Girl in Pieces

Spoiler Alert: Everyone is broken -- some just hide it away.

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*T.W.* -- Self-harm

In this provocative and gritty novel, readers follow Charlotte, a 17 year-old girl who has faced more pain than most, as she navigates her issues with self-harm and identity. I should include that this book may be quite triggering for some, and that readers should proceed with caution. However, it was also an incredibly compelling, well-written story created with good intentions and a lot of empathy. The character of Charlie, although she seems broken beyond repair, is incredibly smart, observant, and thoughtful. She not only will make readers love her as their heart wrenches for her story, but she also has the effect of making readers feel less alone. With alienation as a strong theme in this story, and in fact a contributing factor into all of Charlie's downward spirals, the story is likely to resonate with all adolescents, or all people at that -- no matter their respective circumstances. With parallels to stories such as Girl, Interrupted and Speak, this book is likely to grip readers and stay in their heads long after finishing. Both painstakingly raw and honest, this story was entertaining and educational -- one of the best young adult novels I have read in a long time. Charlie is a character who loses everything -- virtually everything she cares about. At rock bottom, she must navigate not only her terrible condition, but grapple with a lost father, an abusive mother, and a half-way gone best friend. Charlie self harms as an act of both surviving and succumbing. As Charlie is trying to outrun her demons -- to physically cut them out even, she soon finds the power of the kindness of strangers -- of the power of found family. While she forges some important relationships along her journey, she also finds it difficult to recognize which ones are genuine. She begins to ask herself: is everybody constantly being used by one another? In being mentally ill, and being constantly surrounded by people with mental illness, Charlie doesn't know if she has forged connections because they are meaningful, or because she and the people around her need others simply to survive. She wonders if she uses others unfairly -- as a crutch, just as they use her to get through their own problems. Ultimately however, she comes to the conclusion that people can serve as a "mirror," reflecting both the good and bad in her. She learns that no matter how hard relationships with others can be, and how much pain they may cause, reaching out and opening up is still better than isolating oneself. She also finds a healthy outlet in her art, eventually finding that she can paint her pain instead of bearing it. Despite being a bit difficult to read at times and dealing with some very heavy themes, the book does so gracefully and even manages to keep an underlying positive tone. Although the story does not sugarcoat anything, nor makes any unrealistic claims, it ultimately shows the importance of finding your voice and of finding your own light in the darkness. Life is consisted of moments that are destined to make or break us, but how we put our broken pieces back together is what defines it.

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Favorite Quotes: “That's how hearts get broken, you know. When you believe in promises.” ~~ “I'm tired and angry at me. For letting myself get smaller and smaller in the hopes that he would notice me more. But how can someone notice you if you keep getting smaller?” ~~ “People should know about us. Girls who write their pain on their bodies. ~Louisa” ~~ "How can you live in fear of your own body?” ~~ “Girl listens to radio. Girl finds music. Girl has whole other world.Girl slips on headphones. World gone.” ~~ “You can't break my heart, she cries, breathy and furious. You can't own my soul. What I have, I made, what I have is mine. What I have I made, what I have is mine.”