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Girl in Pieces

Kathleen Glasgow (Goodreads Author)

4.15 · Rating details · 11,650 Ratings · 2,027 Reviews

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar harde ...more

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Hardcover, 416 pages

Published August 30th 2016 by Delacorte Press

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YA Self-Harm and Cutting Fiction

43 books — 32 voters

Books On Self-Injury

109 books — 209 voters

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Aug 04, 2016 Emily May rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Ellen Hopkins fans

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, arc, 2016

2 1/2 stars. An extra 1/2 star because I think a lot of readers will love this - it's just a certain type of storytelling that always leaves me cold.

The many fans of Ellen Hopkins should love this book. It's a dark contemporary dealing with self-harm and it's written in a mostly fragmented series of one/few paragraph chapters (sometimes they are longer). Glasgow is not afraid to go there and covers a whole range of topics, from cutting to abuse to suicide.

Firstly, I didn't like the writing. Anot ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Maggie Stiefvater rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended, young-adult

Although this book tells a story of people being cruel to themselves, it is a book about being gentle with yourself. It seems odd to call this novel kind, as it was often a savage read (it is unflinching in its portrayal of self-harm, homelessness, addiction, and desperation) but it has such a sweet heart, such a piercing desire for its characters to improve themselves in every way, that hope persists in even the darkest moments. Glasgow's use of adult characters to challenge, support, and mirro ...more

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Nov 25, 2016 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, young-adult

LIKE A BABY HARP SEAL, I'M ALL WHITE. MY FOREARMS ARE thickly bandaged, heavy as clubs. My thighs are wrapped tightly, too; white gauze peeks out from the shorts Nurse Ava pulled from the lost and found box behind the nurses' station.

Like an orphan, I came here with no clothes. Like an orphan, I was wrapped in a bedsheet and left on the lawn of Regions Hospital in the freezing sleet and snow, blood seeping through the flowered sheet.

The security guard who found me was bathed in menthol cigaret ...more

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Jan 12, 2017 Lola Reviewer rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish, mental-illness

DNF

I think I’m a fairly patient person. I do, after all, tutor a nine-year-old girl who prefers to spend her time trying to make me laugh in any way possible during our sessions instead of doing the work I assign her. (She’s adorable, though.)

But my patience has its limits, especially when it comes to books. There are so many types of books in the world, which is just perfect because there are also so many types of people. There are those books that have a plot, and those that don’t.

GIRL IN PIE ...more

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Oct 18, 2016 C.G. Drews rated it liked it

Shelves: 3-star, contemporary, mental-illness, read-2016, young-adult

Wow this was a seriously heavy, but beautifully written book. Like I knew it'd be about dark things when I picked it up from the library, but it still made my HEART ACHE with just how much trauma and damage Charlie went through. Like, life really sucks sometimes, okay? I think this book did a good job of balancing the dark realism of mental illness/addiction + a smidgeon of hope. Although I kind of feel like I've been smushed like a watermelon sundae. This was HARD TO READ.

So the themes are pret ...more

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Aug 14, 2016 Jacqueline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4/5 stars

Honestly don't even know where to begin.
Well, pretty much I had really high expectations for this book and sadly it didn't live up to them. I myself self-harmed for two years. It's something very personal to me and when I read the author herself was inspired to write this book through her own experiences that gave me hope. I can happily say my favorite thing about this novel was how realistic Kathleen Glasgow handled not only the self-harm aspect but the mental illnesses found in this ...more

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Apr 02, 2015 S.M. Parker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The first thing that gripped me about this book was the writing. Glasgow’s style is so thick with emotion and yet sparse on the page. In places, it reads like poetry. I was immediately drawn in by Glasgow’s words, the book’s atmospheric setting. Then there was the character’s struggle with her sense of self, her mistrust of others. Charlie’s pain was so pervasive that it felt like layers of gauze being stripped away from a wound. Layer after layer we see what and who has hurt Charlie. Glasgow is The first thing that gripped me about this book was the writing. Glasgow’s style is so thick with emotion and yet sparse on the page. In places, it reads like poetry. I was immediately drawn in by Glasgow’s words, the book’s atmospheric setting. Then there was the character’s struggle with her sense of self, her mistrust of others. Charlie’s pain was so pervasive that it felt like layers of gauze being stripped away from a wound. Layer after layer we see what and who has hurt Charlie. Glasgow is an artist when it comes to building tension, revealing the ache. And there is a lot of ache in this book. My chest felt tight with fear and compassion for Charlie, a homeless 17-year-old cutter.

