Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange of a honest review.

The book itself I actually didn't mind, I love me some sports books despite me being the least sporty person ever (aside from me being into hockey/figure skating and loving dance) so this was another great addition! I can't say much about it as I don't have any overly strong opinions. The main character, Daya is fleshed out and the author did a good job of her struggles of dealing with grief.

The only two things I had with this book is until reading the acknowledgments at the end I wasn't completely sure if the author knew that this was a story about self-harm as much as it was about grief. Personally, I don't get easily triggered but sometimes I'll get set off at random moments so having just a mention of a warning that there is self-harm helps in advance just in case. Although, those who are more easily triggered may want a warning so I honestly suggest just warning those who are interested in this book that this does have self-harm. Even though it's not typical, it follows the same pattern so that's the only thing I have a "strong" opinion over.

This one was personal but I felt that perhaps the romance could've waited until after Daya figured out with her grief but this feels like nitpicking a little bit so.

Aside from that, it's a nice book to read and a fast read!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Bruised in exchange for an honest review.

I love stories about grief. I love sapphic stories. Bruised sounded perfect.

Boteju does a really good job of writing teenagers in a way that feels real and it made Daya's pain, grief, and unhealthy coping mechanisms pack that much harder of a punch. I loved her journey towards healing and while I did like the romance, I'm not a big fan of healing stories being intertwined this strongly with the beginning of a relationship. I'm not a massive fan of how the relationship plot thread ends (which I obviously can't really get into details about because spoilers) but other than that, I loved this.