Synopsis:
Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail-- her abuser's identity. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts; aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. Scars is the unforgettable story of one girl's frightening path to the truth.
My Thoughts:
Before I begin my review, I feel I should start with a warning. This book is not for the faint of heart. It deals with a lot of dark issues such as cutting, sexual abuse, and mind control. It is disturbing and even mind blowing at times. This book is classified as Young Adult. However, even though the main character is a young adult, I think it should be classified as Adult or New Adult. Due to the graphic nature of the book, I would recommend that it’s readers be 18 or over. Having said that, the book was fantastic. It completely captivated me. I had seen it around a few times, but had never had time to read it. Now, I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. The plot was brilliant. It was so emotionally raw at times, I had to sit there and let my brain process what was happening before moving on. It was absolutely heart breaking to hear Kendra’s thought process about how her abuser tormented her. The part of the book where he teaches her to do something was almost too much for me and I read gritty books like this quite a bit. It was earth shattering and painful. I really liked that the author added an LGBT theme to this book. I love reading LGBT books. Social issues and LGBT are two of my favorite genres so I was excited that the author put them together.
The characters in Scars were great. A few of them creeped me out but that is what made them interesting. My favorite character was Meghan. I liked how she stuck by Kendra even after finding out all the things that Kendra was going through. I also liked her bad ass 'I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, I am going to do what I want’ attitude. I will definitely be reading anything the author writes in the future.
I give Scars: 5/5.
Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://www.cherylrainfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cherylrainfield
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cheryl.rainfield.fan.page
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3305514.Cheryl_Rainfield
Pintrest: http://pinterest.com/cherylrainfield/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110346500530502745039/posts
I read this last year and found it very powerful and well written. I agree that it should be classified as New Adult.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks that way.
ReplyDelete