Kathleen Glasgow

As she struggles to recover and survive, seventeen-year-old homeless Charlotte "Charlie" Davis cuts herself to dull the pain of abandonment and abuse.

Girl in pieces

I love Charlie so much, she deserves the world. She’s very relatable, I hope she lives a good life.

Liv 🤍

you can spot the girls who have it easy. And then there’s me.

Silje Løvli Lorentsen

Years ago, I didn't want to write the story of my scars, or the story of being a girl with scars, because it is hard enough being a girl in the world, but try being a girl with scars on your skin in the world.

"Im afraid to fly" he whispers. "Isn't that funny, at my age? I am going to die, after all, but I'm afraid of a little hop across the sky. I'm willing to fly you all the way out here just so I don't have to fly back by myself." 

I admit that I have never flown in an airplane. "My goodness, then," he says. "What a pair we'll make."

Sometimes with people, you just become something, like, your role happens TO you, instead of you choosing it. I let that happen when I got here. I let it slip over me, even though I didn't want to. 

Cutting is a fence you build upon your own body to keep people out but then you cry to be touched. But the fence is barbed. What then?

The first page of the first book begins, in small, neat black script: 

A girl's life is the worst life in the world. A girl's life is: you are born, you bleed, you burn.

My first night here, when she lifted her blouse to change for bed, in the moment before that crazy hair fell over her body like a protective cape, I saw them, all of them, and I sucked my breath in hard. 

She said, "Don't be scared, little one." I wasn't scared. I'd just never seen a girl with skin like mine.

LIKE A BABY HARP SEAL, IM ALL WHITE. MY FOREARMS ARE thickly bandaged, heavy as clubs. My thighs are wrapped tightly, too; white gauze peeks out from the shorts Nurse Ava pulled from the lost and found box behind the nurses' station. 

Like an orphan, I came here with no clothes. Like an orphan, I was wrapped in a bedsheet and left on the lawn of Regions Hospital in the freezing sleet and snow, blood seeping through the flowered sheet. 

The security guard who found me was bathed in menthol cigarettes and the lat stink of machine coffee. There was a curly forest of white hair inside his nostrils. 

He said, "Holy Mother of God, girl, what's been done to you?"

But: I remember the stars that night. They were like salt against the sky, like someone spilled the shaker against very dark cloth. 

That mattered to me, their accidental beauty. The last thing I thought I might see before I died on the cold, wet grass.

Edna Aviles

I could tell her anything, and I did. Charlie, Charlie, you're so beautiful, so fucking angelic. Her hand in mine. She wore white flannel pajamas with black skulls on them. And that was that. My secret keeper.  

Fanny Keihäs

My scars are still tender and tight and will be for a long, long time , but I don’t care. 

I say because my arms hurt. My arms hurt all the way to my fingertips and they are so heavy in their bandages 

This paragraph is STRONG (wanna show this to Dr.E) 

Aashvi

its all whether someone has hurt you or made you feel bad or unwor- thy or uncdean, rather than taking the rational step of realizing that person is an asshole or a psycho and should be shot or strung up and you should stay the fuck away from them, instead we in- ternalize our abuse and begin to blame and punish ourselves and weirdly, once you start cutting or burning or fucking because you feel so shitty and unworthy, your body starts to release this neat-feeling shit called endorphins and you feel so fucking high the world is like cotton candy at the best and most colorful state fair in the world, only bloody and stufed with infection. But the fucked-up part is once you start self-harming, you can never not be a creepy freak, because your whole body is now a scarred and charred battlefield and nobody likes that on a girl, nobody will love that, and so all of us, every one, is screwed, in- side and out. Wash, rinse, fucking repeat.

snort coke, burn, cut, stab, slash, rip out your eyelashes, or fuck till you bleed and it's all the same thing: self-barm. She says: whether someone has hurt you or made r

Louisa says, "I mean, I'm talking to you, do you know that In my head, I mean. I'm telling you all sorts of things in my head, because you seem like you're a good listener. 

 My skin numbs as I walk away from the nurses' station. Id like to breathe, like Casper says, but I can't, that wont wotk not for me, not once I get angry and the music starts. Now look- roam

Why is she so mean to the turtle 😔😔😔😔

I watch that poor fucker all the time, I could watch him for hours and days, I find him so incredibly patient at a task that ultimately means nothing, because it's not like he's geting out of the fucking tank anytime soon, right?

Guys my brain is so rotted all I can think about is ppl glazing the salt transition on TikTok help. Also why is the book starting so seriously 😔😔

But: I remember the stars that night. They were like salt against the sky, like someone spilled the shaker against very dark cloth.

Makayla Whitt

while I say sadness what I really mean is black hole inside me filled with nails and rocks and broken glass and the words I don't have anymore 

this book is for every broken heart searching for a home

Alesha Clifford

There are so many people who are never coming back.

Oliver

School, it turns out, is super easy once you remove all the other kids, asshole teachers, and disgusting shit that goes on.

