will probably ever read. Kathleen Glasgow is an amazing author, and I plan on reading every single one of her books that she has published, and will publish in the future
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