While Charlie is in therapy, her counselor reminds her to breathe. I had to remind myself to do just that as I read these pages because I wanted so badly for Charlie to survive. I wanted to heal her and comfort her and make the world a better place for her.

Glasgow’s debut doesn’t shy away from the physical act of cutting or exploring the physical and emotional residue left behind. We see Charlie hide the shame of her scars. We know Charlie feels unloved and unloveable because of her scars. And yet the thing she keeps so dear, so close to her is her “tender kit” the small safety blanket (shards of glass, gauze and ointment) that she uses to drain the pain from inside. Her tender kit is her comfort because people are unreliable. People hurt. Cutting transfers that pain for a brief swell of moments.

This is a book about survival. The horrors of physical survival when you are homeless: getting food, daily shelter, remaining safe in the unprotected dark. It is a book about emotional survival and how one teen works through the pain of abandonment and abuse. How she deals with the scars that her family, strangers, and even friends have etched into her heart. It is a book about embracing your art & your voice, finding a way to set the beautiful parts of you free in the world. For Charlie, that was her drawing. Her art was her language, and it was beautiful.

GIRL IN PIECES is an intense and gorgeously written book about survival and the kind of precious hope that can spring from the most desperate of wells. After being with Charlie on her journey of survival, it was a gift to see her gather her pieces and begin to thrive.
...more

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Aug 09, 2016 Beatrice Masaluñga rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, arc

Thank you Penguin Random House / Delacorte Press for the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review posted at Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic

Charlotte Davis lost everything in her life; her father, her mother, her best friend and her direction in life. She became homeless and lived on a sex house where she witnessed abuse. She doesn't have a good relationship with her mother because she neglected and abused her. Handling all these is too much for her, given she's 17 years o Thank you Penguin Random House / Delacorte Press for the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review posted at Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic

Charlotte Davis lost everything in her life; her father, her mother, her best friend and her direction in life. She became homeless and lived on a sex house where she witnessed abuse. She doesn't have a good relationship with her mother because she neglected and abused her. Handling all these is too much for her, given she's 17 years old. It's indeed traumatic. Every emotion and pain builds inside her. As a means of coping, she cuts / self-harming herself to release it and continuously do it until she finds peace. Here, we get to follow her journey of vulnerability and healing from the mental facility to the real world where she meets new people and explore to find a sense of direction. She keeps herself busy and productive to distract herself on moments she's tempted.

A beautiful story filled with raw emotions and the heroine expressed it genuinely. She represents people who are unable to cope which lead them to darkness and struggles to find the light. Her journey isn't easy and she met people along the way. These people have their own dark stories that made them self-destructive too (alcohol, drugs, sex etc.) yet, they helped & motivated her to become whole again. What's more admirable? Her strength to get out of that darkness even if it's trying to drag her down. She let people in her life and she help herself not to go on that path again. I could never be more proud and I just want to cheer and hug her for all the things she'd been through. I am satisfied with the ending. It's realistic and I love it's not all about romance.

I want to praise Ms. Kathleen Glasgow for her courage to write this book. Her note at the last part is amazing.. So deep and hands down amazing. This is a greatly written debut novel and an eye opener to self-harm. These people want to voice out but no one is willing to hear them out, WHEN WE SHOULD HAVE. Worse, being judge of whatever problem they're facing. It's important we should not ignore these people and help them in every possible way. For those who are experiencing this, express it before you explode. Don't let your burdens destroy you.

Let me share my favorite quote in this book:

“Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.”

I gave this book 4.5 /5 stars. I am indeed recommending this book and I am looking forward to read Ms. Glasgow's upcoming novels.
...more

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Oct 09, 2016 Sana rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, i-have-a-heart, cut-my-left-nut-off-instead, romance, i-dont-get-the-hype

I made it. I finally made it through 400 and something freaking pages. This book started out great, but as I read on, it just got worse and worse. I'm probably one of those 5% of readers this book didn't have an effect on.

