I really enjoyed this book, I thought thought the storyline was unique and the characters extremely likeable.

After reading Milan Gupta’s first novel, The Mariners Grandson, I had high expectations for These Scars Called Home. How could it possibly compete with his debut novel? Well, it did, and then some.
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and its 2 main characters. It's a difficult job to attempt to address trauma in fiction, but I felt empathy toward the characters' experiences and reflected on what people in my own life have undergone when the may not have had the courage to reach out for help.
I look forward to the author’s next novel.

A fantastic read that kept me captivated throughout. It follows the story of Cassie and Ronnie, both with their own personal trauma, and how they come to accept themselves despite what they have been through.
This story dealt with some heavy subject matters, but did so in a really respectful and way. You grow to love each of the characters and hurt when they hurt. This is a book that I couldn't put down and would recommend

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#thesescarscalledhome
#milangupta
#literaryfiction
#NetGalley published 5/27/2021
#rexingtonpress
#independentbookpublishersassociation
#triggerwarning
#schizophrenia
#sexualabuse

This book follows 2 people. One who has lived through a lifetime of sexual abuse, and survived to get away. The other who had grown up and lived with a severe undiagnosed mental illness. And they manage to find each other. Yes, this is a romance. But it's focus is on the mental health of these 2 people. The story telling is done perfectly with an omniscient narrator.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. It was very quick reading. Easy to understand. I kept wanting to pick it up to see where the story would go next. It shows how each of the 2 main characters grew up. And the author takes his time telling their independent stories. Then gets them together and still continues to tell their independent stories. Very well done. I will definitely look into reading his debut novel and anything else he comes out with!

#romance
#mentalillness
#acceptance
#bookstagram #booknerds #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #readalot #ilovereading #inkdrinker #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerdigan #bookish #booknerdbookreviews #bookaddict #bookaholic

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC. I loved this book and it was a great second novel. The book is very well written and covers a variety of less pleasant issues such as schizophrenia, mental health and child abuse. The book tells of an abandoned girl Cassie who is adopted and has many issues who meets Ronnie with mental health issues by chance at an elevator. The ending is somewhat unusual and this is a rather different love story. I raced through the book.

An Ernest, Realistic Narrative

At the beginning I did not like the premise of the story, but I kept reading and am glad that I did. Milan Gupta, the author, packed many themes into this novel and he could radiate emotion easily from the characters. I believed in the relationships he created.

The story begins in Mexico with a poor, but loving family. They live in poverty and the father has given his last baby to the Church. He is unable to provide for this fourth daughter.

Years later, this girl is adopted by a wealthy family from Houston, Texas and the story opens up. At this point, the talent of the writer emerged. Cassandra (Cassie) became an independent young woman at eighteen, who managed to work, maintain an apartment and create some relationships.

Gupta presents many sensitive areas in this novel. The most difficult one, and probably the one he researched the most, is schizophrenia, a debilitating, complex mental disease. He presented many symptoms of the disease and its tenuous prognosis. The author is a physician, I believe, allowing for credibility in this complicated illness.

The story is more about survival than scars. Gupta touches on many topics, child abuse, mental disease, sexual encounters and the stability of family. There are a few heroes in this book, the psychiatrist who helps Ronnie Service (odd last name), boyfriend of Cassie and also some of the secondary characters who fill out the plot.

Cassie puts herself on a journey to survive. She knew how to endure loss and pain and she was, above all, street-smart. The climax of the book is well-done and there is a denouement that should satisfy the reader. It is realistic, not a fairy tale.

The book needs some editing. Gupta repeats certain phrases over and over. However, it is worth reading.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Rexington Press for this pre-published copy . All opinions expressed are my own.

