Scars Paperback – May 31, 2011

I promise to be brutally honest with my opinion, but it should not be taken as fact. Any reader should read it for themselves, before they decide if this book has any merit or not. Do not judge this book biased solely on my opinion. If you do, you might miss out on a great read. You never know. It could happen.1. Strong Main Character/ Female Heroine: Kendra is a teenager going through hell. She has been raped multiple times by an unknown rapist and fills horrified once she starts to remember. She cuts herself to get rid of the overwhelming pain that she feels. To me, Kendra is truly strong. She could kill herself and not have to deal with the pain anymore. She is not a coward or suicidal. She wants to live, but she wants to live life happy, not depressed and scared. She empowers herself with help from the people who love and support her and she grows stronger to the point where she fights back. She gets her life slowly back under her control and learns to live without cutting, although she still cuts sometimes. Kendra is a real eye-opener to me. It scares me to think that I could have been like her. I could have cut to release the pain I felt over being abandoned by my parents, but unlike Kendra I sought the route of exercise anorexia. So, I never got to the skinniness that most people get to, but I was thirty pounds underweight and that really woke me up when I could start seeing the columns on my spine. *(shivers* Like Kendra, it takes years to get over the trauma and the disorders that come with them. It is hard for me to tell anyone that I used to have an eating disorder...that I still do, because you never truly recover. I am still around ten to fifteen pounds underweight. It took me two years to eat a single slice of pizza and now I can have two or three. I still feel the need to exercise like crazy, but I living and loving my life. I still have pain....It never really goes away and Kendra helped me to see that I am truly not alone. 5 out of 5 stars2. Strong Minor Characters: Megan has an abusive mother, but can still find the strength to love Kendra. So, I am not into the lesbian relationship, but I realize that the emphasis was not on that. It was on the loving relationship between the two girls. Who cares that they love each other? I don't. I am totally fine reading about their love and how it develops. It made this story REAL, because not EVERY girl falls in love with a guy and I'm cool with that. I can totally relate to Kendra and her mother's relationship. My relationship to my own mother mirrors her, except more so if you can imagine it. The relationship did seem real, although a bit forced. I love the art teacher and Caroline! They were definite mother figures in the book and it makes me so happy that she had them in her life. I also looked to my teachers as mother figures for myself, especially since I have a mother who never wanted to be my mother. Sandy is an amazingly real character. Out of all the minor characters, I thought he was the second realist character in the book. His relation with Kendra was smooth and flawless. I quite enjoyed reading about all of them. 4 out of 5 stars3. The Setting: The author creates a beautifully vivid place, where dreams, nightmares, and reality are blurred; a place where a bump in the night could be the last thing that you hear. The setting is chilling and heart-wrenching. It is written in such descriptive detail that it is almost too painful to read. I have to warn my fellow readers; do not read this book with a faint heart for this book will surely rip it out. It contains mature elements that should not be looked over lightly. The author can write a good realistic story with realistic details and places, because she has been in similar shoes. It brings realism into the story. 5 out of 5 stars4. The Plot: The story really brought me to my knees. I cried out many tears and nights of sobbing with this book. It brought out so much contained pain in myself and helped me bring it to the surface and let it out. The book held my hand as I cried, just like Kendra did with Megan in the park. It opened up such emotion in me that I had to take little breaks from the book. It had so much heartbreak in it, but so much empowerment, too. When Kendra was happy, my heart soared for her and myself and when she was hurt and depressed, I shared those bouts of misery with her as well. This book is like nothing I have ever read before. It was breathtaking and breath-giving. I have nothing, but positive things to say about this book, not because I can relate to it, although that is a part of it. I can relate to it, because it is beautifully as well as accurately written. This book will haunt me for quite some time. I will definitely read more from this author. 5 out of 5 starsI think I have discovered a new genre that people might be into. I am definitely into this kind of genre and I will get my hands on as many books like this as I can and I will be reviewing them here. I believe that the books we read reflect something about ourselves and what we want to believe in. I like to escape from reality, but sometimes, it is refreshing to read a good dose of fiction reality, because then, you can comfort yourself knowing that the story is not real....But for someone out there in the world, this story is all too real.

