sarahannkateri's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Meet Victor: He's constantly bullied or beat up at school, belittled or ignored at home by his rich, perfection-obsessed parents, and his only friend is a teacup poodle named Jazzer.
And then there's Bull: He lives in a crappy apartment on the poor side of town with his neglectful, alcoholic mother and his abusive, alcoholic grandfather, and takes out his anger on the weaker kids at school -- especially Victor.
After a suicide attempt and an "accident" with a loaded gun, Victor and Bull are thrown together as roommates in a hospital psych ward, where they have to learn to tolerate each other and try to deal with the reasons behind their hospitalizations.
This one started a little bit iffy for me, but picked up steam as it went along. There's some dramatic license -both sets of parents are almost absurdly awful, and the subplot about Bull's friend Frank is a bit far-fetched, but the scenes in the psych ward seemed realistic and didn't fall victim to sentimentality. Both boys were interesting characters, and I finished the book in one sitting because I wanted to know what happened to them.
Good for teens who are interested in mental ilness or who are struggling to fit in, and an especially good choice for teen guys.
Meet Victor: He's constantly bullied or beat up at school, belittled or ignored at home by his rich, perfection-obsessed parents, and his only friend is a teacup poodle named Jazzer.
And then there's Bull: He lives in a crappy apartment on the poor side of town with his neglectful, alcoholic mother and his abusive, alcoholic grandfather, and takes out his anger on the weaker kids at school -- especially Victor.
After a suicide attempt and an "accident" with a loaded gun, Victor and Bull are thrown together as roommates in a hospital psych ward, where they have to learn to tolerate each other and try to deal with the reasons behind their hospitalizations.
This one started a little bit iffy for me, but picked up steam as it went along. There's some dramatic license -both sets of parents are almost absurdly awful, and the subplot about Bull's friend Frank is a bit far-fetched, but the scenes in the psych ward seemed realistic and didn't fall victim to sentimentality. Both boys were interesting characters, and I finished the book in one sitting because I wanted to know what happened to them.
Good for teens who are interested in mental ilness or who are struggling to fit in, and an especially good choice for teen guys.
alifromkc1907's review against another edition
3.0
Read more reviews at http://rainbowreviews.wix.com/readingfree
When two boys, Victor and "Bull," have unflattering home lives, they both end up on the floor of the psych ward (whether necessary or not). Will they survive their 5-day stay?
You may like this book if you like the following sub-genres:
Depression/Mental Health
Family life
Friendship
Psych Ward/Mental Hospital
Goodreads users gave this book a 4.01. I think it was more deserving of a 2.78.
I was less than satisfied with this book. The story was fine, the writing was fine, the characters were fine. It was just kind of a snooze. I was always pushing to get to the end - whether to find out what happens, or whether it was simply to end it, because it wasn't out of a productive writing style intended to rush the reader.
For starters, if I'm going to read a book about teenagers in a mental hospital, I want it to bleed reality. Every single person in this book (from my memory) was in-and-out in five days. Five days is enough to stitch up your heart and head and ship you out, with no medication, no thorough treatment - just a few group sessions and one or two meetings with the psychologist, and then "see ya!" I think this bothered me the most. Mental health is already seen as something that can be fixed 'overnight,' and this book only perpetuated that. 5 days in any mental health facility might have changed you... but in this one? Not a chance in hell. Some of the patients don't even see the psychiatrist until their 3rd night or early on their 4th day (it was hard to tell); these group sessions - no one is made to talk.... that's not reality. Also, these kids just sit around eat, and play games? Are there only suicide attempts? No one has eating disorders? No one has anxiety disorders? Or bipolar? I mean, c'mon! What, 8 kids who all attempted suicide? Get over yourself, author lady. This is all a figment of your imagination. The believability in this story is just crap.
What I did love was that the two main characters were males. In this society, we see males with depression, males crying as a sign of weakness. But the author ensures that this is an acceptable sign of feeling throughout the novel, but mostly towards the middle/end. The rest of the characters were all the same "breakfast club" characters you expect. You have the bully, the nerd, the hot/popular girl, the the fat kid, and the goth girl. It just felt kind of "meh," when it came to the imagination of the author in regards to the secondary characters.
As far as predictability, this book had it covered. Two characters who hate each other. They end up in the same mental hospital (and if you use your imagination, I bet you won't be surprised of further relations). They end up having parallel life-events. It's all just so unexciting when you're able to play it out before turning the next page. If A+B=C, A is Victor, and B is Bull, then C = this novel, if you can call it that.