Trigger warning: Self-harm, drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse

●I was okay with the writing. This book is written in three parts. (Honestly, I don't really get the point of having it written in three parts.) Sometimes there was a paragraph a page sometimes it was long. I actually lik ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it liked it

This was an okay read. Not really something that I would normally reach for, but I’m not mad that I read it. I will say that I had an EXTREMELY hard time getting into the beginning of this, but once the main character moved cities things really started holding my attention and I ended up enjoying it in the end.

Also: I read this for MissSassyKassie’s book club for February! The live show will be on Sunday 3/4 at 1pm PST on her channel!

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Aug 21, 2017 *TANYA* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It took me a minute to get into this story. The style and narrative are unlike anything I usually read. I quite enjoyed this book and I would like follow up to see how the characters evolved.

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Aug 28, 2016 Laura Silverman rated it it was amazing

I'm not one to write long reviews. This book is spectacular for many reasons, and there will be many reviews digging into those reasons. For me, there is one standout reason you must read this novel: there is no such thing as "all the way better."

Whether it's dealing with self-harm like the protagonist Charlotte, or an ED, or depression, or chronic illness, or alcohol addiction, or ANYTHING, recovery has no endpoint. You live with your physical or metaphorical scars forever. Yes, there are high I'm not one to write long reviews. This book is spectacular for many reasons, and there will be many reviews digging into those reasons. For me, there is one standout reason you must read this novel: there is no such thing as "all the way better."

Whether it's dealing with self-harm like the protagonist Charlotte, or an ED, or depression, or chronic illness, or alcohol addiction, or ANYTHING, recovery has no endpoint. You live with your physical or metaphorical scars forever. Yes, there are highs and lows. Yes, there is plenty of hope that you can be much better off ten years down the line, but when you battle with anything so deeply destructive and chronic, there is no such thing as "all the way better."

Girl In Pieces deals with this truth so beautifully. Too many books end with the character entering therapy and a false *nudge* to the reader that the character will then be miraculously cured of their ailment. Instead, the majority of Girl In Pieces takes place after Charlotte leaves the nest of therapy, and it explores the many, many, many, step ups and step downs to living with her tornado. It's chillingly real, hauntingly beautiful, and above all - a necessary narrative.

Girls, and all people, who are trying to OVERCOME need this narrative. Girls need this narrative. They need to not hate themselves for being unable to achieve the myth of "all the way better." They need to know, and perhaps more importantly their friends and caretakers need to know, "all the way better" is a myth. When someone suffers from any type of chronic mental or physical disorder or addiction, it will always be with them. They can pull their life together, but the threat of falling backwards will always be hiding in the corner. Society needs to readjust their understanding of what "recovery" means, and I genuinely believe Girl In Pieces is a book that will help with that understanding.

I could talk about the million other reasons I love this book, but simply, beyond the importance of the message, Glasgow's prose isn't 5/5, it's 10/10. And I'm picky. I really am. But this is the type of prose that will inspire me to work harder, to become a better writer myself.

I'm so honored I had a chance to read this breathtaking novel early, and I hope all of you will read it too. I cannot wait to see what Glasgow writes next. ...more

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May 29, 2016 Dahlia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-releases, i-own-in-hardcopy, top-10-of-2016, top-ten-debuts

This book is ridiculously good. It reminds me of everything I loved reading when I was a teen/early 20-something, most notably Mark Lindquist and Stephanie Kuehnert. It's realistic urban survivalism combined with the raw, real truth of girlhood, and all matters of second chances (and third and fourth) without taking easy paths. Yes, it shattered my heart over and over, as I knew it would, but never in a way that felt irreparable, which feels like exactly the point.

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Jun 14, 2017 Simona Stoica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recenzia completă: http://bit.ly/2tc4LLj

„- Ar trebui să ni se spună încă de când venim aici că s-a terminat cu dorinţele. Că după ce am făcut ce-am făcut, n-o să ne mai iubească nimeni. Nu în mod normal.”

