Young Adult
Pages: 288
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 9, 2010

Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.

He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can’t make him forget what he left behind—his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend, who is keeping his secret.

At least so far.

Worst of all, Jace realizes that if he really wants to move forward, he may first have to do what scares him most: He may have to go back. First-time novelist Swati Avasthi has created a riveting and remarkably nuanced portrait of what happens after. After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split—how do you begin to live again? Readers won’t be able to put this intense page-turner down.

This book is heart-tearing awesomeness. A dark, harsh, raw and powerful story of abuse told from a impeccably done male pov. I barely have words for how much I loved this book. Because it's disturbing and vivid, and almost palpable. Every scene had so much more involved, so much emotion, so many back-conflicts. It's a story about what happens when you survive an abusive home. Very few books deal with the after. After the problem. After it all fell apart. After you got out. It was so hard to read while consciously trying NOT to put myself in Jace's shoes. (Yes, I had an abusive father.) It was very hard to see things through his perspective. Because you can perfectly understand everything that he does, even if you don't want to or don't agree with it.

I've always loved dark realistic fiction, and specially love blunt authors who don't sugarcoat hard issues. This is a dark learning experience that has the potential to stir up feelings you can't even place. The writing was absolutely wonderful and matched the depth and brilliance of the story and characters perfectly. Every single character felt unique and wonderfully multidimensional in an utterly realistic way.

Overall it's an outstanding piece of literature so graphic and well-done, so perfectly thought and developed, and with such a great story to tell that it needs to be widely read.