Cassie Martinez and Ronnie Service meet in an elevator and a beautiful relationship soon develops for these two unusual people both carrying significant damage.
Although the relationship constitutes most of the book, towards the end it veers off and centres on Cassie after Ronnie is hospitalised with severe psychosis.
These two characters and their interaction sustain the narrative right from the beginning as the reader wonders how this relationship can survive given the massive problems each character endures. Cassie has been adopted from an orphanage in Mexico at age 9 to Kat and Billy who turn out to be an adoptee's worst nightmare. Ronnie has schizophrenia with all the troubles that this unforgiving disease involves. This relationship is enough to explore on its own. But for some reason, the author introduces multiple traumas over a very short space of time for Cassie which I found unfathomable. Her childhood already had so much damage but to pile on even more suggested to me that the author didn't really understand the lifelong challenges her childhood would inflict. In reality no one could survive another 4 really traumatic situations that occur with two of them within hours of each other. It seemed as if the author was more interested in plot action than really exploring the psychology of trauma which to my mind rendered an otherwise fascinating story into absurdity. Some of these traumas have happened to me personally so I know first hand just how difficult they are to manage throughout a life let alone within a short time period.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

These Scars Called Home is not an easy book to read as it deals with lots of heavy topics. But I read through it so quickly because I was so invested in the story. The book is about Cassie, an independent and fierce woman, who meets socially awkward, introverted Ronnie. Both carry hidden scars from their past which they can't run away from. These Scars Called Home explores the impact of personal trauma and mental illness on the relationship between two people.

The book really surprised me in a positive way! I immediately connected with Cassie and Ronnie and really felt for them. Both have gone through so much in their life and they were both doing their best in their own way. It's hard to talk about These Scars Called Home without spoiling anything but I can honestly highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in reading novels that deal with mental health.

TW: suicide attempt, rape, incest, child abuse, self-harm, schizophrenia, depression

After reading Milan Gupta’s first novel, The Mariners Grandson, I had high expectations for These Scars Called Home. How could it possible compete with his debut novel? Well it did, and then some.
A very complex story of two lost souls, searching for purpose, peace and the ability to rid themselves of the scars that defined them.
Abandonment, sexual abuse, mental illness and the strength needed to find the peace that Cassie and Ronnie, both wanted and needed so much. Their two worlds collide and they find the home that they both have searched for.
Wonderful character development gave the reader a cast that brought me a new understanding of the scars that can define you, and you aren’t truly home until you recognize that they aren’t going away, but you can learn to live life in spite of them.
My thanks to NetGalley, Milan Gupta, and Rexington Press for the ARC. All opinions and comments are my own.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"Cassie and Ronnie come from entirely different worlds, both carrying hidden scars from their past."

Lovely, encouraging story which shows people can choose to make a new and positive life for themselves after dramatic and tragic life experiences.

3☆

CW: abandonment, death in childbirth, sexual assault/child molestation, schizophrenia and related trauma/hospitalization, violence, suicide

Thank you to NetGalley and Rexington Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Cassie has a traumatic past that she spends time working to escape, and that seems to be going okay. She comes across Ronnie when he asks her to share an elevator ride with him, and from there on, something builds between them. As they work to overcome their own traumas and scars, they will need to learn how to heal, and perhaps, how to love.

The plot of this book is strong. There are a lot of great drivers in this story, and the main characters are people that you want to see succeed. The story is filled with complex layers, and many of the issues are resolved, but not all. Some of it is unsatisfying, but I suppose it's realistic in that way. Still, I wanted more from this story. Some aspects were detailed, while others were not. It felt similar to when you skip ahead to just read the dialogue because you're excited to see what the characters say... but the details inbetween were missed here.

While the story of Cassie and Ronnie is compelling, I struggled to finish the book as the writing is not at all compelling. I found the characters unrelatable and stereotypical; barely likeable. At times I wondered if I was reading a YA novel, in which a certain lack of sophistication can be expected. Alas, that was not the case. Kudos to the author for tackling some very difficult subjects but throwing the entire kitchen sink of bad things that can happen in life and expecting to craft a story that holds together well just didn’t work for this reader.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

First, I love that this book explores important issues of mental health and child abuse in a way that is both very central to the main characters.