I didn't hate this book. I don't want it to sound like I did, but there was nothing that made it good other than the character explorations. There wasn't anything exciting about the writing style, there was nothing spectacular about the story line (except maybe we have two kids from different worlds who experience the same things), there was nothing propelling me from page to page other than my own general curiosity.
(In light of my last review, I've decided I'm going to spend a little time on the book's title and cover/dust jacket art.) The title doesn't make sense. Cracked... I suppose that these kids have cracked under the pressure, but I mean, really? Cracked.... what about "Cracked" gives you the idea that shit gets better? Nothing. See also - two pills in a little medicine pouch of sorts (if you know what these are actually called seen on the cover above, please let me know... because I'm a loss) - these kids never discuss being medicated. I mean, sure, a few kids attempted suicide by way of pills, but what's with the two matching pills that no one seems to actually be taking as prescribed by this Dr. Eyebrow guy. The cover art and title were just horrid (and this was a harcover... all we got was a white spine and blue cover... so nothing to discuss there).
When two boys, Victor and "Bull," have unflattering home lives, they both end up on the floor of the psych ward (whether necessary or not). Will they survive their 5-day stay?
You may like this book if you like the following sub-genres:
Depression/Mental Health
Family life
Friendship
Psych Ward/Mental Hospital
Goodreads users gave this book a 4.01. I think it was more deserving of a 2.78.
I was less than satisfied with this book. The story was fine, the writing was fine, the characters were fine. It was just kind of a snooze. I was always pushing to get to the end - whether to find out what happens, or whether it was simply to end it, because it wasn't out of a productive writing style intended to rush the reader.
For starters, if I'm going to read a book about teenagers in a mental hospital, I want it to bleed reality. Every single person in this book (from my memory) was in-and-out in five days. Five days is enough to stitch up your heart and head and ship you out, with no medication, no thorough treatment - just a few group sessions and one or two meetings with the psychologist, and then "see ya!" I think this bothered me the most. Mental health is already seen as something that can be fixed 'overnight,' and this book only perpetuated that. 5 days in any mental health facility might have changed you... but in this one? Not a chance in hell. Some of the patients don't even see the psychiatrist until their 3rd night or early on their 4th day (it was hard to tell); these group sessions - no one is made to talk.... that's not reality. Also, these kids just sit around eat, and play games? Are there only suicide attempts? No one has eating disorders? No one has anxiety disorders? Or bipolar? I mean, c'mon! What, 8 kids who all attempted suicide? Get over yourself, author lady. This is all a figment of your imagination. The believability in this story is just crap.
What I did love was that the two main characters were males. In this society, we see males with depression, males crying as a sign of weakness. But the author ensures that this is an acceptable sign of feeling throughout the novel, but mostly towards the middle/end. The rest of the characters were all the same "breakfast club" characters you expect. You have the bully, the nerd, the hot/popular girl, the the fat kid, and the goth girl. It just felt kind of "meh," when it came to the imagination of the author in regards to the secondary characters.
As far as predictability, this book had it covered. Two characters who hate each other. They end up in the same mental hospital (and if you use your imagination, I bet you won't be surprised of further relations). They end up having parallel life-events. It's all just so unexciting when you're able to play it out before turning the next page. If A+B=C, A is Victor, and B is Bull, then C = this novel, if you can call it that.
I didn't hate this book. I don't want it to sound like I did, but there was nothing that made it good other than the character explorations. There wasn't anything exciting about the writing style, there was nothing spectacular about the story line (except maybe we have two kids from different worlds who experience the same things), there was nothing propelling me from page to page other than my own general curiosity.
(In light of my last review, I've decided I'm going to spend a little time on the book's title and cover/dust jacket art.) The title doesn't make sense. Cracked... I suppose that these kids have cracked under the pressure, but I mean, really? Cracked.... what about "Cracked" gives you the idea that shit gets better? Nothing. See also - two pills in a little medicine pouch of sorts (if you know what these are actually called seen on the cover above, please let me know... because I'm a loss) - these kids never discuss being medicated. I mean, sure, a few kids attempted suicide by way of pills, but what's with the two matching pills that no one seems to actually be taking as prescribed by this Dr. Eyebrow guy. The cover art and title were just horrid (and this was a harcover... all we got was a white spine and blue cover... so nothing to discuss there).
the_rita's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
bookgoonie's review against another edition
4.0
This sad story starts at home. Both of these boys suffer at the hands of the people at home that blame their very existence for their own unhappiness. Though Victor lives in a 5 bedroom house and Bull doesn’t even have his own room, their stories of mental and physical abuse are horrifying. The physical beatings Bull endures at the hands of his grandfather made me worry for his life. The verbal abuse Victor’s parents unleashed created a boy who became invisible. So invisible, that he thought knew no one would miss him if he committed suicide.
