
Girl In Pieces, by Kathleen Glasgow, tells us about the life of Charlie Davis, a seventeen year old girl who has already gone through more trauma and loss than a person should. The story picks up right after Charlie is admitted into a mental institution, and proceeds to follow her even out of the institution and out into the real world, where she is alone.
Glasgow's story is a heartbreaking tale of what it's like to grow up surrounded by loss, drugs, abuse, homelessness, rape, suicide, depression and self-harm. So before I continue on, I want to advise anyone who is easily triggered by any of these topics to avoid reading this book. I know some of these scenes were very heavy and hard to read personally, especially when most of the book is surrounding these topics and some scenes can go into graphic details.
Now that I've gotten any trigger warnings out of the way, I want to talk about how emotional this book made me. I don't want to spoil too much, but some scenes had me sobbing and texting my best friends to remind them that I loved them. The relationships between Charlie and the other characters are so realistic and raw, and I think that's what made me so sad. For example, the relationship between her and another character, Riley West, was so toxic and abusive; you knew what was happening before Charlie did. The entire relationship between those two was absolutely tragic and heartbreaking to read. I was really able to put myself into Charlie's shoes, even if I hadn't actually experienced what she was going through, and that made me appreciate the life I have more and more.
Also, I was NOT able to put this book down. Seriously, I finished all 398 pages in the span of a few hours. Though the story is not very suspenseful (like most of the books I read), I was still very captivated. As somebody who loves a happy ending, I had to read the entire book in one sitting to feel, not exactly satisfied, but content with the story. I felt like, if I stopped in the middle of the story, something worse would happen to Charlie (which I know is irrational, the book already had a set ending). The way Glasgow wrote this story was excellent, I was so invested in Charlie's story.
I would recommend this book to anyone! Unless you believe you might feel uncomfortable or triggered by some of the topics mentioned above, of course. The bottom line is this: Girl In Pieces was a depressing story, but it's a very important read to expand your worldview and remind you to appreciate the good things in life.