“People should know about us. Girls who write their pain on their bodies.”
“I cut because I can't deal. It's as simple as that. The world becomes an ocean, the ocean washes over me, the sound of water is deafening, the water drowns my heart, my panic becomes as large as planets. I need release, I need to hurt myself more than the world can hurt me, and then I can comfort myself.”
I am honestly speechless.
I have not put this book down for a week and I finished it at 1AM. I’m heartbroken that it’s over.
This book is one of the most moving stories I have ever read. Kathleen Glasgow channels her trauma and pain into a beautiful story of healing. The story of Charlie Davis is one full of raw emotion. She leads a rough young life, struggling with self-harm and many years of abuse, before going out on her own. She meets a addict named Riley West, who she starts a tumultuous, complicated relationship with. She also meets and loses people along the way.
Glasgow leads us through her life, her past, her temptations, her mental health struggles, and the challenge of living alone.
“A girl's life is the worst life in the world. A girl's life is: you are born, you bleed, you burn.”
The plot is fast paced and the dialogue is amazing. It’s a rough, realistic book, the writing sometimes reflecting the anger, sadness, and passion in Charlie’s life.
She dealt with homelessness, death, SA, and more. We follow her through finding a job and a place to stay. Through bad relationships and relapses. And finally through healing and growing. Charlie finds herself. She finds her joy, her passion, her peace.
“Everyone has that moment I think, the moment when something so momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces. And then you have to stop. For a long time, you gather your pieces. And it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.”
This book and its characters really spoke to my heart. I highly recommend this book for any young person who struggles with mental health. Charlie’s incredible strength and will to heal and grow and live is one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever read.
This book went so far past my expectations and I will absolutely be rereading.
10000000/10!!! Loved this book beyond words! Thank you Kathleen Glasgow <3
“Go be absolutely, positively, fucking angelic.”
Happy Reading!