Cassie's story is absolutely devastating, and you can't help but feel entirely helpless reading Ronnie's story. Yet, for me, I felt disconnected to these characters when I didn't want to be. Cassie's characterization feels jarring at times, not in terms of development, but in terms of inconsistency. She's rash then careful, bold then quiet, caring then dismissive. Of course, I was hoping everything would work itself out for Cassie's sake, and I sympathized with her both because of her abusive past and her uncertainty and fear around Ronnie and his illness. But I was left feeling confused by her characterization and unable to process how I really felt about her.

The character development of Ronnie was better. Initially I felt really disconnected from him partially because of how he was portrayed, but it was easier to become more invested in his life and understand him as the novel progressed.

Despite its length, I found this to be a rather slow read. It's not because nothing happens or there aren't any eventful moments, because there are plenty of those, but it's the dialogue. The dialogue is painfully slow at times. If you look, there are so many descriptive sentences between the drawn out dialogue that I kept thinking, "okay, get to the point please." I really struggled with the dialogue, which is perhaps also why I struggled connecting to some of the characters.

The dialogue also largely affected how I perceived certain relationships, mainly Cassie and Samantha's, and Cassie and CeCe's. These two relationships do a 180. Cassie and Samantha initially bond over the phone, having lengthy conversations and forming what appears to be a genuine bond—a bond that's quickly broken by Samantha's assumptions. None of this is resolved or addressed in any kind of conversation afterward. Understandably, Samantha has Ronnie's best interests in mind as his mother, but considering her rash actions in the past, you'd think she'd be a little more understanding, or at least be willing to listen to what Cassie had to say. And, again understandably, Cassie is initially jealous of CeCe and really dislikes her for what she (supposedly) put Ronnie through in the past. But when they talk on the phone—briefly talk on the phone—she immediately believes CeCe, takes her side, seems to understand everything so quickly, and becomes so friendly on the phone. It was so strikingly odd to me.

Even with the slow dialogue, this book was hard to put down because there were so many eventful moments. However, some of these plot points just seemed too convenient, mainly near the end. Everything snowballed so fast within the last third of the book that it not only felt unbelievable that everything conveniently came together so fast, but it caused a real pacing issue for me. That being said, I appreciated these alternating perspectives and overlapping storylines because it quickened the pace of the book for a much more enjoyable reading experience.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Get lost in the story of Casandra and the struggles of beginning life in the poorest circumstances and the resulting choices made for her. You can’t help but root her on along the way, hoping she reaches success and finds happiness at last.

CW: mental health, abuse

First, I would like to thank Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when you have demons and dark places of your own? You find someone who has them too. Ronnie and Cassie meet at the elevator, Ronnie being the type who fears loneliness, asks Cassie to accompany him. Thus, beginning the story of a friendship/ relationship. While trying to each overcome and stomp their own mental illnesses, they find that while they need and want each other, the way that they are going to heal, is alone.

This story gripped me from the moment I started reading. As someone who deals with mental health and a past filled with abuse, this story hit home a bit for me. I was drawn to the characters and their amount of bravery they both had. This story was filled with an intense amount of emotion that I as the reader felt everything the characters were going through. This beautifully written story kept me reading into the night.

Damaged souls coming together trying to adjust and escape from their past one step at a time is a masterful journey pulling one into dark corners and beautiful moments. Ronnie and Cassie have to come to terms with personality traits each has built around themselves as protection from the hurt both have suffered previously.
There is some tough reading here, especially after you have become so involved with the characters.
What a story Milan Gupta has given us readers a definite winner for me.
An independent review NetGalley / Rexington Press

Thank you Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review These scars Called home was very good. A book like no other. I felt for each person and loved the characters. I found myself reading without know why I could not stop. Brilliantly wrote.

