Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Girl in Pieces

By Kathleen Glasgow

Published Year : 2016

Page Count : 400 pages

Medium : Paperback

Genre : Psychological Fiction,Self Harm, Domestic Abuse, Child Abuse, Addiction, 2023-read.

Rating : 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Take 

I finished this book with a smile playing on my lips, silent tears of happiness and joy streaming down my cheek. I wasn’t prepared for this emotional roller coaster. I had to take occasional breaks to handle the turmoil this story was stirring in me. I got very invested in the character and the narrative is vivid, cinematic,very descriptive. The story focuses on the lives of people who feel overwhelming emotional disappointments and powerless to handle them, inflict self harm in the form of cutting or burning themselves. This act makes them forget the pain and gives them a high for a while.

This story holds a candle of hope for people going through similar experiences and shows them that there can be a silver lining behind the obstructing void and darkness. I found it very difficult to travel into the darkness of Charlie’s past which is brutal on any level. I liked the fact that she could – with the help of her friends and really random acquaintances – make a turn around for the better. I liked her character and its emotional depth, vulnerability, trusting naivete a lot. This book will remain with me for long.

About the Story 

The feeling that something bad or awful is going to happen to Charlie keeps creeping unavoided – she is so scared to face the world. Charlie is a damaged and deeply bruised/broken soul. She has faced abuse from her raging and unloving mother who throws her out onto the streets when she retaliates. (Made me thank for my life a thousand times over, for having the parents that I do, with all their flaws and differences,that still love me and tolerate me when I misbehave or overreact.) Charlie has lead an isolated and marginalized life, bullied by peers at school. When a new girl, Ellis, makes friends with her, she is beyond thrilled and grateful. But soon that dwindles as Ellis finds herself in an all consuming and obsessively destructive relationship. She has other shattering,mind numbing experiences while struggling to live on the streets.To cope with loneliness, powerlessness and inner self negative image, Charlie starts cutting herself. Her body – mainly arms and legs – is riddled with scratches and bruises. She spends time in a therapy center like a rehab but gets kicked out when she runs out of funds.  She moves to live near her childhood friend and ex crush when she gets out because her mother doesn’t want her staying with her. She hopes it would pan out into something meaningful but when it doesn’t, she feels utterly alone and abandoned. 

At her new work place, she meets a man Riley who was once on a famous music band but now is on a downward spiral of addiction to booze and drugs. For some loose change and food parcels, she covers up his addiction missteps at work. They get romantic and it turns into a toxic relationship. Their break up scene sent shivers down my spine and had me shaking in my boots. I thought he would absolutely and completely break her – who is so fragile and delicate. But things turn around and it ends well – for Charlie atleast – thank her friends and strangers who cared more for her than her own mother or family.

Highly recommend this book to people who go through depression and find no way to handle it other than self harm or self destruction. Its always better to get out of the toxicity than stay with vague hopes to alter the situation.