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Dec 06, 2011

Nomes rated it:

I have always had a thing for books which feature redemption. They emotionally grip and resonate strongly with me. Many of my personal favourite books usually have a sliver of redemption running through them:

Think The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, Carly in Kirsty Eagar's Raw Blue, Francine River's Redeeming Love, Sherryl Jordan's (amazing) Winter of Fire which all had me weeping and aching and so drawn in with the protagonists story/search/ache for redemption.

And, bo More...

17 comments like (25 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Lisa O. rated it:

"Sometimes I wonder why words can't actually make us bleed."

Those (few) of you who regularly read my reviews and generally put up with me on a daily basis already know I'm kind of a logic and control freak. I'm not of the tear-shedding, heart-warming or hair-pulling kind.
However, occasionally, I do find books that really touch me on a deeper level, that really make me feel inside the story and the characters' heads, up until the point when it really becomes empathy.
More...

29 comments like (28 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2011

Janina rated it:

It has been a while since I read this book (okay, about a month and a half, but I tend to be very forgetful), but I really don't want it to go un-reviewed.

Yes, this is a book about domestic abuse, a topic I normally shy away from. I can't even tell you why, as I do "enjoy" reading so called issue-books, but (together with teenage pregnancy) domestic abuse is not something I am drawn towards in books. It is hard for me to not be frustrated by victims accepting their situation More...

8 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

Nic rated it:

Favourite Quote: It's weird when someone gets you understands what you would never say not even to yourself.

WOW! Split was such a hard read but I mean that in a good way. It broke my heart and made me cry (big fat tears) within the first 15 pages but I absolutely loved it!

Avasthi has written a remarkable and powerful story. This book definitely took me on an emotional rollcoaster ride. One minute I am crying, then I am grinning, then I am getting angry. I was comple More...

15 comments like (19 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Ari rated it:

I finished reading this book a while back but I didn't really know what to say about it.
It feels a bit unfair to sit in my comfortable chair, living my ordinary peaceful life, and give my opinions about such an important subject as family violence.
You read in the book about all those horrible scenes and you know that somewhere, someone is living that particular hell, that somewhere out there a monster treats his family like that, that somewhere there are kids suffering and you can't More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

May 19, 2011

Milly rated it:

*Audible Review*

5 stars

This came highly recommended and it more than delivered!

What makes Split so remarkable and memorable is how raw and real it is. The realism of this book is so unnerving and so mesmerizing! And I can tell from first hand experiences how Jace's story is so close to the real thing. Swati Avasthi is either a great writer and researcher or a magnificent storyteller who shares her own life experiences as if writing her biography in this boo More...

7 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

16-year old Jace unexpectedly shows up on his brother Christian's doorsteps with bruised up face. He has nothing with him but his car, his camera case and a couple of dollars. So, what's the deal? How did he find Christian who had disappeared years ago? Did he finally manage to escape from his monster father? Did their mother come along with Jace? Is she even alive? And why did Jace break up with his girlfriend and can't date any more?

So starts Split. As you can very well guess, this i More...

17 comments like (21 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2011

Anna rated it:

What would you feel when your father beats the crap out of your mother and all you ask her is to leave him and start a new life, but it turns out she doesn't want to leave?

Well, that was Split all about. This tells a story about Jace Whitherspoon and how his father has been a bastard, yup, a very mean bastard (pardon for the foul lang). The story opens up with Jace arriving at Christian's apartment, his brother. And apparently they haven't seen or hear about each other for 5 years si More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 10, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

*Note: If you are considering reading this novel, it will make you angry.. It will get you upset… it will have you putting it down every so often just to calm down... at least these are what Split had me feeling and doing...

The title is perfect.It best describes what I am now left feeling. While I was angry and deeply disturbed by what led to what; I was also satisfied by how things turned out. As to his mother? I was definitely divided: on one hand, I understood later Christian’s More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2011

Kristi (The Story Siren) added it

What an emotional read.... I just finished a few moments ago and I'm having the hardest time composing myself and writing this review. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. What a fantastic debut novel. Did I mention that I was blown away... and heart-broken.