Compound this story with Victor allowing himself to be victimized at the hands of Bull at school since kindergarten. Do you think that their sucky home lives’ spilled into school a bit?
Walton’s phenomenal debut novel is told in alternating voice, between Victor and Bull. This makes for a quick read. I finished it in one sitting, easily caught up in wanting to know what the other one was thinking each time. It is obvious that Walton has done her research or seen it first hand as a teacher. I’ve sat through many trainings myself on the topics of bullying and suicide. The most common ingredient to successful suicide is not feeling like you will be missed by anyone. I came home and gave my child more chores and told her how much I loved her and would miss her dearly that day.
These boys do end up in the same rehab room. I was predicting some kind of mushy revelation. Thank goodness I was wrong. Their five-day stay in the psych ward felt very real to me. Stubbornness. Anger. Lots of Crying. Healing. It starts with one person in the psych ward for each of our broken boys. One person that might actually care that they are alive. Someone that makes you feel worthy. Worthy of fighting back. Not to be invisible or the asshole anymore.
“Just be happy. Stay alive. You’re worth it.”
I recommend this book to YAers, parents, and school staff. Everyone needs to pull the blinders off to the ugliness of abuse and bullying. Everyone has the duty to recognize and the power to reach out. It only takes one person offering love, hope and not allowing that kid to be invisible to save that person. They are worth it.
A novel of how words hurt and love can heal.
Compound this story with Victor allowing himself to be victimized at the hands of Bull at school since kindergarten. Do you think that their sucky home lives’ spilled into school a bit?
Walton’s phenomenal debut novel is told in alternating voice, between Victor and Bull. This makes for a quick read. I finished it in one sitting, easily caught up in wanting to know what the other one was thinking each time. It is obvious that Walton has done her research or seen it first hand as a teacher. I’ve sat through many trainings myself on the topics of bullying and suicide. The most common ingredient to successful suicide is not feeling like you will be missed by anyone. I came home and gave my child more chores and told her how much I loved her and would miss her dearly that day.
These boys do end up in the same rehab room. I was predicting some kind of mushy revelation. Thank goodness I was wrong. Their five-day stay in the psych ward felt very real to me. Stubbornness. Anger. Lots of Crying. Healing. It starts with one person in the psych ward for each of our broken boys. One person that might actually care that they are alive. Someone that makes you feel worthy. Worthy of fighting back. Not to be invisible or the asshole anymore.
“Just be happy. Stay alive. You’re worth it.”
I recommend this book to YAers, parents, and school staff. Everyone needs to pull the blinders off to the ugliness of abuse and bullying. Everyone has the duty to recognize and the power to reach out. It only takes one person offering love, hope and not allowing that kid to be invisible to save that person. They are worth it.
A novel of how words hurt and love can heal.
markma's review against another edition
3.0
This book is about two boys, one named Victor and one named Bull. Bull and Victor have known each other since kindergarten, but they are not friends. Bull is Victors bully. Bull does not have a good home life, he lives with his Mother and his Grandfather, Pop. His Pop and Mother are both alcoholics and he gets beat up by his Pop. Victor's family has a lot of money, but that does not mean that he has a good life. Victors parents do not ever seem to be happy with him. Victor decides to end his life so he takes a bottle of sleeping pills. But wakes up in the hospital, with a surprising roommate. Bull finds a gun and when his Pop tries to beat him he pulls in out. Bull pulls the trigger and wakes up in the hospital. Bull's roommate is Victor.
I really liked how in this book the ending was not that everything had been solved. In most books the book ends with everyone being happy, no matter whatI also liked how we can see both sides of the situation, we get to see both Victor and Bull's perspective. I would recommend this book to 8th graders and older because it has to do with high school and feeling wanted.
I really liked how in this book the ending was not that everything had been solved. In most books the book ends with everyone being happy, no matter whatI also liked how we can see both sides of the situation, we get to see both Victor and Bull's perspective. I would recommend this book to 8th graders and older because it has to do with high school and feeling wanted.
smuttyotaku1's review against another edition
4.0
The content of this book was amazing to read. I thought there would be more about overdose and recovery, but overall I would recommend reading this book. I felt a connection with the book due to encounters from the past.
bcca's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Wow. Wow. Powerful and such a unique way to write the story.
melinda_auniquelyportablemagic's review against another edition
4.0
Read this in advance of using it for literature circles with my 4C class. Really gripping story. Loved the switch in narrators for each chapter.