wildthorns's review
4.0
Don't read this book if you aren't in the mood to be depressed and/or learn an excellent life lesson. It is an amazing look inside the mind of a grieving girl who refuses to stop chasing her demons. And her ghosts. And Hunter. She has to chase Hunter a lot too.
lavaplant's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Love the flip of the girl being the closed-off one refusing to accept emotion and the boy being both the powderkeg and manic pixie dream boy. Can never figure out why Terry is here.
missprint_'s review against another edition
4.0
Kinsey Cole knows people can only bear to hear so much bad fortune. That's why everyone in the small town of Wellspring, Michigan knows that Kinsey's best friend Camille died in a car accident when Kinsey was driving. It's easier for people to see the straight A student with a full athletic scholarship.
Kinsey is struggling to stick to her own plan for the future now that Camille is dead. She is going to go to college and get away from her small town and her mentally unstable mother once and for all. She is going to succeed the way everyone always expected she would.
The only problem is that Kinsey is quietly falling apart.
When Camille's boyfriend, Hunter, invites Kinsey on a road trip to San Francisco, Kinsey jumps at the chance to get away from all the memories and start her real life. But with Hunter's heavy drinking and Kinsey's own demons, it will take more than a fresh start for either of them to accept everything that has been lost in Damaged (2014) by Amy Reed.
Kinsey and Hunter travel across a largely barren landscape on their way to California in this haunting and well-done novel. An unflinching focus on Kinsey and Hunter makes this character driven road trip story even stronger.
Nightmares that may or may not be her dead best friend plague Kinsey throughout the novel adding a surreal quality to the plot. Reed offers a well-plotted and excellently written meditation on grief, loss and the power of new beginnings in this striking novel about two wretched characters trying to make themselves whole.
Possible Pairings: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, Stealing Henry by Carolyn MacCullough, Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson, Fracture by Megan Miranda, Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell, Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
*A more condensed version of this review appeared in the September 2014 issue of School Library Journal from which it can be seen in various sites online*
Kinsey is struggling to stick to her own plan for the future now that Camille is dead. She is going to go to college and get away from her small town and her mentally unstable mother once and for all. She is going to succeed the way everyone always expected she would.
The only problem is that Kinsey is quietly falling apart.
When Camille's boyfriend, Hunter, invites Kinsey on a road trip to San Francisco, Kinsey jumps at the chance to get away from all the memories and start her real life. But with Hunter's heavy drinking and Kinsey's own demons, it will take more than a fresh start for either of them to accept everything that has been lost in Damaged (2014) by Amy Reed.
Kinsey and Hunter travel across a largely barren landscape on their way to California in this haunting and well-done novel. An unflinching focus on Kinsey and Hunter makes this character driven road trip story even stronger.
Nightmares that may or may not be her dead best friend plague Kinsey throughout the novel adding a surreal quality to the plot. Reed offers a well-plotted and excellently written meditation on grief, loss and the power of new beginnings in this striking novel about two wretched characters trying to make themselves whole.
Possible Pairings: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, Stealing Henry by Carolyn MacCullough, Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson, Fracture by Megan Miranda, Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell, Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
*A more condensed version of this review appeared in the September 2014 issue of School Library Journal from which it can be seen in various sites online*
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
Kinsey was driving the car when her best friend Camille was killed in a crash. Two months after the accident and school is just about done, senior year almost behind her, but all of the things Kinsey had so rigidly planned -- rooming at the University with Camille then moving with her out to San Francisco after they finished college -- were out the window. She's glad she's no longer the people looked away from when she walked into a room, but she never should have been either. She never really mourned the loss; she never would let loose of the control of her emotions.
When Hunter, Camille's boyfriend, keeps running into Kinsey, she finally stops to listen to him. She'd hoped to avoid him forever and the memories associated with him. Their differences. But she listens, and after a lot of convincing, she agrees to drive with him out to San Francisco and figure things out.
