Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow - Book Review
(Trigger warning: this book includes difficult themes such as suicide, self harm, sexual assault and drug use)
If you’re looking for a haunting young adult read about rising from the ashes when you have nothing left to live for, then this is your book.
Kathleen Glasgow has been open about her own mental health - about self harming, drinking, and being a girl with scars on her skin. I’m like Kathleen, I know what it’s like to want to die, and to ache from self inflicted wounds. It’s not something that’s easy to talk about - but self harming is so common among young adults, and it’s thought that nearly a quarter of young people in the UK have self harmed by the age of 14.
Girl in Pieces follows 17 year old Charlie, shortly after she’s admitted to a psychiatric hospital in the US. Charlie is shortly discharged after her insurance runs out, and a friend from the past gives her a leg up in starting a new life. This book is all about Charlie’s journey in slowly collecting together the pieces of herself, and putting them together in a way that she can live with.
When reading, you can tell that Kathleen has poured her heart out into this book. Charlie’s pain and emotion lifts from the page, making it difficult to read at points. I actually had to take a break before finishing the last 60 pages, as it felt pretty intense. Saying that, I thought that the writing was phenomenal and the author’s portrayal of mental illness is something that really stands out. Kathleen depicts depression in the complicated way that it exists in real life, with the dips and turns that make up recovery, and the all consuming way that symptoms can eat a person alive.
Charlie doesn’t come across as a very well rounded character, but that’s because she isn’t very well rounded at all. Over the course of the book we watch Charlie begin to develop an identity outside of her pain and suffering. Although the story is haunting, there is a glimmer of hope that points towards Charlie’s eventual recovery, and I love how the author portrayed this development in Charlie’s character.
You’ve probably noticed from my review that Kathleen Glasgow is really great at writing about complicated subjects with nuance. Most things are a lot more complicated than they initially appear, and that also applies to the relationships between people. Without giving any spoilers, I loved how Kathleen portrayed complicated characters with complicated relationships in this book. No-one is perfect, and sometimes people need to save themselves before helping someone else. Likewise, people who do horrible things are not always completely terrible people - that doesn’t excuse what they did, but it’s a much more rounded way of viewing individuals.
If you enjoy reading fiction books about mental illness, then I really think you’ll like this book. It is a difficult and intense read for sure, but the writing is brilliant and the story is something that will stay with you for a long time. I’m excited to read the author’s newest book, You’d Be Home Now, which I already have on my shelves ready to read!
Do let me know if you’ve read this book as I’d love to hear from you.
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