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Introduction
Girl in Pieces written by the American author, Kathleen Glasgow, is a novel published by Rock The Boat publishers, in 2016. Girl in Pieces is Glasgow’s first novel, followed by Glasgow’s “How to Make Friends with the Dark”, published in 2017. Further novels by Glasgow include; ‘You’d Be Home Now’, published in 2021 and ‘The Agathas’, published in 2022. These can be purchased in many leading bookstores such as Waterstones. ‘Girl in Pieces’ is a highly awarded novel, being placed on the “Amelia Bloomer Book List in October 2017” and also after “only three months, Glasgow’s book became No.7 on the New York Times bestsellers list for young adult books.” The book includes 420 pages and is recommended to readers aged 14 years and up. Glasgow’s book has been published in many different media formats; Hardback and Softback print books, as well as an online version published for The Kindle and an audiobook read by Julia Whelan.

Synopsis
‘Girl in Pieces’ follows main character Charlotte Davis (Charlie), a seventeen-year-old girl, through her life and its countless endeavors. We first meet her as she is fighting against her section in a treatment centre called Creeley in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when the book moves on, she moves to Tucson, Arizona to continue her life and move away from the past, that haunts her. We see her being released from the Facility due to insubstantial financial funding. This being a key focus within Glasgow's novel, showing how the American Healthcare system is failing some of its most vulnerable patients, who have often nowhere else to turn after their early release. The story emphasises the importance of wealth in American society, as without it you can be left destitute, ill and with nowhere to turn. After her release, we continue to follow Charlie's attempts to get her life back on track, fighting her demons and in the meantime trying to find a job and somewhere to live. Finally, she finds a job, allowing her to pay rent and move into a house of multiple occupancy. The house is in disrepair but a safe space for Charlie, unlike her past on the streets, living from doorway to doorway. As you can see, her past was far from straightforward and the countless perils she has faced lead to her detainment in the facility. Following her story from the moment in which she was locked up to when she finally gets her life back on track, Glasgow portrays an important message that there are many struggles in life and that by motivating yourself you can overcome them and get back your life back eventually. Due to this, readers are able to understand her situation and are able to empathise with her. This emotive and captivating read will pull on your heart strings and entice you into reading further novels by Glasgow, such as 'How to Make Friends with the Dark,' 'You'd Be Home Now,' and 'The Agathas.'

Critical Response
Girl in Pieces was met with the applause of many authors upon its release. Many acclaimed authors discuss the important topics in which the book discusses, throughout their reviews. The review of different authors tends to be positive, congratulating Glasgow on her successes in conveying an important message in such a sensitive way. Author of ‘Everything, Everything’, Nicola Yoon describes the book as “A haunting, beautiful and necessary book.”. Author of ‘Split’, Swati Avasthi agrees with Yoon, considering ‘Girl in Pieces’ as a “Rare and powerful read.”. Further authors who agree with this perspective are “Amanda Coplin, author of ‘The Orchardist’ a New York Times Bestseller describes her reaction to Glasgow’s novel, “Girl in Pieces hurts my heart in the best way possible,” and Summer Wood, author of ‘Arroyo’, describes the book as “An extraordinary coming of age story.”. The Irish Times regards the book as an “‘Intimate, gritty novel,’ that shares with us ‘a glimmer of hope’”. Also, author of ‘You’re Not You’, Michelle Wildgen, describes the story as ‘Dark, frank and tender, Girl in pieces keeps the reader electrified for its entire journey.” A review by Mary Cosola from Common Sense Media describes Glasgow's 'Girl in Pieces' as "Gritty, raw and real." Furthermore, Waterstones reviews Glasgow's book as being "a heartbreaking, triumphant, funny and hopeful story." Margot McGovern describes Girl in Pieces as a book that she " highly recommend Girl in Pieces, with the caution that it’ll grab your heart and squeeze hard until it hurts." . Finally, Kirkus Reviews describes Glasgow's novel as "not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together." .

Themes
Glasgow's novel, Girl in Pieces encounters many key issues, relevant to today's society and current world views. The book follows a young girl whose abusive past has significantly impacted her current mental health. Both abuse and mental health are main themes which are addressed in the book. Glasgow highlights these topics in many of her novels by implementing different mental health issues such as substance abuse and alcoholism. Recovery is also another key theme in Glasgow's novels, for example in Girl in Pieces, we fellow Charlie, a girl in recovery from her past. Glasgow allows us an in-depth perception of her struggles in order to give us insight into the daily struggles of those who suffer mental health issues. The book allows us to see how many of the daily tasks those of us who do not struggle with our mental health may find easy, some people do not, as their mental health can cause them to feel unmotivated and form a disinterest to things, they otherwise found interesting. Further themes in Glasgow's novel include: "Depression, anxiety and therapy," these are all topics relevant todays society due to the current epidemic of mental health conditions on the rise in students such as anxiety and depressive disorders. These disorders are some of the leading causes of illness and disability amongst adolescents.

Characters
Charlotte (Charlie) Davis - Main Character

Misty Davis - Charlie's Mother

Eleanor (Ellis) - Charlie's Best Friend

Casper - Charlie's Therapist

Blue - Charlie's friend from Creeley Treatment Facility

Louisa - Charlie's friend from Creeley Treatment Facility

Michael (Mikey) - Charlie's friend from the street's

Evan - Charlie's friend from the street's

Dump - Charlie's friend from the street's

Danny Boy - Charlie's friend from the street's

Riley West - Works at True Gritt with Charlie / becomes her lover at one point / lead singer in a band

Awards
2016 No.7 on the New York Times bestsellers list (Young Adults)

2017 Amelia Bloomer Book List

2017 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten

2018 Teen Carnegie Medal

2017-2018 Great Lakes Great Book Award