Review: Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser

Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser

Publisher: Flux 

Pages: 336 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon  

Goodreads:  Two families. Four teens. 
A summer full of secrets. 

Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives. 

Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too—at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it. 

Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality—before it tears them to pieces.

Kritters Thoughts:  Two sets of siblings - one set of brothers and one set of sisters are the four main characters of this novel.  These siblings meet each summer at their grandparents houses and spend the summer making memories to then "break-up" each time fall comes around and they go back to their respective homes for school and such.  Formatted to be told from all different perspectives, it was easy to switch between each character's story.  


Each character is going through growing pains, so they each have a story that is unique but interconnected with each other.  It is a time of learning the dynamics of relationships between boys and girls while maneuvering through the landmines of young love.  


The use of first person and second person narrative were interesting and I loved how the author used this subtle literary technique to convey a huge amount of emotion.  At first I was annoyed, but it slowly grew on me and helped to develop the story.  I wouldn't categorize this as a YA read, although the main characters are of that age.


Beware of the countless number of sex scenes.




Rating:  definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row


Ebook Challenge 2012: 10 out of 25


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from JKS Communications.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.