What Kinsey fails to mention to Hunter or to her mother, the only two people sort-of in her life, is that she's being haunted by Camille's ghost, and it's not the Camille she knew before she died.
Reed's novel is part road trip and part ghost story. But it's not just about the ghosts associated with grief. It's about the ghosts of self, about how much control one exerts and lets go of over what happens in life, both the good things and the bad things. Kinsey is a control freak; if she can't suppress her feelings enough, can't make enough plans for how to get from A to B, or can't hold the thoughts back, she counts or finds some way to dodge the issue at hand. That's how she avoided grieving Camille's death.
The thing is, Hunter won't let her continue on this path of control.
But this isn't a book about a boy saving a girl. It's instead a story about Kinsey learning how to take control of her own life by learning how to take chances and let go of some of the things that she shouldn't be worried about controlling. It's okay for her to feel things. It's okay for her to have new experiences. More, it's okay that she's not a shadow in Camille's life, always waiting on the sidelines for her own to begin. This is the story about her learning to get out on the field and live her life for herself. It's through the road trip that Kinsey discovers this sense of adventure and she learns how to let her feelings have the opportunity to BE feelings for her.
In so many ways, Kinsey's personality just spoke to me because I saw many of my bad habits and insecurities in her. A lot of things I've figured out and a lot of things I still find myself being habitual about, even though they're not good habits. Kinsey is very okay being unlikable; that's why she befriended Camille -- she got to be the likable one, and Kinsey was fine not being that way. Kinsey's also afraid of everything and afraid of doing what she wants to do because it's what she wants to do. She's a super tense type A, afraid to let herself have anything. The fear and angst she has about developing relationships, especially friendships, is well-done. She's nervous about Hunter, worried about his actions and behavior and background, and while those things are sometimes seen to be true, she also learns he has a lot more to him than that. Some of the passages about love and accepting people, for their strengths and for their damages, were knock-out powerful.
Some of my favorite things in the story were the smaller things: Kinsey has a job and she and her mother aren't wealthy. She never has a cell phone because she could never afford it (and where in some cases that could be super plot convenient, Hunter has one on the trip, so it's not the case here). There's a frank discussion about virginity, as well as raw discussions of suicide and even rawer moments of grief and anguish.
There's romance here, but it takes a back seat to the bigger story, and the payoff is more than worthwhile.
Reed extends beyond realistic YA fiction here with the supernatural element of Camille's ghost. I think readers could interpret it as being a part of Kinsey's own consciousness/wrestling with grief, too.
When Hunter, Camille's boyfriend, keeps running into Kinsey, she finally stops to listen to him. She'd hoped to avoid him forever and the memories associated with him. Their differences. But she listens, and after a lot of convincing, she agrees to drive with him out to San Francisco and figure things out.
What Kinsey fails to mention to Hunter or to her mother, the only two people sort-of in her life, is that she's being haunted by Camille's ghost, and it's not the Camille she knew before she died.
Reed's novel is part road trip and part ghost story. But it's not just about the ghosts associated with grief. It's about the ghosts of self, about how much control one exerts and lets go of over what happens in life, both the good things and the bad things. Kinsey is a control freak; if she can't suppress her feelings enough, can't make enough plans for how to get from A to B, or can't hold the thoughts back, she counts or finds some way to dodge the issue at hand. That's how she avoided grieving Camille's death.
The thing is, Hunter won't let her continue on this path of control.
But this isn't a book about a boy saving a girl. It's instead a story about Kinsey learning how to take control of her own life by learning how to take chances and let go of some of the things that she shouldn't be worried about controlling. It's okay for her to feel things. It's okay for her to have new experiences. More, it's okay that she's not a shadow in Camille's life, always waiting on the sidelines for her own to begin. This is the story about her learning to get out on the field and live her life for herself. It's through the road trip that Kinsey discovers this sense of adventure and she learns how to let her feelings have the opportunity to BE feelings for her.