Scriu următoarele rânduri cu ochii înotând în lacrimi. Lovesc tastele cu putere, furioasă pe autoare, furioasă pe mine, pe naivitatea mea, pe uşurinţa cu care am fost atrasă în poveste. Nu am fost pregătită pentru O fată din bucăţi. Suferinţa regăsită între pagini, prăbuşirea psihică, spiritua Recenzia completă: http://bit.ly/2tc4LLj

„- Ar trebui să ni se spună încă de când venim aici că s-a terminat cu dorinţele. Că după ce am făcut ce-am făcut, n-o să ne mai iubească nimeni. Nu în mod normal.”

Scriu următoarele rânduri cu ochii înotând în lacrimi. Lovesc tastele cu putere, furioasă pe autoare, furioasă pe mine, pe naivitatea mea, pe uşurinţa cu care am fost atrasă în poveste. Nu am fost pregătită pentru O fată din bucăţi. Suferinţa regăsită între pagini, prăbuşirea psihică, spirituală şi mintală a personajelor, recunoaşterea şi îmbrăţişarea problemelor... cum poate un roman să cuprindă atât de multă nefericire, atât de multă durere şi deznădejde?

Mă simt incompletă, de parcă am lăsat o parte din mine, o bucată de care nu mă pot lipsi, în carte. Privesc cu neîncredere coperta hipnotizantă, urmăresc cu degetele traseul lacrimilor şi mă opresc de fiecare dată în dreptul ochilor. O privire pierdută şi, aparent, supusă, glasul mut al unei tinere ce trăieşte într-o buclă de singurătate, de pe o zi pe alta. Însă aici se ascunde victoria ei, una pe care noi niciodată nu o vom putea înţelege. Trăieşte. A mai supravieţuit încă o zi. 24 de ore de-a lungul cărora a încercat să se vindece, să îi ajute pe ceilalţi, să devină o persoană mai bună, să îşi găsească un loc în lume. Numele ei este Charlotte Davis. Şi NU este o victimă.

Ne plângem zilnic de ceva. E prea cald. Nu am bani. Bluza aia e prea largă. Mama nu mă înţelege. E trafic. M-am săturat de teste şi de examene. Mi-a dat doar seen pe Facebook: de ce nu mă place? Îmi e silă să mă ridic din pat. Nu vreau să merg la serviciu. Mi-au greşit comanda la Starbucks. Te regăseşti, măcar parţial? Ştii că nu sunt probleme adevărate, că se pot rezolva, că nu sunt un capăt de drum. Dar e recomandat să te descarci din când în când, să te plângi de astfel de banalităţi, pentru că sigur le-ai duce dorul dacă ai face schimb de vieţi cu Charlotte Davis.

Poartă tricouri largi şi hanorace pentru a-şi ascunde cicatricele. Sunt prea multe de numărat. Majoritatea aproape s-au vindecat, însă Charlotte le simte. Şi le aminteşte pe toate. Motivul, lama care i-a tăiat pielea, sângele ce i s-a scurs printre degete, euforia pasageră, senzaţia de abandon, de plăcere şi... de fericire. Când se taie, uită. Uită prietenii ce au abandonat-o şi familia pe care nu o mai are. Se droghează, fură şi trăieşte pe străzi. Şi este doar un copil.

„Prima dată când m-am tăiat, cea mai bună parte a venit la final: mi-am curăţat rana cu un tampon, am şters-o cu grijă, am studiat-o, aşa şi pe dincolo, şi mi-am cuibărit protector braţul, aşezându-l pe stomac. Gata, gata.
Mă tai pentru că nu fac faţă. E cât se poate de simplu. Lumea se transformă într-un ocean ale cărui valuri se sparg peste mine, cu un sunet asurzitor, inima mi se îneacă în apă şi mă cuprinde o spaimă cât planeta de mare. Am nevoie să mă eliberez, am nevoie să-mi fac rău mai mult decât mi-ar putea face lumea şi aşa îmi pot găsi alinarea.” ...more

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Apr 25, 2015 Laurie Flynn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sweet-sixteens, ya-contemporary

To say that I had been eagerly anticipating this book would be a grand understatement. I heard it pitched as a modern-day GIRL, INTERRUPTED, and that was enough for me to know I had to read it immediately. A fear sometimes exists with books you crave that badly- the fear that they won't live up to your expectations, but I didn't even have that feeling with this one. I knew somewhere in my soul that I would connect with it and love it beyond words. And I did.

