This novel by Kathleen Glasgow tells Charlie's story in 3 parts.
Part one opens with her in a hospital, surrounded by other girls and women like her. Girls and women who harm themselves. The chapters are short and erratic, much like Charlie's thoughts.
She's covered and bandages and she doesn't talk. Her thoughts often go back to the dark place she almost didn't get out of alive, but she feels safe. She never wants to leave.
The second part finds Charlie out of the hospital, much to her dismay. She travels very far away searching for a new life, different from her old life.
She reconnects with an old friend, who seems good for her. And finds a new friend, who seems very bad fo her.
Her life is different than before the hospital but threatens to fall into the same old patterns. She fights her self-destructive thoughts and struggles to move onward and upward.
When someone from her past comes to visit her, things start to fall apart farther and faster. He life is in pieces again.
Part 3 is all about healing. The events in part two of the novel have her in a safe place again, with perhaps a kindred spirit. But she'll have to leave again. And what happens when she's back in the world.
I enjoyed this read. I was easily sucked into Charlie's life. You can feel her fear and her pain very clearly. You go from cheering her on to hating her for not being able to see the bad decisions she's making.
Self-mutilation is the theme of this novel, so I would not recommend it for someone who might be triggered by reading it.
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Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow is available on Amazon in kindle, hardcover and paperback editions.
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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.
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