*Review* Kiss of Broken Glass – Madeleine Kuderick

 Kiss of Broken Glass

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.

*Review* Everblossom – Larissa Hinton

 Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology

Larissa Hinton

53 pages

ASIN: B005H5GKIY

Format: E-book

Source: Author

Everblossom is a short anthology of stories and poetry that represent different stages of a flower (seed, bud, blossom).  The stories and poems are dark, light, realistic, fantasy, heartbreaking, disturbing and everything in between.

The stories are very diverse and I enjoyed them, though there were several typos throughout the book.  I enjoyed the writing style and felt it was very clear.  I have to say I enjoyed the poetry more than the stories, however.  I found the Words Speak Volumes poems were very intriguing and well written.  Almost every line was a single word that may or may not directly connect to the next word, but all together, it spelled out the entire story without having to include every word like a story.

I rated this book as a 4, though it was really almost a 4, but above a 3.5, so it’s real rating would have to be 3.75.  The stories still had me intrigued and left me wanting to know more about what was going to happen in the stories, so the author did well at keeping your attention and interest.

This book could fall under adult or young adult because of the subjects it goes over, though I wouldn’t suggest anyone 13 or younger read it because some of the harsher subjects.  All in all, I enjoyed it, but I wish it had been longer.

Diverse, dark in places, well-written, unique, a bit too short.

*Review* Triangles – Ellen Hopkins

 

Triangles

Ellen Hopkins

544 pages

ISBN: 9781451626339

Read 9-23-11

Release 10-18-11

     Ellen Hopkins is the bestselling author of incredibly popular young adult novels, such as Crank and Glass, that are enjoyed both by teens and adults.  Triangles is her first adult novel, which is written in verse instead of the common prose of most novels.  This novel is definitely meant for mature readers, and in my opinion, if you are easily offended, you may not like it because of some of the issues and content that comes up during the story.  That being said, I thought it was a very wonderful book.  It is very artistic in its structure, words, and story. 
     This book follows three women, Marissa, Holly, and Andrea, through some very tough times they are having with family, love lives, and careers.  There are many emotional and personal changes that happen for these women, and the author’s words do an amazing job of transporting you along on their journey.
     The book being written in verse gives a whole different feel to the novel.  It has a different flow and emotions are emphasized in a different way.  When grammar and punctuation are not something you have to pay strict attention to and rules can be bent, other things happen with a story, and the beauty of it can be accentuated even further.  Hopkins’s verses are geniusly written and absolutely exquisite.  
     The personalities of the characters really come through in this work, and I feel as if I know them well.  Their true selves shine through in each verse, raw and real.  The writing of this work is very honest and how-it-is, all reality, making it very believable; it matches the drama of real life.  The pages of poetry are full of lovely descriptions and meaning, both obvious and hidden.
     The only bad thing I could possibly say about this book is that it has a tendency to be confusing at first when it switches from the view points of the three women.  I think that was a me thing, though, and has nothing to do with the author’s style, since I am not very used to reading books with more than two view points.  So many of the author’s words are powerful, but I think the most powerful was the last poem.  Wonderful!

Magnificent, artistic, real, honest, descriptive.         4.5 stars!

*Review* Exposed- Kimberly Marcus

Exposed

Kimberly Marcus

260 pages

ISBN:  9780375866937

Read 7-17-11

     Exposed is a very open, poetic story about two best friends, Kate, a dancer, and Liz, a photographer, who have known each other for years.  They are practically inseparable until they get into a fight at one of their monthly sleepovers and Kate starts to act oddly around Liz.  That night changed both of their lives forever, and their friendship.
     This was the first book I ever read that was written in poems.  It has a very different, artistic feel to it that has a nice flow that is unique to this type of novel and I thoroughly enjoyed this style of writing.  It took no time at all to read it; I sped through it in about 2 hours.  Obviously, it is a very fast read, which is precisely how I like my books.
     As for the story, it deals with a tough situation and your heart is yanked in two different directions just like Liz’s.  Liz is put into the middle and doesn’t know which way to lean.  It’s a very strong story with honest words and a lot of turmoil for the main characters.  As the title says, characters are exposed in ways they never thought they would be and they have to cope with what happened and how it affected them.

Raw, honest, poetic, turbulent.   4 stars