How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow [arc review]

I am speechless and lost in a tsunami of emotions.

Kathleen Glasgow surprised me and shocked me with Girl in Pieces, and it is no different here.

Grief sucks

Grief stinks

There is no happy ending in grief

So needless to say (and true to what I now consider Kathleen Glasgow's style), there is no happy ending here either...

The Blurb:

Here is what happens when your mother dies.

It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.

That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone.

Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark.

The review: 5 Stars

It is hard to review a book that left you speechless. How to Make Friends with the Dark is not for the faint hearted. It deals with grief and loss in a very raw and real way. Tiger lost everything, and I truly mean everything. She goes from being a normal teen annoyed at her mum for picking a dress she didn't want -typical- to being alone. One day she has a house and a mother, the next she is in foster care living with strangers.

Grief is not an easy topic to put on paper. The thoughts and emotions that usually follow a teen in grief (and many adults) is not either: depression, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, trauma, etc. Kathleen Glasgow described all of those perfectly. My heart was breaking for Tiger and the other kids while reading the book. And as someone that has been in foster care and is now a foster mum I can also tell you with certainty that all of those feelings are real, that all those situations can happen and do happen. The accuracy of it all was phenomenal.

The thing I loved most about the book was the ending. It has became a habit to say "everything will be ok" and Kathleen Glasgow makes it very clear it is NOT. Grief sucks and it stays with you, life is hard, and that is ok. It is ok to cry, it is ok to be in pain, and it is ok to say it is not going to be ok.

Release date: April 9th, 2019

Find the book at: GoodReads - Amazon

Comments

Crow and Reaper by A. Zavarelli (Boston Underworld #1 and #2)

Crow and Reaper by A. Zavarelli (Boston Underworld #1 and #2) @glimpses_of_my_books These books are (to me at least) two VERY different books and the reason you should never give up on an author after just one book. I did not like Crow one tiny bit. But I absolutely loved Reaper . One is a 1 star, while the other is a 4... Let's start with the good first, Reaper . Ronan is likely to break your heart. Throughout the book we get snippets of his past, accounts of everything he had to go through before Crow and his mother find him and save him from the horrible life he was leaving. In a way, although I wasn't a fun of Crow in the first book, his love and care for Ronan had made me like him a little better. Ronan is not quiet, moody, and broody by choice. It is a consequence of all the things he has been through, the things I mentioned above that will break your heart... He is caring and loving, but he has no idea how to put those things in action. He is, in a way, one of the mo...

Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses #1) by Sav R. Miller

I was very excited about this read. The reviews are good, the people recommending it were people whose recommendations I have liked in the past. And in the end, at did like this one. But I will confess from the start that Promises and Pomegranates did not blow me away. Blurb: Elena To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was...

The Book Hater's Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

The Book Hater's Book Club at first appears to be about a struggling bookstore and its imminent sale. Elliot, the co-owner of Over the Rainbow Bookstore, started The Book Hater's Book Club , a newsletter of reading recommendations for the self-proclaimed non-readers of the world, because he believed there was a book out there for everyone. Something I wholeheartedly agree with! For years he and Irma have kept the store going and always had a recommendation in hand. When you finish this book, you will have yet another list of books to read. However, this book is about more than just books and a struggling bookstore. It is also about grief, the price of secrets, and a little more grief. You see, Elliot is gone, and his grief-ridden business partner has agreed to sell the store to developers. Problem is, she didn't tell that to anyone until the deal was almost done. Which is making her daughters ask questions. Why is she selling? Is it grief alone? Is ther...

Glimpses Of My Books

Search This Blog