*Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow is now available!*
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. Delacorte Press, 2016. Paperback. 416 pages.
*I received a print ARC of Girl in Pieces courtesy of Delacorte Press and First in Line in exchange for an honest review*
I'm not really sure what I expected when I started this book, but it definitely wasn't what I read. Girl in Pieces is not your average story of a girl who is struggling, but instead feels like so much more. Based on the synopsis, I already expected this to be a heavy book, but it was even heavier and more intense than I expected. This book hit deep and was hard to read at times, but also impossible to put down.
First, I thought this was a great portrayal of mental health. Charlie goes through so many ups and downs and they are all completely sporadic and unpredictable. She may take ten steps forward one day, three steps back the next, and then no steps either way after that; the unexpectedness of everything was truly spot-on. You can feel her descent and her tiny victories and the guilt and shame she feels when she thinks she has messed up. Charlie wants to get better, she is trying really hard to follow the rules laid out by her doctor, but sometimes she just messes up, and that is normal and realistic. This is actually something that I really liked about Charlie - she never seemed to be intentionally self-destructive. She truly wanted to better herself and do what it takes to become better, but she was trapped by feelings of being damaged and unable to be loved 'like a normal person.'
In a weird way, I also sort of liked the fact that Charlie was essentially kicked out of her psychiatric hospital because her insurance funds disappeared. How realistic and lifelike is that? I've never read a book about psychiatric wards and mental health that really touched much on that aspect, and I think that's so important. So many people seem to forget or skim over the fact that to be in a psychiatric ward or receive quality help can be extremely expensive or require insurance, so sometimes those that need the help the most can't get it, and that's a horrible problem in our society that has yet to be resolved.
Glasgow's prose - wow. It's effortlessly brilliant and emotional. It flows in a poetic fashion at times, but other times it is raw and blunt and cut up. No matter what, though, it is almost always captivating to read. Glasgow does not shy away from heavy topics, and instead treats them with the care and occasional force needed to make a point. There are certain areas where we seem to get a more harsh inner dialogue from Charlie and it reads so passionately and is so emotionally charged - it's really just some superb writing.
Glasgow's prose - wow. It's effortlessly brilliant and emotional. It flows in a poetic fashion at times, but other times it is raw and blunt and cut up. No matter what, though, it is almost always captivating to read. Glasgow does not shy away from heavy topics, and instead treats them with the care and occasional force needed to make a point. There are certain areas where we seem to get a more harsh inner dialogue from Charlie and it reads so passionately and is so emotionally charged - it's really just some superb writing.
One of my only issues with this book was my connection with Charlie due to the writing style, however. At most points in the book, I felt completely sucked in, right there with Charlie, feeling what she was feeling, experiencing those events in her life. But at other times I felt rather disconnected and as if I was watching everything happen from outside of a foggy window, if that makes any sense. So while I didn't mind the writing or my connection to the story, this somewhat uneven narration drew me out of my reading concentration sometimes.
Overall, I am giving Girl in Pieces four stars for its brilliant capture of mental health issues and a girl struggling to make something more of her life, as well as the wonderful writing used to tell this story. I definitely recommend this one!
Overall, I am giving Girl in Pieces four stars for its brilliant capture of mental health issues and a girl struggling to make something more of her life, as well as the wonderful writing used to tell this story. I definitely recommend this one!
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Oooh, I'm really looking forward to this one! In a way, I'm glad it's "heavy" because I think a lot of books about mental health try to make it quirky. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, it was somewhat refreshing to read because of that.
DeleteThis is one I probably won't read because it's too close to home in some ways. But I'm glad it's realistic, and I agree with what you said about Charlie getting kicked out when her insurance stops paying. (Or people not getting hospitalised when they need it because their insurance doesn't cover it, or their deductible is so high they can't pay it.)
ReplyDeleteVery understandable, and yes, that was certainly something I was pleased that this book was able to capture for once. Insurance causes so many problems in one way or another (at least for me, haha).
DeleteGirl in Pieces is a book I wish I could read, but I feel that I can't. I believe topics like mental health are super important and are worth the read, but the heaviness of them are sometimes too much for me to bear and I usually need something to make me a bit lighter. I really need to be happy for me to take on a read like this one. However, I like how this book is portrayed, how it is realistic and covers all corners of what it's like to be in a position as Charlie's. Not many books do that!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand that, and I'm actually the same way about needing to be happy. If I'm in a place where I'm not feeling confident in myself and my life, I can't handle books like this very well. Which I guess isn't super true in this case, but I guess I didn't know what I was getting into. The realistic aspect of this was really a plus!
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