In so many ways, Kinsey's personality just spoke to me because I saw many of my bad habits and insecurities in her. A lot of things I've figured out and a lot of things I still find myself being habitual about, even though they're not good habits. Kinsey is very okay being unlikable; that's why she befriended Camille -- she got to be the likable one, and Kinsey was fine not being that way. Kinsey's also afraid of everything and afraid of doing what she wants to do because it's what she wants to do. She's a super tense type A, afraid to let herself have anything. The fear and angst she has about developing relationships, especially friendships, is well-done. She's nervous about Hunter, worried about his actions and behavior and background, and while those things are sometimes seen to be true, she also learns he has a lot more to him than that. Some of the passages about love and accepting people, for their strengths and for their damages, were knock-out powerful.
Some of my favorite things in the story were the smaller things: Kinsey has a job and she and her mother aren't wealthy. She never has a cell phone because she could never afford it (and where in some cases that could be super plot convenient, Hunter has one on the trip, so it's not the case here). There's a frank discussion about virginity, as well as raw discussions of suicide and even rawer moments of grief and anguish.
There's romance here, but it takes a back seat to the bigger story, and the payoff is more than worthwhile.
Reed extends beyond realistic YA fiction here with the supernatural element of Camille's ghost. I think readers could interpret it as being a part of Kinsey's own consciousness/wrestling with grief, too.
keking's review against another edition
2.0
**I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
**2 Stars**
I've read a few of Amy Reed's books before - and I really liked all of them. I would describe her style as similar to Ellen Hopkins, that really personal look at "tough issues" in teens' lives such as pregnancy, rape, drugs, etc. So I knew that I wanted to request an ARC of Damaged. But when I was reading it, I realized that this is quite the departure for her usual style.
For one, the writing approached the problem (death) with a "rediscovering yourself via adventure" style plot. In previous novels, like Hopkins, Reed had her characters solve their problems via rehab or similar structures. So in this case, it felt like more of a John Green novel than an Ellen Hopkins novel. Except I hate John Green. I didn't like this change at all. I wanted to read Damaged because I thought it would be exactly like her other novels. I mean, they all even have the same style of cover. When I realized it was completely different, I was pretty disappointed.
Putting all that aside, I was still disappointed because the plot really lacked substance. Kinsey's best friend Camille has been dead for two months. Kinsey is haunted 24/7 by Camille's ghost (not in a paranormal sense, psychologically, although that wasn't very clear in the story) reminding her what happened. She can hardly function as a human being but she thinks that running away with Camille's boyfriend is going to help. Now, Camille's boyfriend is also a piece of work, but together they are ASKING to run into trouble. He abuses drugs and alcohol and she is hallucinating. I'm surprised they made it the whole trip (although they almost didn't a few times).
By the time I was done with this book, I didn't really understand what the point of the trip was if Kinsey was going to turn around and go right back to Michigan. Kinsey didn't really grow, she just dealt with a lot of the boyfriend's shit. She also sure isn't getting away from her abusive mother if she's going back home. The boyfriend I guess got away from his neglectful father. But neither of them really got away from Camille (basically the whole point). They had a prolonged hook-up, because other than sex, I wasn't sure if they were planning on being together or not at the end. Nobody grew. They just dealt with each other's shit and had sex.
One thing that was pretty good (like all Reed's books) is her ability to harness emotion and use it in a forceful way. She is pretty talented at that and this book is no exception. I felt empathy with Kinsey over Camille's death and how her mother treated her. I felt Hunter's (the boyfriend) rage and disgust with his father over his choices. Obviously the problem with this is that for certain characters this was a little uncomfortable. Kinsey's mom is mentally ill (I suspect something like schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder) and could be very abusive. Her grandmother wants absolutely nothing to do with her and refuses to let her in her house if she can help it. These two relationships made me pretty sad when I was reading the book.
