TITLE Pieces of Us
AUTHOR Margie Gelbwasser
PAGES 288 (ePub edition)
PUBLISHED March 8th 2012 by Flux
READ March 31 - April 1, 2012
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Chapters.Indigo
SYNOPSIS Two families. Four teens.
A summer full of secrets.
Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives.
Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too—at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it.
Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality—before it tears them to pieces.
Pieces of Us was a painful book to read. It was unrelenting and vivid and it felt like a punch in the gut. At times it made me feel dirty for continuing on, but I had to. This book does not shy away from the taboo, I had to check a few times to make sure that I was in fact reading a YA book. It is heavy on the language and painfully descriptive of the sex. This wasn't like any book I have ever read before, but I loved it. I spend most of my time reading paranormal and dystopian books, so when I read a book like this it feels like it brings me back to reality.
The characters in Pieces of Us all have their own horrifying story and we get to learn it first hand as the POV splits between our 4 MC's chapter by chapter. The most painful for me was Katie, hers was a story that you would see on CNN and it would make you feel utterly disgusted to your core. Julies story also pulled at my heart strings, and I felt so bad for her in the beginning. As it went on and Julie fought harder for her mothers approval I really started to dislike her and once she was vindicated and received that approval I hated her. The girls mother is really a terrible woman, I found it a little hard to believe that she would favour one child so openly.
Alex and Kyle have their own problems and the broken home that they come from was all too real. Their absent mother who let her children slip away from her angered me to no end. I could not bring myself to like Alex, even when he was showing his softer side as Sasha, all I could think of were the derogatory terms he used when talking about women and I wanted to punch him in the face. While their story isn't as descriptive I'm left to wonder if it is still just as effective because it leaves the horror to your imagination.
I know that what I have said here may not make you want to run out and read this book. It left me with a very somber and empty feeling and I think Pieces of Us is a book that will stick with me for a very long time. But it is well worth the read, just be warned that you are in for some heavy reading.
It's that time of the week again, time for Parajunkee and Alison Can Reads blog hop! This week the question is.... drumroll please.......
