Review: Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick

Book Title: Kiss of Broken Glass

Author: Madeleine Kuderick

Published Date: September 9th, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

Disclaimer: I received this book from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Trigger Warning: Self Harm.

Review:

I was really, really nervous about reading this book and it wasn't because of the subject matter. I actually tend to gravitate towards books that are dark, so the subject matter was kind of right up my alley, as weird and creepy as that sounds. I think teens (mostly girls) cutting themselves is seen as this deep dark secret that they don't want their parents or teachers to know about because they don't want to seem crazy.

My trepidation was based on the fact that it was written in verse. I really don't tend to like books written in verse but I was willing to give it a shot. I was hoping that it would be the book to change my mind about books written in verse. However, my problem with this book in verse turned out to be the same problem I continually have with books in verse.

I didn't connect to Kenna, and I didn't feel like I got a sense of who she was outside of the cutting. I got that she was in a group of teens who made a competition  out of cutting. Of course I found that to be very classless. Cutting is serious and making it into a competition was awful and sickening. I think if it had been written in a more straightforward way, I would have gotten to know Kenna better.

I do feel like the ending was rushed, which I didn't enjoy. At all. I ended up liking it a little bit more by the end, which is why I am giving it 3.5 stars. It was definitely better than I was expecting it to be. I would recommend this book if you like books in verse because despite my issues with it, I felt like it was an important book.