Scars is super intense, which you can probably tell from the description. On the first page, we're with Kendra during one of her therapy sessions. She was sexually abused for several years as a child, but it wasn't until six months ago that the memories emerged. She can see everything except for the face of the man who did these things to her, and to make matters worse, he's been following her. Aside from talking to her therapist in a safe space, the only way she knows how to deal with the onslaught of memories is to cut.Scars doesn't pull any punches. Kendra's cutting is described in detail: what it looks like, what she feels or doesn't feel, how she hides it. There's flashbacks of her abuse, which are heart-wrenching and disturbing. Then there's her paintings, which depict her feelings in dark tones that worry her mother. Although her mother's worry is more because those kind of paintings don't sell, and not over what's going on with her daughter. The mother-daughter relationship also has a strong focus, because Kendra doesn't feel like she can talk to her mother about what's going on with her without being criticized or having her mother turn it into being about her her. Or getting the whole "don't worry your father, don't make him look bad" speech. Horrible.While Scars is by no means a light or easy read, it's not all darkness. There is a very sweet romance between Kendra and the one person her age who she feels gets her. Meghan's life isn't all hugs and happiness either. She puts on this tough girl act, but Kendra sees her underneath that. Meghan also doesn't judge Kendra or push her to share more than she's ready for. Likewise, Kendra doesn't push Meghan about her home life although she makes it clear that she's there for her despite her own problems. They're just very sweet together.Of course, one of the main plot points is who abused Kendra. It's frustrating for her to be able to remember everything but his face, so everywhere she looks it could be him. I did figure out who it was early on, but that didn't change my reaction when it all came out. It really is sickening that he could do this to her, and his explanation...just ugh. I felt so sick.Scars is a very intense read. The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars was because I felt like it was too short and like some things were rushed. There is a lot of detail and depth here, but it felt rushed at the end. It was resolved too quickly and suddenly, even though Kendra has been dealing with this for months. I guess I just wanted more of Kendra's story, perhaps more of what happened afterward. Especially with her relationship with her mom, because as much as I hated that woman, I believed her totally off responses and hope she was able to put herself aside to really see her daughter.

The story begins with Kendra remembering what happened to her as a child. Problems at school and then home issues add to that, all culminating in a powerful climax. Cheryl Rainfield pushes Kendra to her absolute breaking point to fully explore the emotions she’s experiencing. The release of those emotions and the choices she makes, are the whole focus of this book.Books with subjects like abuse and self harm are not necessarily as popular as other realistic fiction/contemporary books are, and the combination of issues in Scar adds to its intensity. The writing is excellent, especially when describing Kendra’s needs and feelings. The need to cut and find release from the emotional pain is very well detailed, and is told on different levels so everybody can relate to her.I recommend this book for those that have an interest in exploring what goes on in a person’s head when they are thinking of self harm. Kendra has moments of real breakthroughs, and great insight into her mind space is given throughout the story. I think it’s an important read and well done.

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I've been trying to write a review for this book that really puts into words the impact that this book has had on my life, but nothing seems right. All I can say is I read it a bit ago and it's still lingering in my mind so much it's making it difficult to move on to new books, like a novel hangover. Honestly think everyone should read this book at some point. It's not the typical angsty teen read, it really does a great job of tackling some social issues that are often almost taboo and not talked about such as rape, homosexuality and self injury. The emotions are so strong- I found myself laughing and beaming with smiles when Kendra was, tense and worried when she was struggling, holding my breath at the intensity in some parts... It's just a must read in my opinion, I'm not sure I'll ever read another book that can replace this as my favorite book.

Amo questo libro, insieme a WIntergirls è il mio preferito del genere :3 Penso che tutti gli adolescenti debbano leggerlo per capire cosa sia davvero l'autolesionismo e imparare a non ostentarlo per ottenere fama sui social network

For a first book by a poet this one is amazing. My strongest recommendations for all to certainly buy it. Partcularly poems such as Angel, Can you here the silence, I'll try, Price of passion do not seem to be written by a budding poet but a seasoned one. Its a piece of art. Mark my words, we have a new star on the horizon.

One of the best books to look into the minds of characters in the MISFIT category.