GIRL IN PIECES is the story of Charli To say that I had been eagerly anticipating this book would be a grand understatement. I heard it pitched as a modern-day GIRL, INTERRUPTED, and that was enough for me to know I had to read it immediately. A fear sometimes exists with books you crave that badly- the fear that they won't live up to your expectations, but I didn't even have that feeling with this one. I knew somewhere in my soul that I would connect with it and love it beyond words. And I did.

GIRL IN PIECES is the story of Charlie, a girl who has lived an incredibly painful life and experienced more sorrow in her seventeen years than most do in a lifetime. She's haunted by many demons- her father, her best friend, her relationship with her abusive mother, her time spent on the streets. Charlie carries scars both emotional and physical- she's a cutter, which is her way of dealing with the pain, and her skin bears the marks of her trauma. As she struggles to make a new life, Charlie has to learn to live in her own skin and make peace with herself, even as external influences threaten to bring her back to dark places.

This was a book that sucker-punched me in the first page, that grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go. Kathleen Glasgow has such a totally original, immersive way with words. This is the kind of writing that feels fully, shockingly inventive. Charlie's voice is raw and hurt and sad, so sad, but she can also be hopeful and funny and strong and dynamic. I love that she is an artist and uses her drawings to channel her energy, both positive and negative. The emotions she channels into her art are visceral. Every time she pulled out her sketchbook, or got excited about the prospect of creating art, I wanted to cheer for her and hug her and tell her how amazing she is. Because she is amazing. She is learning that she can be loved, despite being told girls like her, girls with scars, are unlovable. And she is learning about a different, very important kind of love- the love she has for herself.

The sentences in this book are haunting, lyrical, sparse, purposeful. While the words aren't easy to digest, there is so much raw beauty in them, a tenderness pulsing under the surface, a hope brimming through even Charlie's ugliest thoughts. Charlie is a survivor, and I don't doubt that her story will change lives. As a reader, I will certainly never forget her.

A heartbreaking, beautiful debut that I will be recommending to everyone. GIRL IN PIECES is nothing short of a masterpiece.

...more

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Aug 11, 2015 Kerry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had the privilege of reading an ARC of this book well in advance of its Fall 2016 release date.

This was such an emotional reading experience for me that I struggle to describe it well. The writing is like nothing I have ever read--so piercing and beautiful and brutal and raw and true--that it truly has to be experienced first hand. There were passages that were so stunning, so shockingly brilliant that it quite literally took my breath away.
The story itself is made of the darkest dark and the ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Renata rated it did not like it

Shelves: stand-alone

The thing is...the more drama you add won't mean it'll make people suffer more, it's even more, it'll make you roll your eyes for a long time and it's disturbing. I'll write a review soon.

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Jul 31, 2015 Stefani Sloma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-arcs

Haunting and heartbreaking but so very beautiful. From Kathleen's author's note: "and sometimes the dark can get pretty dark, but it's filled with people who understand." Full review soon.

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Aug 16, 2016 Taneika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: beautiful-writing, faves, love-interest-is-an-ass

4.5 out of 5 stars
Review to come

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Feb 13, 2017 _racheljane_ rated it liked it

While reading Girl in Pieces, I went back and forth trying to figure out if I was enjoying it or not. It is a very emotionally heavy book. It weighed heavily on me and put me into a very weird place mentally. I can happily say my favorite thing about this novel was how realistic Kathleen Glasgow handled not only the self-harm aspect but the mental illnesses found in this book as well. It is a very hard book to rate just because I think it would be hard to enjoy a book with so much raw and honest ...more

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Sep 18, 2015 Jeff Zentner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Moving, haunting, and harrowing. Reading this book is like standing in a pounding surf, or being caught outside in a ferocious storm. It will batter you. It will cause you discomfort. It will leave you awestruck over its sheer power that threatens to unmoor you and beauty that threatens to overwhelm you.

And when you're finished, you'll know what it feels like to survive what you never imagined you could and to walk into the light of a new day.

