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A review by sidneyellwood
Cut by Patricia McCormick
1.0
Trigger warning for like, personal experiences. Sorry. This book pissed me off.
This book is shallow. And boring. Look, self-injury is a serious problem, and in this book, it's not presented as such. All the characters are very shallow and mental illness is presented as crazy. And the healthcare is really bad. The girls with eating disorders are defined by this, and Amanda is the typical attention-seeking "crazy" girl. Callie is stereotypical emo. I'm glad I'm reading this when I'm recovering; this is the first book on self-harm that shows up and it's NOT GOOD AT ALL. This book is a disservice to teens like Callie, and me a few years ago, who are struggling with self-harm.
As much as I should have been able to connect with Callie, I didn't. She had no voice, no emotion, and her narration was boring. I don't talk. I'm quiet, I used to self-harm, I feel guilty for everything that isn't my fault and yet. Yet.
Plus, healthcare doesn't ... work that way, at least in my experience. Hospitalization is for life-threatening mental illness, something I've heard from a lot of people. So that was quite frustrating to read about. Dissociation doesn't work that way - I know a lot of people dissociate (so did I) but that's not how yet works. Recovery doesn't work that way either.
Also it's a tad over-dramatic at times. I don't like that, but that's more of a personal thing. I don't like it when self injury is portrayed for shock value but maybe it's because I'm pretty desensitized to it?
So yeah. Not a fun read but I've been meaning to get to this book for years and years and now that I don't have to worry about my parents seeing the cover, here we are.
This book is shallow. And boring. Look, self-injury is a serious problem, and in this book, it's not presented as such. All the characters are very shallow and mental illness is presented as crazy. And the healthcare is really bad. The girls with eating disorders are defined by this, and Amanda is the typical attention-seeking "crazy" girl. Callie is stereotypical emo. I'm glad I'm reading this when I'm recovering; this is the first book on self-harm that shows up and it's NOT GOOD AT ALL. This book is a disservice to teens like Callie, and me a few years ago, who are struggling with self-harm.
As much as I should have been able to connect with Callie, I didn't. She had no voice, no emotion, and her narration was boring. I don't talk. I'm quiet, I used to self-harm, I feel guilty for everything that isn't my fault and yet. Yet.
Plus, healthcare doesn't ... work that way, at least in my experience. Hospitalization is for life-threatening mental illness, something I've heard from a lot of people.
Spoiler
My doctor didn't hospitalize me when she found out - even my school counsellor said she couldn't do anything when I told her. Heck, I've told psychologists about being suicidal and they couldn't do anything because I wasn't planning anything.Also it's a tad over-dramatic at times. I don't like that, but that's more of a personal thing. I don't like it when self injury is portrayed for shock value but maybe it's because I'm pretty desensitized to it?
So yeah. Not a fun read but I've been meaning to get to this book for years and years and now that I don't have to worry about my parents seeing the cover, here we are.