Robyn Harley

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. 

Jazz

“I want to help you get better, and I will, but I can only help you if you want to be helped.” 

I love this book. Charlie is the most relatable character and kathleen Glasgow portrays sh so realistically. However I won’t give this book five stars as it is very triggering, with graphic descriptions that could easily put a struggling person back on square one. This is one of my favorite books but I don’t want you to read it if you are struggling. 🤍

Very realistic and relatable as someone with a similar story. I couldn't have read this 15 years ago without being incredibly triggered, so I will say that it is not for everyone, particularly not for someone who currently struggles with self harm. But as someone with that firmly in the past, it felt comforting and validating to see my story represented, as it can feel lonely having a past few people around me can relate to. I felt a greater sense of love and empathy towards my past self reading this story.

This book shattered my soul, broke me into pieces, and left me utterly heartbroken 💔🥺. 

Nour wael

When I first began this book, I didn’t enjoy the depressing aspect of it, I found it off putting and didn’t enjoy reading about graphic details of self-harm (I still don’t). Now that I am finished the book, I can reflect and realise that these scenes and details were necessary to convey the message and severity of Charlie’s mental health issues. And it wasn’t pretty, but it was realistic.

This book was such a whirlwind of emotions. I was worried that this was going to be your typical “depressed girl meets hot guy they fall in love the end” kind of a story, and fortunately I was wrong. It was so much more reality based and dimensional than that. 

I loved the relationship between Charlie and Blue, the fact that Casper stopped responding to Charlie (something that would happen in real life) and I loved how Charlie didn’t end up with Riley at the end of the book. 

One thing I wanted to know more about was Charlie’s traumatic and abusive past as we got barely anything about it, but I suppose the idea is for us to focus on the present anyway.

I did enjoy this read but unfortunately I don’t really like books of the more depressing genre so I’m not sure if I’ll read anything similar by Kathleen Glasgow (though she is a great author). But that’s a personal issue, not a problem with the book itself.

Selina 

When I first began this book, I didn’t enjoy the depressing aspect of it, I found it off putting and didn’t enjoy reading about graphic details of self-harm (I still don’t). Now that I am finished the book, I can reflect and realise that these scenes and details were necessary to convey the message and severity of Charlie’s mental health issues. And it wasn’t pretty, but it was realistic.

This book was such a whirlwind of emotions. I was worried that this was going to be your typical “depressed girl meets hot guy they fall in love the end” kind of a story, and fortunately I was wrong. It was so much more reality based and dimensional than that. 

I loved the relationship between Charlie and Blue, the fact that Casper stopped responding to Charlie (something that would happen in real life) and I loved how Charlie didn’t end up with Riley at the end of the book. 

One thing I wanted to know more about was Charlie’s traumatic and abusive past as we got barely anything about it, but I suppose the idea is for us to focus on the present anyway.

I did enjoy this read but unfortunately I don’t really like books of the more depressing genre so I’m not sure if I’ll read anything similar by Kathleen Glasgow (though she is a great author). But that’s a personal issue, not a problem with the book itself.

Girl in Pieces

rating: 4.5 stars don't talk to me cause i literally feel like all my energy and soul have been sucked out of me pffft. i'm going to stay in bed and cry while 

 play on a loop in the background. k bye.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

[review coming soon] 

rating: 4.5 stars don't talk to me cause i literally feel like all my energy and soul have been sucked out of me pffft. i'm going to stay in bed and cry while "making the bed” and "logical" from GUTS play on a loop in the background. k bye.

I always find it hard to review books that I don’t enjoy and sadly this is one of them. It’s such a tricky book to rate as I can tell that it’s been well – researched and a lot of time, energy and effort has gone into creating it but I just didn’t click with it and that is okay – Not every book is for everyone and this just happened to not be a book for me.

Our main character Charlie is in an inpatient facility after a suicide attempt, after Charlie is released from the facility and goes to live somewhere far away. She gets a job and finds somewhere to live. Starts trying to make it on her own and all that.

This is a book that has lots of Trigger warnings in so please do go and look these up before you consider reading. For me I just found the voice of the main Character too flat and I just couldn’t connect with her which made this book difficult for me to get drawn into and I think part of this was down to the chapters, somewhere a few pages others where half a page long and It just didn’t feel connected to me personally which made it difficult to follow especially as some had time jumps between them. 

Ian Brakspear

I always find it hard to review books that I don’t enjoy and sadly this is one of them. It’s such a tricky book to rate as I can tell that it’s been well – researched and a lot of time, energy and effort has gone into creating it but I just didn’t click with it and that is okay – Not every book is for everyone and this just happened to not be a book for me.

 

Our main character Charlie is in an inpatient facility after a suicide attempt, after Charlie is released from the facility and goes to live somewhere far away. She gets a job and finds somewhere to live. Starts trying to make it on her own and all that.

