Review: There aren't enough writers who tackle this topic, and to do it beautifully.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2014
I started this book when I laid down for bed one night. I figured I would read half of it and finish the rest in the morning. Mary Palmerin had other plans for me. I began this book in the wee hours of the morning and was completely sucked in. I couldn't stop turning the pages. I couldn't put it down if I wanted to. When I finished I was left feeling like I did when I was 16. Raw, used, unloved, and completely alone. Just like Lyla Harper. I put my nearly dead phone on my dresser and laid there feeling like Mary had held my hand taking me back into my past. As much as I loved it, I hated it. There aren't enough writers who tackle this topic. The ones who do would be lucky to be able to write it as beautifully poetic as Mary does.Lyla Harper is a teenage girl who deals with the same issues every girl deals with...almost. She struggles through her teenage years trying to find acceptance, friendship, love, and fights off self loathing. Only thing is Lyla hides secrets. These secrets begin to define who she is and who she is becoming. Her inner monologues are written in such a devastatingly beautiful prose making you feel like you are peering into her soul. You feel the agony she is living. The things that happen to her make you cry out for her and want so badly to comfort her in some way. Her self depreciation and mutilation...you can feel every bit of it,especially if you have lived it. I could quote this book all day long. There are so many perfectly stated lines. I swear some of these have passed through my own mind."I lost faith in others and a tiny shard of my soul died a little more each day. I became numb. I coached myself to block it out as best as I could.""I was sure before, but I am positive that I radiate a trait that makes me be unlovable to all except for my family. They don't really have a choice, so their love doesn't count."This story is not just about Lyla's struggle, but about her strength to get up and keep going. To achieve her goal of escaping her personal hell and starting over somewhere her past can't follow her. To become who she knew she could always be. You can run from your past, but you can never run from yourself.