This novel is raw, it's honest, it's unbelievable. I've read stories about domestic violence, not many but a few, but I've never had a novel tackle the aftermath, the part of the story that the character has to dea More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

4.5

Let me just put this out there. Jace is the real gem in this book. He's mature, a bit of a player, or was anyway. He's tough - a fighter to be exact, and he's very observant. But he's a boy who's suffered abuse from his father ever since his big brother, Christian, left him dry. He's been taking beats for his mother like his older brother once did. Running away has never been an option until he finally looses it. With a single envelope given by his frantic mother he goes in search More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2011

Jessi rated it:

Sometimes I review as a teacher or as a librarian or as a writer - any number of hats I wear while reading. I shall be wearing my fangirl hat for this review. I just can't help myself. I hope that my words clearly convey the reasons why you should run or click to the bookseller of your choice and buy this book NOW... However, if I am gushy and ranting crazily, please excuse me. I stand in the presence of greatness. The emotional intensity in this book left me aching, and the writing left me stun More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2011

Arlene rated it:

Absolutely gripping!! Appalling!! Packs a powerful punch!!

Warning: I’m kind of upset right now, so my language might not be pretty. You’ve been warned.

How do I give a book 5 stars when it did nothing but make me feel anger, angst and a world of hurt? Well for that reason alone, the emotions that this book made me experience were bar-none high alert and extremely intense!

Split by Swati Avasthi is a story about physical, emotional and psychological abuse. It’s More...

13 comments like (26 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Lynley rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2012

Fred rated it:

This is a well-crafted story of domestic violence and the efforts of two brothers to erase it from their lives as best they can. The author references discussions with experts on domestic violence in her acknowledgments, and has included in the storyline some details that ring true to published descriptions of common scenarios. While there are some graphic descriptions of physical violence, the emphasis is on emotional damage.

One often-described aspect of lives plagued with domestic More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Dottie rated it:

I won't lie. It's the name that first got to me.

(Does the name Jace and sarcasm go together? How about Jace and daddy issues? Jace and broken? No? Well. Jace Wayland and Jace Witherspoon, ladies and gentlemen, heaps of issues and in need of years of therapy.)

When I got over the name, I read the book in earnest and surprise, surprise. I liked it. A lot. I've been in a reading slump for a few months now and this is the first book in a long while that I finished in just two More...

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Last year’s Cybils Award Winner for YA Fiction (note: I was a judge who sat on this panel) Split is a dynamic character based story about domestic violence. I was touched by the way Avasthi wrote this story in such a muted and realistic way. For the amount of violence that the patriarch carried with him the tone of the story was really quite quiet. Jace was reflective and tentative, though had emotional and physical outbursts of his own, as he found his way from his Chicago home to Albuqu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Kevin rated it:

The following review is from my review blog http://trythisbookonforsize.blogspot.com...

"Fightology Lesson #8: Relax when the hits are coming because it hurts less."

This book is nothing short of phenomenal! As we are introduced to our narrator, Jace Witherspoon, he is travelling from Chicago to Albuquerque---in search of shelter and sanity. Jace is one of the strongest characters I have come across in quite a long time. I don't say this because he only makes great More...

0 comments like

Dec 14, 2011

Liyana rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 12, 2011

Sara E. rated it:

One of the best YA realistic fiction books that I have read in what seems about a zillion years. Jace finally escapes his abusive father and makes it all the way to the doorstop of his older brother, who got out years ago, without looking back and thinking about Jace or his mother. The brothers struggle with their resentment and their troubled past, Jace wonders if he will wind up a monster like his father, and they both worry about their mother, who is still trapped in a deadly abusive relation More...

0 comments like

Aug 05, 2011

Ruhama rated it:

Jace had to make a quick decision: once his father threw him out of the house, he needed to decide where to go next. His mother had slipped him the address of his estranged brother, along with some cash, promising to follow him soon. Jace heads off from Chicago to New Mexico to see Christian and try to explain what has happened. Christian built himself a new life, complete with a new last name, all in the hopes of escaping his past. When Jace showed up on his doorstep, suddenly both brothers had More...