 

This is a book that has lots of Trigger warnings in so please do go and look these up before you consider reading. For me I just found the voice of the main Character too flat and I just couldn’t connect with her which made this book difficult for me to get drawn into and I think part of this was down to the chapters, somewhere a few pages others where half a page long and It just didn’t feel connected to me personally which made it difficult to follow especially as some had time jumps between them. 

Meh. It was alright. Found some bits hard to u deratand but overall not terrible and I did read it in a few days. Riley I think is one of my most hated characters ever!!! 

Katie Roberts

Es ist einfach nichts für schwache Nerven. Ich konnte es ab einem Teil nicht mehr lesen, weil es so „schlimm“ war. Meiner Meinung nach, kann ich es nicht weiter empfehlen. 

Sofia 

This is my favorite book and it is fucking angelic

Brooke Philippi

This is just my personal opinion I found it boring and I sometimes couldn’t understand what was going on

Priya kohli

Věra Douděrová 

I really liked the writing of Kathleen Glasgow, it is pleasant to read. The storyline is very touching and heartwarming and it gives you a new outlook on a so important topic, which needs way more awareness.

However i think in chapter 2, which is most of the book, the plot is moving slowly (in a good way, because the focus is on describing Charlies thoughts and feelings) but then in chapter 3 it’s moving very fast and suddenly everything and everyone in her life is changing to the good and getting better. Although this gives the book a nice ending and leaves you with a „good“ feeling i think it seems a bit unrealistic and it comes a bit too fast. 

All in all i highly recommend this book and hope many people will read it and raise awareness for this topic. 

Safia 🤍

I really liked the writing of Kathleen Glasgow, it is pleasant to read. The storyline is very touching and heartwarming and it gives you a new outlook on a so important topic, which needs way more awareness.

However i think in chapter 2, which is most of the book, the plot is moving slowly (in a good way, because the focus is on describing Charlies thoughts and feelings) but then in chapter 3 it’s moving very fast and suddenly everything and everyone in her life is changing to the good and getting better. Although this gives the book a nice ending and leaves you with a „good“ feeling i think it seems a bit unrealistic and it comes a bit too fast. 

All in all i highly recommend this book and hope many people will read it and raise awareness for this topic. 

This book is very well written. It’s awe-inspiring. The feelings and emotions are described perfectly.

HOWEVER! Before you read this make sure you are aware of the topics it covers and how it does that. This book is a living, breathing trigger. Make sure you are in the right headspace to read this, especially if you have firsthand experience with the topics discussed in Charlie’s story.

Kyra

Always remember: You are not alone.

This book is very well written. It’s awe-inspiring. The feelings and emotions are described perfectly.

HOWEVER! Before you read this make sure you are aware of the topics it covers and how it does that. This book is a living, breathing trigger. Make sure you are in the right headspace to read this, especially if you have firsthand experience with the topics discussed in Charlie’s story.

Julie Rubens

I find it very hard to rate this book and I honestly have no idea why. 

I think it’s a very wel written book that really shows how everyone’s story is different and focuses on the importance of having people to rely on and to help you. I like how well Charlie’s thought spirals and anxiety attacks were written and I just found it an important story over all.

Saffy

a 2 1/2 actually bc what the heck did i just read it’s nothing enticing fawk i regret spending most of my time for thsi book

it was such a heartbreaking but meaningful story 

chelsea lytton

deva

go be absolutely, positively, fucking angelic

i won't stop recommending this book to my friends!!!! this book is very beautiful, a 10/10,  this book hurts me in a very good way. i loveee it, best book everrrrrr!! BUT it contains a lotttttttt of trigger warnings so read the TW carefullyyyyy don't let this book trigger youu

la☆

been dwelling in my shelf to finish this one as i can acknowledge it as my crack diary. this book definitely would trigger you in so many ways since kathleen really wrote that bluntly (as most of her writing as well) but that.. that makes this book become really special. i always take my break to look for some air or glass of water every after one chapter since it will drained your whole energy, also close this book as a raw flesh right below my hands; too gentle, too fragile, too beautiful as the difference of my own skin.

4,5 of 5 ⭐️ from m

The amount of detail and emotion honestly made me cry at points. After Charlie was in the car after having her really bad relapse left me In tears. The emotions I felt was unbearable. I wish I could read it for the first time again 

Madison tidwell

Arianna

so the story in general was kind of hard to get into, but I really liked the ending so I rounded up from a 3 to a 4

It wasn’t bad. It definitely didn’t live up to its hype though. I couldn’t finish it. It was very slow.

abbie danielle ☕️

Nina Verhaaff 

It’s amazing how someone could describe how it is to have a body with scars and how people deal with it. It’s a personal story but with some twists. There are always good and bad times and this book made me realize a lot of things, it made me think about my life too.
I didn’t like all of the characters but that’s okay cause you can’t like all of them. 
Self harm is a real problem and I’m just so glad people are finally able to talk about these problems and hopefully don’t feel so alone in their journey to let’s say recovery.

Girl in pieces

Reviews

Highlights