Madeleine Kuderick
224 pages
Read 10-16-14
Source: Library
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Madeleine Kuderick’s gripping debut is a darkly beautiful and lyrical novel in verse, perfect for fans of Sonya Sones and Laurie Halse Anderson. Kiss of Broken Glass pulses with emotion and lingers long after the last page.
In the next seventy-two hours, Kenna may lose everything—her friends, her freedom, and maybe even herself. One kiss of the blade was all it took to get her sent to the psych ward for seventy-two hours. There she will face her addiction to cutting, though the outcome is far from certain.
When fifteen-year-old Kenna is found cutting herself in the school bathroom, she is sent to a facility for mandatory psychiatric watch. There, Kenna meets other kids like her—her roommate, Donya, who’s there for her fifth time; the birdlike Skylar; and Jag, a boy cute enough to make her forget her problems . . . for a moment.
I have read only two other books written in verse, but I have found I do enjoy the ones have read and look forward to reading more.
Kiss of Broken Glass deals with a hard topic – cutting – and what could drive a person to do it. I found Kenna to be very realistic and tortured, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself. Through Kenna we learn about the drive and ache of her addiction to self harm and the author does a great job of making us feel that need right along with Kenna. The book spans only 72 hours, but in that short period, things become very eye opening. The book was an incredibly fast read, but it was also powerful.
The few characters we meet during the commitment weren’t around very long, but they each had their own special impact on Kenna. I especially liked Skylar and her honesty. She was very open about everything and I think that helped Kenna be more honest with herself. Donia was ok, but she was also someone who wanted to help Kenna keep cutting and didn’t seem like someone much into quitting self harm. I didn’t get to know Jag too well, but the little bit I did see of him I did like him.
I definitely enjoyed this book and look forward to more work from this author!
Well written, powerful, fast read, really puts you in the main character’s shoes.
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