This wasn't that horrible of a book. I enjoyed the beginning before the road trip. There was a lot of internal struggle and good use of emotion. But then they went on the road trip and I felt like I was reading a cliche John Green novel and I didn't want anything to do with this anymore.
**2 Stars**
I've read a few of Amy Reed's books before - and I really liked all of them. I would describe her style as similar to Ellen Hopkins, that really personal look at "tough issues" in teens' lives such as pregnancy, rape, drugs, etc. So I knew that I wanted to request an ARC of Damaged. But when I was reading it, I realized that this is quite the departure for her usual style.
For one, the writing approached the problem (death) with a "rediscovering yourself via adventure" style plot. In previous novels, like Hopkins, Reed had her characters solve their problems via rehab or similar structures. So in this case, it felt like more of a John Green novel than an Ellen Hopkins novel. Except I hate John Green. I didn't like this change at all. I wanted to read Damaged because I thought it would be exactly like her other novels. I mean, they all even have the same style of cover. When I realized it was completely different, I was pretty disappointed.
Putting all that aside, I was still disappointed because the plot really lacked substance. Kinsey's best friend Camille has been dead for two months. Kinsey is haunted 24/7 by Camille's ghost (not in a paranormal sense, psychologically, although that wasn't very clear in the story) reminding her what happened. She can hardly function as a human being but she thinks that running away with Camille's boyfriend is going to help. Now, Camille's boyfriend is also a piece of work, but together they are ASKING to run into trouble. He abuses drugs and alcohol and she is hallucinating. I'm surprised they made it the whole trip (although they almost didn't a few times).
By the time I was done with this book, I didn't really understand what the point of the trip was if Kinsey was going to turn around and go right back to Michigan. Kinsey didn't really grow, she just dealt with a lot of the boyfriend's shit. She also sure isn't getting away from her abusive mother if she's going back home. The boyfriend I guess got away from his neglectful father. But neither of them really got away from Camille (basically the whole point). They had a prolonged hook-up, because other than sex, I wasn't sure if they were planning on being together or not at the end. Nobody grew. They just dealt with each other's shit and had sex.
One thing that was pretty good (like all Reed's books) is her ability to harness emotion and use it in a forceful way. She is pretty talented at that and this book is no exception. I felt empathy with Kinsey over Camille's death and how her mother treated her. I felt Hunter's (the boyfriend) rage and disgust with his father over his choices. Obviously the problem with this is that for certain characters this was a little uncomfortable. Kinsey's mom is mentally ill (I suspect something like schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder) and could be very abusive. Her grandmother wants absolutely nothing to do with her and refuses to let her in her house if she can help it. These two relationships made me pretty sad when I was reading the book.
This wasn't that horrible of a book. I enjoyed the beginning before the road trip. There was a lot of internal struggle and good use of emotion. But then they went on the road trip and I felt like I was reading a cliche John Green novel and I didn't want anything to do with this anymore.
voya_k's review against another edition
2.0
I need to learn more about these new adult kind of romances where the protagonists are both messed up for some reason and fall into passionate, intense relationships. This one was entertaining for a while because of the female lead's extremely hard-ass personality. But then they went to a library and a 'mean librarian shushed them' and I was like whatevvvveerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
nevaehbecker's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
ewoo670's review against another edition
5.0
It was raw poetry, a smudging of the supernatural into reality.
I was a victim to its gripping story, falling prey to the emotional bait printed in front of me. Just 26 letters of the alphabet in combinations that stir up twice as many feelings.
The grief of death, the numbness of repression, confusing desire, and fear of nightmares.
I adored this book.
I was a victim to its gripping story, falling prey to the emotional bait printed in front of me. Just 26 letters of the alphabet in combinations that stir up twice as many feelings.
The grief of death, the numbness of repression, confusing desire, and fear of nightmares.
I adored this book.
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