Pieces of us

4.5 stars

My thoughts

Cover: The blue sky, the green field , the swing set in motion on a summer day got my attention like that when i first say it last year on a IMM of christi at the story siren.That scene has a huge and important part in this great and touching YA.

Book When i first say it on netgalley i flipped out[ok that???s overdoing it a bit,i was really exited] i requested.Crossing my fingers and toes. BUT i got declined,I requested it again and got declined for the second time.I finally got aprroved.Thank you Flux. I though”need to read this soon”.My contanious effort was not for nought.

Before i start this review, this is dark.I was prepared for it but got schocked still.It was meant to be schoking

These teens are f*cked up.I can???t believe the parents did not see their kids were hurting inside.But he that reality .A lot of parents are to buzzy to see or sence whats happening.I have to ad there were great parental figures. The grandpa and ma???s.
Some parts of the synopsis are abit misleading. A summer full of secrets. The story takes place over two years and not one summer.Some people might find the pacing a bit dragging.But in mine opinion it was needed to tell the story

The writing was nice to read and flowed smoothly. In four different pov???s that of Katie,Alex,Julie and Kyle???s.I have not read a other book that's written in 2nd person that i can remember.I loved.Love different pov but their chapters were a bit short at times. That only irked me. Non the less i could connect with them all. I would glad to jump through the pages to comfurt them. Probably there reaction could be??????wtf , who are you?????? lol

All four teens had 360 turn around[for the better or worst] in my opinion and character growth.The katie,julie,kyle and alex i first met were different at the end.katie was a bitch and alex a @shole.But i got to care for them.A huge plus.Kyle and Julie doubted themselves a lot but that changed[i gotta try to doubt myself]I felt connected to Kyle a lot and saw a couple of things of me in him[YA SAVES].I can say the secret that???s come to light liffted and helped with a lot of hurt and pain.And eventually a more grounded love for all of them to each other and close people around them

If you love dark topics , no let me rephrase that like reading about dark topics in contemporary YA.This not a light read.Kinda dark is an understamend.I recently read that book banners are trying to ban it of its language and real heart braking stuff teens encounter.Give it a try.I can't wait to read miss Gelbwasser other book, inconvenient.

thanks to Flux for approving my request of Pieces of Us

this review is also posted on roro is reading

this was part of the 2012 contemp challenge hosted by katiesbookblog.com

Pieces of Us was one of the toughest reads that I've ever had. I ultimately finished the book, but it was more out of morbid fascination than anything else. The characters here are so broken, so lost, so disturbed, that I wasn't sure if there was any saving grace to them. By the time I finished reading my only thought was, “So what does this teach me?” I'm not even sure if this rambling paragraph makes any sense.

What I can say about this book is that it is very realistic. Despite the fact that I didn't always love the characters (and in fact I hated a few of them with a white hot rage) they could very well exist in this world. I think what threw me off most is that the characters in this book are so young and yet so far off the beaten path. I know there are people like this out there, but it really terrifies me to acknowledge that.

At the end of the day, I just feel torn about this book. It gutted me and left me feeling empty. There are good points in it. There is hope at the end, but the majority of it is just depressing and dark. This is about the longest review that I can write because, even weeks later, I'm still not sure how to express how I feel.