0 comments like

Jun 19, 2011

Liza added it

Split is an extremely important YA novel about child abuse and spousal abuse told from the point-of-view of the MC Jace. There is no doubt that Swati's has been placed in the elite category of brilliant authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson, Cheryl Rainfield, and Jay Asher. It is more than well-deserved and so are the awards Split received. Jace is one of the most unforgettable male YA characters I have ever read. The story he narrates is raw, honest, heartbreaking, revealing. I will be haunted More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 21, 2011

Caris rated it:

I’m not hesitant to talk about my abusive father. I spent seventeen years of my life hiding the details, but I refuse to do it anymore. Keeping quiet doesn’t solve anything, it only makes things worse. People need to hear about domestic violence. It needs to become a reviled crime.

I was both surprised and horrified when I started this book. I had no idea what it was about. When I first met the protagonist, a high school student who had just had the fuck beaten out of him by his fath More...

20 comments like (39 people liked it)

Apr 30, 2011

Aaron rated it:

Imagine that after five years of not seeing your older brother, you walk up to his apartment, ring the doorbell, and find the door slammed in your face. Well, that is how this story begins for 16-year-old Jace. After a 19 hour drive from Chicago after being kicked out of his house, Jace ends up in Albuquergue, New Mexico, where his brother Christian has set up a new life as a medical intern.

Their family was split by their father's abuse. After reaching a point when he could no longer watch hi More...

0 comments like

Apr 12, 2011

Danika rated it:

A 16 year old (Jace) is kicked out of his house when he hits his abusive father and locates his older brother who ran away from the violent situation years before. Both with their own secrets and their own ways of dealing with their trauma, they relearn how to be brothers again. The question is, will their mother join them or will her fear keep her from escaping her deadly situation.

I'm trying to think of a good reason why I didn't give this 5 stars. It's an excellent book and well-w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Arya rated it:

A lost temper and a split second decision leave Jace Witherspoon with a busted up face and a one way ticket out of town. Jace knew what was coming as soon as he decided to throw a punch at dear old dad, but that doesn't stop him from worrying about the consequences his decision will have on both his mother and himself.

Now Jace is living with his estranged and paranoid brother, walking on eggshells in an attempt to not open any old wounds and to get his life back on track. The problem i More...

0 comments like

Feb 05, 2011

Heather rated it:

First note that this was an audio book that I checked out from my library using their Overdrive Media. I actually used it on my computer instead of downloading it to my iPod because I took a little spill on the ice yesterday and am resting today. The narrator of this novel was Joshua Swanson and I'd say he was perfect for the role. He didn't change his voice too much for the female characters but there was no confusion as to who was speaking. He was supposed to sound like a young teenage boy More...

0 comments like

Jan 18, 2011

Jan rated it:

The first chapter of this young adult problem novel about domestic violence had me completely hooked. Jace Witherspoon is on the run from an abusive father and seeks refuge with his older brother, who escaped years ago. He finds his brother in Albuquerque, who initially is not very happy to see him, concerned that Jace’s arrival will reveal where he lives to his father, a judge who has many resources at his disposal to investigate a missing person. Jace also has a secret that is eating him up More...

0 comments like

Jan 06, 2011

Travis rated it:

After Jace fights back against his abusive father and gets kicked out for his trouble, he drives halfway across the country to find his estranged brother. Christian is not exactly happy to see Jace, but grudgingly lets him stay, and Jace tries to make a new life for himself. But it's not easy to make a clean break when he's always worrying about his mom, and worrying that he's turning into his dad.[return][return]I really liked this a lot. It's well-written, compelling, and thankfully doesn't su More...

0 comments like

Oct 14, 2010

Kari rated it:

Pulling readers in from the start, this is an emotional, raw, and sometimes despicable journey through the world of child abuse and escaping it. I've read plenty of child abuse case studies, read books, watched movies- but some of what the father does in this book to both his sons and his wife is gut wrenching and sickening. Several scenes will stand out as something you want to forget but can't but there are also plenty of parts that are memorable for perfect reasons. Avasthi creates a perfect More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)