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Mar 21, 2017 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, ya-realistic-fic, mental-health-psychology

Kathleen Glasgow, author of Girl in Pieces, was riding a bus when she glanced at her seatmate and spotted the all-too-familiar scars of a fellow cutter. The desperation to reach out and say: “I’m just like you. Look! You are not alone!,” was overwhelming, but fear silenced her. Now, years later, Ms. Glasgow wrote Girl in Pieces to make amends. To say--YOU ARE NOT ALONE--and that despite how all-encompassing the darkness may seem, there’s always light. You just have to know where to look.

The sto ...more

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Nov 29, 2017 Delphine Lurin rated it really liked it

This is a morbid story from the first page. Everything that happens is bad and rawly portrayed. There is no romanticization or good here. I was initially intrigued by the synopsis but was by no means prepared for what I read. This book was just so much to digest and take in, I had to put it down multiple times just to process the overwhelming darkness blanketing each page. Mental illness, suicide, self-harm, rape, love, abuse are all ever so evocatively described. Literally everything that happe This is a morbid story from the first page. Everything that happens is bad and rawly portrayed. There is no romanticization or good here. I was initially intrigued by the synopsis but was by no means prepared for what I read. This book was just so much to digest and take in, I had to put it down multiple times just to process the overwhelming darkness blanketing each page. Mental illness, suicide, self-harm, rape, love, abuse are all ever so evocatively described. Literally everything that happens in this book is a trigger for an even greater disaster than the one that preceded it. This book shows what happens when too much happens too quickly. Life becomes difficult to bear and an entrapping nightmare that blurs one’s perceptions of reality and the reality of their minds.

Charlie is a seventeen year old who has lived more than people manage to live in a lifetime. She was born as a girl in pieces in a small town in Minnesota. Her father was a depressed alcoholic whose internal demons lead him into the deep dark river forever. Her mother is just barely keeping herself alive. She neglects, harms, and gives up on life when her husband’s ends. And her best friend Ellis is dead. Well, not really dead like "in the ground" dead." She cut into herself too deeply and now remains in a faraway home ghosting through life and death, never really one or the other. That leaves Charlie traumatized and serves as the first major event that spurts the destructive events to come.

The novel begins with Charlie’s stay in a psychiatric award called Creel, She arrives after a fallout in a girl trafficking house. She is haunted by Fucking Frank. Here, she has a warm bed, safety, and food three times a day. She’s no longer on the streets getting hit up with drugs and sleeping beneath park benches. All in all Charlie got the better end of the deal here. She falls deeper and deeper into herself, talking to no one else for days. She watches the girls around her cry, throw tantrums; suffer - all being victims of their mind, feeling relief only through self harm. When Charlie’s bandages come off she feels ready for the new her - she begins talking and cuts off all of her hair. Creely is the first stop into the whirlwind of tears that this 17-year-old must fight through.

Her destiny leads her across the country to the sunny desert of Touson, Arizona. Here Charlie wants to start over with her hear. But how can she when she only falls into the arms of more broken hearts. Charlie continues to meet strangers who plant their black seeds deep within Charlie, but Charlie is content as it is to at least be noticed. In long sleeves and overalls she Walks Into the Grit, a rundown and grungy coffee shop looking for a job. She’s greeted by the infamous Riley and manages to secure her hands as a dishwasher. It’s a bit downgrading, but it’s at least something. Charlie gets swept into Riley’s drug and alcohol-directed life. Her professional relationship with Riley makes a sharp turn very quickly. Maybe for the better, but in the end, turns out to be for the worst.
Charlie has already been through so much and should be in school, getting ready for prom like other high school seniors. But she doesn’t. She won’t. And she never will. Too much has happened and Charlie has too many scars to ever have anywhere to call home or anyone she can say she loves. Everyone she’s loved about up to this point has been teen taken away from her.

I really felt for Charlie. She wasn’t making fun or romanticizing her own illness which is often the case in many YA novels that address these sorts of themes. Charlie reasons with herself and tries so hard to not fall back into her past life. There are several moments when she expresses her sadness and inability to pull herself back up. It hurt as a reader to witness all of this because much of what Charlie says has resonance. Her traumas qualify her sagacity.

