Summary:
Shiv is a teenage girl that feels responsible for her brother's death. Because of this, she is wracked with guilt and unable to function. She has blackouts and can't remember some fairly destructive behavior. To deal with this, she goes to the Korsakoff Clinic. There she meets the others who are also residents of Korsakoff and goes through some radical treatments for dealing with grief. Shiv along with the residents want to be there, but sometimes the cure is more difficult than anticipated.
My thoughts:
Wow, this is a tough book! Shiv is easily likeable. The reader is fairly quickly enveloped into her world and thoughts. Even though she is so far buried into her grief that it breaks your heart, there is a hopefulness and fight that carries through the entire book. There is never a point in time where you don't want the best for Shiv and the others in Korsakoff. While you know that each patient is dealing with grief, the back story of Shiv and Declan is really where the meat of the emotions lay. Declan seems like a living character throughout the book, even though you know that he is dead. Each flashback adds to his living character and makes you feel connected to him. It is easy to tell why Shiv feels so lost without him in her life. While I would not recommend this book to all children, I will say that those who are able to sit and have a good cry with a novel will definitely get the most out of this one.
Shiv is a teenage girl that feels responsible for her brother's death. Because of this, she is wracked with guilt and unable to function. She has blackouts and can't remember some fairly destructive behavior. To deal with this, she goes to the Korsakoff Clinic. There she meets the others who are also residents of Korsakoff and goes through some radical treatments for dealing with grief. Shiv along with the residents want to be there, but sometimes the cure is more difficult than anticipated.
My thoughts:
Wow, this is a tough book! Shiv is easily likeable. The reader is fairly quickly enveloped into her world and thoughts. Even though she is so far buried into her grief that it breaks your heart, there is a hopefulness and fight that carries through the entire book. There is never a point in time where you don't want the best for Shiv and the others in Korsakoff. While you know that each patient is dealing with grief, the back story of Shiv and Declan is really where the meat of the emotions lay. Declan seems like a living character throughout the book, even though you know that he is dead. Each flashback adds to his living character and makes you feel connected to him. It is easy to tell why Shiv feels so lost without him in her life. While I would not recommend this book to all children, I will say that those who are able to sit and have a good cry with a novel will definitely get the most out of this one.
