Author's
Book summary:
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.
Kenna, our main character in this story is a teen girl who when looked from the outside had a really normal teen life. What many parents ignore is that school highly influences kids and their behavior as schoolmates put the worst kind of pressure on you - peer pressure. Which is hard to ignore especially as that critical age is when kids wish to belong most of everything. So when her friends started cutting Kenna didn't feel like having a choice. Only what happens when cutting becomes much more than just some game and it turns into competition and serious issue.
It was while in psychiatric watch that we get to meet Kenna better and when we get to see her story. It was really easy for me to feel for her, even though she is not really an optimistic character. At some moments she reminded me of Hazel from The Fault in Our Starts with her views and feelings. That's why this book felt real to me, as neither the author nor Kenna didn't feel like sugarcoating the situation.
Now we come to the writing. When you read the blurb you can see it's written in verse and that kind of writing usually works for me. I shall say that not only I liked the verses but I also liked how writing changed throughout the story. It stopped when Kenna did and it changed as her thoughts did. Some might not like the chopped verses, but they correspond with Kenna which made me feel really connected with her.
Lastly, kudos to whomever created this title, as it really is poetic and it fits the story.
Rating: 5 stars.
Until the next time,
*Note: Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, HarperCollins via Edelweiss. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this too Tanja (although not quite to the extent you did). I completely agree that the writing was just absolutely fantastic, which is saying a lot since I'm not usually a poetry fan, and the book overall was so powerful and thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3
OdgovoriIzbriši~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf
This subject would not have made me choose to read this novel, but what you say about how the author handled it and the particularity of the writing made me interested - on my list !
OdgovoriIzbrišiBooks written in verse never quite work for me, but maybe I'll give this a try!
OdgovoriIzbrišiJen @ YA Romantics
I never read a book written in verse and this seems amazing. I love YA biiks with real issues and characters that dont see the world through pink glasses. Great review :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiDang it I didn't grab this one and now I am regretting that choice!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSo glad you loved this!
I do enjoy verse novels. So much is conveyed with very few words, but I was a little worried to pick this up because of the issues. Nice to see you enjoyed this so much, Tanja! Wonderful review! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiHmm, the writing has me VERY curious. Style changing? Well I did experience it a bit with Trial of Fire but surely not as much as you did. Great review, Tanja!
OdgovoriIzbrišiPS. I see that you're currently reading Stitching Snow--yay! :D
This sounds really good. I've been so curious about it, but the writing style kind of scared me. Great review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI prefer my YA with issues too, and I love books written in verse. Thanks for the review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI just saw another blog, I believe it was Brandi Breathes Books who also reviewed this and gave it just as high a rating as you did! I am still unsure though. Although it seems like a meaningful and worthy plot that I would be intrigued by, I'm just not sure about the verse thing. I have only read one book like that and although I enjoyed it, I know it wasn't for me. Hmm.. I am still debating.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI kind of missed it was written in verse, and I started reading it, but I couldn't get into the story. I don't know why, but I really don't like books written in verse. I'm glad you like it though.
OdgovoriIzbrišiKiss of Broken Glass isn't a book I'd have thought to pick up at all but your positive review of it has me curious to pick it up. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Tanja! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiWonderful review Tanja. My daughter loves stories like this written in verse so I forwarded your review to her.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI only just read my first verse written books two weeks ago and really enjoyed it (although it was such a change of pace for me) so now i'm pretty interested in this one! Glad to hear this one left a mark on you! I'll be picking it up soon!
OdgovoriIzbrišiVerse books just don't work for me. I feel like I can't connect to the characters and story enough.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI tend to not like verse books, but I did enjoy To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones. I think I might give this one a try. I'm especially glad that Kenna and the book overall come across as very real. Great review :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI've yet to read this one in its entirety, and I'm on the fence. One, I really don't like verse books. Two, many of the reviews I've read for this one were very so-so. But, it was nice seeing a different opinion about it! Makes me reconsider that maybe if I should give this a chance :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiFaye at The Social Potato
I love this title and I clearly remember seeing this book as your WoW pick once. In fact, I wanted to have this as my pick as well, but it's too late now. ANYWAY. My God! I am going to read this book. Period. The end. I love the sound of it. I love your review of it (I like do all your reviews). I salute you, Tanja. Awesome review!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSarika @ The Readdicts
This is a fantastic review. I'm wondering why this is the first time I'm coming across this book. I'm not usually a fan of books written in verses but since you said it matches Kenna's thoughts, I'm beginning to rethink my policy on books written in verse. :)
OdgovoriIzbriši