The writing style is perfect for this book: steady and sensual. The authors’s representation of mental illness and self-harm is highly representative of the ugliness of the disease and the truth that it is really a disease and not just some twisted way to get attention. All the characters in this book struggle oftentimes never are able to fightback there demons which seems to be the case with Louisa who sets herself on fire by the end of the book. Glasgow’s poetic writing renders this book both heartbreaking, but beautiful. It was slow, but that’s really the only best way to treat these subjects with caution. This book is more of a self portrait than an actual story. I wasn’t sure where the climax, rising, or falling resolution was because there was all just so much happening to Charlie. This is more of a panorama of the ugliness of mental illness than a story to consume, enjoy and walk away from. It leaves you with unanswered questions such as "What happens with Riley and Charlie?" "What about Blue?" "What was written in those mounds of composition books left behind by Louisa?" "Does Charlie ever become a professional artist?" There’s so many I could list here, but perhaps that was Glasglow’s intention: to leave us with questions followed by that moment of sudden epiphany and better understanding of mental illness, it’s affects, and the influence external factors can have on it’s formation and level of intensity.

Girl in Pieces is not written as a narrative but rather is incongruently separated by flashbacks, Charlie’s thoughts and events occurring in present narrative time. There doesn’t seem to be anything in particular that pulls together flashbacks from reflections to suspense aside from the inescapable sadness which seems to overshadow the solace Charlie seeks. All of the descriptions and vivid imagery Glasgow uses weaves each fragment of the book to the other without creating any confusion which is often the case when authors alternate between narrative time and voice.

I especially admired Glasglow’s decision to subvert writing a closed conclusion to Charlie’s story. The book does not end happily; it finishes just as grimly as it began. Although the story begins in media reis, fast forwarding to the point where Charlie, or Silent Sue, finds herself bandaged up in a psychiatric ward. We don’t stay long here as Charlie is released in only a matter of days and has it on her mind to start over in life and make up for lost time and dangerous mistakes in any way she can. In this way the reader is given hope for Charlie’s destiny which makes the book all the more heart wrenching. New beginnings. This is what ties the beginning of the story to the end. The last section of the book is by no means a close but rather an opening into Charlie’s road to recovery. I loved this because it gave a sad, very sad, story so much hope. All the characters - Charlie, Riley, Blue, Linus - all demonstrate some sort of mental strength showing that out of darkness, light is still possible.

I would not recommend this book to your regular YA fangirl/boy. The story runs very deep and must be read with very cautious eyes. Everything that happens, despite being a work of fiction, portrays very real and possible circumstances. There are people out there that find relief through self harm. It is not for attention or to make oneself look a certain way. It’s to make oneself feel somehow better by hurting in a different way than they are already hurting. The intensity of this book stands in perfect contrast with the slowness of it’s progression bringing together hope and hopelessness into a nuanced sameness.

...more

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Apr 14, 2018 Julia Sapphire rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, mental-illness, romance

3.5 stars

TW: Self Harm, Suicide, Substance Abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual Assault, Rape, PTSD and more

"Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that thi ...more

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Sep 21, 2016 Kelly (Diva Booknerd) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: harper-collins, bookgasm, must-read

Girl in Pieces is momentous, a narrative beautifully written with tenderness, emotion and conviction. Kathleen Glasgow is a remarkable author, drawing on her own experiences to lend voice to Charlie, a girl who feels irrevocably tarnished and uses self harm to soothe her emotional ache. Charlie's character represents so many young women within our communities. Girls who have been abused, who haven't been afforded the opportunity of a loving family, to experience kindness or sanctuary. After her Girl in Pieces is momentous, a narrative beautifully written with tenderness, emotion and conviction. Kathleen Glasgow is a remarkable author, drawing on her own experiences to lend voice to Charlie, a girl who feels irrevocably tarnished and uses self harm to soothe her emotional ache. Charlie's character represents so many young women within our communities. Girls who have been abused, who haven't been afforded the opportunity of a loving family, to experience kindness or sanctuary. After her father was cruelly taken from her, her mother became her tormentor and precursor.

