Cuts and Bruises

this was so powerful and beautiful. as someone who has struggled w/ self harm and mental health, this really spoke to me. the writing felt super truthful, and I loved the characters. a very powerful 5 stars.

Trigger warning for this book! Abuse, self harm, suicide

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was often difficult to read because of how well written and descriptive it is. It may especially be hard to read for those in recovery. That being said, this book was an excellent reminder that we are not alone in this world and that many people have stories similar to our own. I saw myself in Sam and I feel that many people will. This is a book that will certainly stay with me for a long time. Especially that ending!

This was such a good read, it deals with mental health and in partuclar self harming in such a sensitive and yet almost brutally raw way. It is beuatofully written and I fell in love with the characters. I couldnt put this book down.

This book was at times hard to read. Samantha reminded me of myself. The author crafted the words o the page so well that she made the characters real to me. This is a powerful book about the darkness inside of us and how some of us struggle to contain it. It also reminds you that you are not alone in the struggle. There always some one us going through the same thing and how you can be there for each other. This book defiantely gives you all the feels. Make sure you have a box of tissue ready. I loved reading this book. I reccomend it.

This was such a good read but I found it very difficult at times due to losing someone to self harming. It deals with mental health and in particular self harming in such a sensitive way. It is beautifully written. I would say this is suitable for mature young adults

To sum up my review in one sentence before I get into the details: Cuts and Bruises is an outstanding book that readers will not want to put down.

Alright, so I was immediately drawn to the brief description of Cuts and Bruises, though was admittedly hesitant to request for it at first due to the heavy subject matter. However, after reading all of the other 5 star reviews, I had to give it a shot. Oh. My. Goodness. This book is beyond good for so many reasons. I absolutely adored both Sam and Michael; they both had their own struggles and dealt with their issues in their own individual ways. Yet, it's their difficult times that bring them together and allow them to be there for each other like no one else can. Their characters are written with brutal honesty and dig deep into the mind of someone with depression and self harm issues. Especially Sam, her thoughts are gripping and almost made me cry on multiple occasions. I could tell how much the author pulled from her own experiences (as noted in the afterward) and am so grateful for the book that came from it. I almost feel like this needs to be required reading for parents of teenagers that deal with these struggles because it will help them communicate better. And the ending is a total stunner that will stick with me for quite awhile. I have so much praise for Cuts and Bruises and strongly recommend it to YA readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cranthorpe Millner Publishers for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

Cuts & Bruises is such a powerful read that hits really hard.
HIGHLY recommend. Not to sound aggressive, but,
READ THIS WHEN IT COMES OUT!
I really have no words
that was such a heartbreaking novel.
it was so utterly real and honestly, in an odd way, really beautiful.
this was super fast-paced and I really couldn't put it down. I couldn't stop reading it until I ultimately finished it.
such a raw depiction of mental health
be prepared to be sucked into this story and to <i>feel things</i>
bring the tears!
I really love the characters so much and all the flaws they had. Nothing was sugarcoated and it really showed reality.
On the writing, it was overall really good, however, some of the vocabulary was limited with a lot of repetition, which I'm not saying is a bad thing! Those words were needed to be repeated in order to get their point across.
This was overall just an incredible book in every way :)

Content warnings (from the publisher): Self-harm, attempted suicide, suicide, abuse.

thank you again NetGalley and Cranthorpe Millner Publishers for providing me with the e-arc of this novel!
what and incredible debut! i will definitely keep an eye out for kelly o-flaherty!!

Massive suicide, self-harm trigger warning.

The first 3rd of the book, the pacing was a bit slow. Time was confusing at the beginning of the book too. You can see that it's been days/months since something has happened, but it, everything seemed smudged together since there's no time headers. The setting does feel like high school all over again, every day is mostly the same.

If you're even slightly predisposed to self-harm, this book is so relatable! What one feels, what one thinks, what one hides, they're all true. At first, when Samantha was trying to explain her condition, it sounded like the usual classic definition of it, but as time goes on, it all starts to make sense. The author describes everything perfectly, shows everything through Sam's eyes and you start to feel how she feels too.

Around halfway mark, things picked up fast. First, something happened to Sam, everything finally peaking and spilling over.
Then when everything comes back down to normal again, another thing happened to Michael this time. And it just peaked even higher than the first time. I couldn't put the book down after the halfway mark, I was on the edge-of-my-seat and mostly crying as I'm reading since every lesson here, every thought, are exactly what someone in Sam's/Michael's position would have thought too. It's all so relatable!

I really love what Sam & Michael have together. Yes, they enabled each other, but they also help each other out. They both learned from their mistakes and became better because of it. I'm really glad it's a happy ending, though a vague happy ending. I would have liked to see something about Sam & Michael meeting up in college together as a bonus story or another epilogue for example.

This was breathtaking, heartbreaking yet soothing to the heart all at once. The bond between the two main characters is unforgettable. The story shows challenges faced by people with mental health issues and how they are facing it alone versus the flipside when you have others helping you along your journey. I'm not going to lie -- this was heartbreaking on so many levels, in many different parts. I cried. However, it was eye opening and makes you want to reach out to those around you (and even strangers) so they know someone cares for them and to see how they're doing. Beautifully written, will absolutely be reading more by this author!