Great Read

I received a copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating: 3.5

This was a beautiful read. The story deals with the topic of self-harm. I have had this on my Netgalley shelf for a while and now have finally read it. The story was about the main character, Travis and his struggle with self-harm. Travis was bullied at school and ignored at home. The book started off with the first time he started cutting when his twin sisters left for college/university. I thought the story was really good. I felt sorry for whatever Travis went through. I would not want that for anyone. I really loved that the art form of paper cutting helped him realize that there are different ways for him to feel in control and find some peace rather than self-harm. This story teaches us that there are options for overcoming the need to self-harm, we just need to find people in our lives that will help along the way. For Travis, I think the motivation to overcome the need to self-harm was when he became friends with Chyvonne. Overall, a great read.

This book dealt with real life teenage issues and did a pretty decent job at showing these real life issues. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me.

Thanks Cristy Watson and James Lorimer & Company for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bullied at school and ignored at home, Travis has a secret: cutting himself with a razor blade is the only thing that lets him control the pain in his life and find some peace. When he becomes friends with Chyvonne, a new girl at school, he doesn't know how to get close to her without revealing his secret and making himself even more vulnerable. Spending time with Chyvonne spurs Travis to try to discover why his mother can't seem to face his very existence. It's only when he learns about the art form of paper cutting that he realizes there might be other ways to make himself feel adrenalin-fueled and in control.

Although self-harm through cutting is a problem usually associated with teenage girls, many young men are involved in different sorts of self-injury. This story explores a teenager's motivations for cutting and the options for overcoming the need to self-injure.

I think I was the wrong demographic to really take a message from this book, but I think it's something that I would have loved to have read when I was a teenager going through bullying and self-harm myself.

I'm so disappointed with this one. This story, I felt, was much better than the others in the series. It dealt with real world problems - maybe in an old fashion way of bullying - but one that I think is still around today.

However, this one offers no solution or information. There isn't a warning, a referral for what to do if you or someone you know cuts nor did it end with a solution - either for the parents or for the kid. It's the worst case of a bad situation that never gets better and you are left wondering how it all works itself out. For a reluctant or YA reader, I'd hate to leave them feeling so sad and alone.

My dislike of this book isn't because of the topic, I think "cutting" is something that teens struggle with, therefore it does need representation in their literature. I just feel the characters were a little flat and one dimensional. Teens who devour a lot of books probably won't mind, but this whole book felt a little shallow across all aspects for me and fell flat.

I was surprised to like this book. I thought that it was a very sensitive subject that was dealt with in a way that didn't glorify cutting. It was a very short story, I read it in a few hours and I think it could have perhaps been a little bit more fleshed out (no pun intended)
But the characters were great and it was an engaging and difficult story.
It really promotes help, to not suffer alone.....a problem shared is a problem solved!

I really love books like this so I was really excited to read it, but I definitely wasn't a fan of this one.

This book was a bout Travis, a teenage boy who suffers from a family who ignores him, depression and is bullied at school. He handles his issues by cutting himself--causing his own pain that he controls. This is just so heartbreaking. He meets a new girl at school, Chyvonne, and he really wants to be friends with her but he is terrified that she will find out about his cutting. As the story and his relationship with Chyvonne develop, Travis becomes stronger and manages to find an outlet for his feelings through cutting paper instead of himself. Poos Travis has so much pain that the author does a great job portraying it in her writing. Eventually Chyvonne finds out about the cutting and also, Travis learns what the problem is with his parents near the end. He isn't cured or anything, but he is on the road to becoming a stronger, happier, person who is more free than he was before. Great story, sad but the leaves the reader with the promise that Travis is going to be ok. I do wish that he had gotten some professional help because it would have added a little more understanding to how a person is real life might be able to deal with the same type of issues. All in all, though, a great book.

Too young for me. It's an okay story but it's not my cuppa.