Charlie's narrative is poignant yet incredibly captivating. The reader is introduced to Charlie's character as she is brought into the institute, bleeding and abandoned after trying to end her own life. Her grief and longing are palpable, my heart ached for Charlie and her sense of abandonment. Self harm is her coping mechanism, using broken fragile pieces of mason glass to lacerate her arms, mutilating her body as tenderly as she creates her art. Charlie may have recovered from her physical anguish but her emotional scars remain and she becomes a fatality of the mental health system, the institute no longer able to treat the seventeen year old due to the lack of financial aide and releases her into the care of a mother who has no intention to care for her daughter.

Charlie's journey is confronting. Her Tender Kit she holds dear but determined to not only survive but flourish against adversity which begins with the kindness of Michael. Although Michael and Charlie were once friends, Michael can only provide Charlie with the bare necessities to survive while he's away. With a warm bed and the security of Michael's bungalow, Charlie's employment search finds her washing dishes at a small coffee house where Riley is regrettably employed.

The charismatic and charming Riley, a former musician whose life is a calamity of alcohol fuelled drug dependency, provides Charlie with a tenderness of a physical relationship beyond the confines of an intimacy. While Charlie begins to rebuild her life, Riley's addiction threatens to consume him. Riley was an interesting character. Although I didn't particularly like his character, it felt as though so many in his life enabled his drug and alcohol abuse and he held an heir of entitlement. Their relationship was toxic, but an incredibly important pinnacle in Charlie's journey.

Kathleen Glasgow's debut is courageous and unapologetic. Mental illness and addiction are often lifelong issues that so many in our community confront. Charlie's journey of healing is anguished, confronting and proving that even fictionally, there is no antidote.

Kathleen Glasgow is a remarkable woman who has breathed life into her characters through her own experiences, exposing herself so that others may find empowerment. Girl In Pieces was beautifully lyrical, yet dark and confronting, rarely seen in young adult novels. I commend Kathleen for her courage, composure and her ability to create a character who readers will see themselves within.

Charlie was beautiful yet so incredibly brave. The story of a girl who longs to feel loved, to feel safe and still dares to hope for what so many take for granted. Dark and captivating, Girl In Pieces is a narrative to be cherished. ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Sarah (Starry Night Reader) rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary, psychology-mental-health, read-in-2017, two-star, ya

I think this was just a matter of personal taste for me. I told myself a year ago that I would stop reading so many YA contemporaries because I'm pretty sure I've grown out of the genre. But here I am a year later leaving more mediocre reviews for more YA contemporaries haha.

I've read this story dozens of times by now, different characters and slightly different plots but it's all basically the same story. Besides that... this book had some other issues for me.

It felt like the author was border ...more

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Nov 09, 2016 Danielle rated it liked it · review of another edition

I just, I really don't know how I feel about this book. Some parts I loved, other parts I hated. I think it's important, but I just, ugh.

Review on my blog:
https://thechroniclesofdanielle.wordp...

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Mar 26, 2017 Ahsen rated it liked it

It was okay. Depressing and slow. But i recommend.

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May 21, 2017 Daniel Afloarei rated it really liked it

Cartea asta mi-a frânt inima și m-a făcut sa iubesc și sa urăsc oamenii în același timp. Felicitări editurii Storia pentru traducere!

Recenzia și concursul aici:

https://youtu.be/eXHMrCH_bnQ

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Feb 16, 2017 Carla rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

DNF at 33%.
I tried to read at least 50% but I couldn't do it.
This writing style always keept me on a distance and I didn't care about Charlie at all. There where terrible things happen to her but as a reader you just got half of the information. That was how I felt...like suddenly she was talking about boys and I just couldn't understand their relationship. It annoyed me. And of course the topic was hard but that wasn't what kept me from going on.
So in the end I think it's better to end it (eve ...more

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About Kathleen Glasgow

Kathleen Glasgow

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Kathleen Glasgow lives in Arizona. She likes musty old paperbacks from used bookstores that have cats wandering the aisles, cheesecake, coffee, and the Isle of Skye. Visit her on Twitter (@kathglasgow), Instagram (misskathleenglasgow), or her website (www.kathleenglasgowbooks.com).

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Quotes from Girl in Pieces

“Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.” — 93 likes

“That's how hearts get broken, you know. When you believe in promises.” — 88 likes

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