I received this book from Independent Book Publishers Association via NetGalley. This book contains many triggers for some readers as it deals with mental illness and sexual abuse.

These Scars Called Home is a deeply moving and emotional story of a woman who was left at a church in Mexico by her father. He could not afford to keep her and thought he was doing what was best for her, giving her a chance at a new life. . What follows for this baby is a life of sexual abuse from various people, including those that were meant to protect her. She struggles to create a life for herself and although she is deeply troubled she is also a strong woman that fights for her happiness. As an adult, she meets a man who suffers from schizophrenia and as they fall in love they try to hard to help each other to live with their troubles.

The characters are well developed by the author, with several chapters helping to paint the picture of the two main characters. I wanted so much to help Cassie and to just hug her and let her know she would be ok. The chapters on Ronnie were quite slow going and I was tempted to stop reading the book. I am glad I continued as the book did pick up.

I felt so many emotions as I read this book and, to me, that is a sign of a good writer, making us care for the characters. The author made me see schizophrenia in a different light and she didn’t sensationalize mental illness or make the character a criminal. I found the sexual abuse was front and centre throughout the story but it wasn’t graphic as that is not needed. It is the emotional damage that needed to be addressed amd that is what the author did.

cw: child abuse, rape, mental health, schizophrenia, depression, hospitalisation, suicide

"These scars called home" is a beautifully written novel that follows the healing of two deeply wounded characters, that have found the impression of peace in each other. I loved the juxtaposition of Cassie, a very private person and Ronnie, who wears his heart on his sleeve. Their dynamic worked really well in the context of healing from old trauma.

This is a heavy book, covering very dark topics, but it does it in a way that works. It pulled at my heartstrings and I was hooked from start to finish. I cannot comment on how accurate the mental health rep was, but I liked the way the author approached the topic without romanticising the illness. The book showed the good and the bad, without inclining the balance for neither.

While the novel does have a plot, it is essentially character driven as it is told from multiple perspectives - Ronnie's, Cassie's and Cassie's adoptive parents. The characters are definitely where this book shines, because they are so so well thought out that it makes this story feel real. You see them going through the process of understanding their emotions and dealing with past issues, which is a roller-coaster of happy moments and heartbreaking parts.

Her adoptive mom frustrated me a lot. How can you turn a blind eye to your child's suffering and act like this is something you can ignore for years? She clearly doesn't deserve redemption.

The ending is a wonderful wrap-up to this story. I liked how Cassie was finally at peace with herself, after years of suppressing her trauma and how it affected her. I wished we would have seen more of Ronnie's recovery, because his story gets lost towards the end as the focus shifts on Cassie.

thank you to netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I read this book in two days; I couldn't stop, I had to finish reading it. Thanks to NetGalley who gave me the chance to read this (wonderful) book before its release.
The story follows two characters: Cassie, who runs away from her adoptive parents' home at eighteen to build a new life, away from her adoptive father's abuses, and Ronnie, a kind and introverted man, who is afraid of using the elevators alone. this is how their story begins.

-- "Any chance you might ride the elevator with me? I'm sort of afraid to ride alone." --

Slowly the two characters begin to get to know each other and bond more and more to each other, each with its scars and fears (of the past and for the future).

-- "Well, I think I know what you meant," Ronnie said. "Because I feel that too."
They both looked at each other, smiling. In Ronnie's expression, Cassie could see nothing but goodness, and understanding, and patience. --

I loved the way the author dealt with heavy topics like child abuse, shame, guilt, mental health, ...
The book in fact has chapters not only on the two protagonists but also on Cassie's adoptive and biological parents and on Ronnie's mother; this gives the opportunity to have a broader view of the story and to see how each character copes with with the consequences of their actions.

-- How many lifetimes can I live in one life? --

I think the ending is not fictional but realistic, perfect for this book. The scars (which we call home) do not disappear (they cannot); what we have to do is learning is to accept them, to live with them because they are the ones who make us the people we are.

5 stars