My Thoughts:

I'm not quite sure where to begin with this review.  This book is about a teenager named Willow who feels responsible for her parents' tragic death.  To cope with the emotional pain, Willow begins cutting herself.  Cutting is a topic that I know very little about.  Before reading this book, I couldn't understand why someone would want to mutilate their body by cutting themselves.  It seemed more like suicidal behavior than anything else.  After reading this book, I have a greater understanding of the emotional pain and turmoil that leads someone to cutting  --  and it's not suicidal behavior at all.

Willow was behind the wheel when a tragic accident took the lives of her parents.  Stumbling through life post-accident, Willow becomes estranged from her older brother, David, whom she finds herself living with after the accident.  Feeling that he blames her for their parents' deaths, Willow retreats into herself, trying to deal with the emotions the best way she knows how  --  through cutting.

One day at her job at the library, Willow meets Guy.  He soon discovers her secret, but instead of running the other way, he does everything he can to help her.  The development of this relationship is very sweet and I really enjoyed reading it.  Through this relationship, we see the healing power of love.

This book is so much more than a young adult novel of teenage angst.  It is not an easy book to read.  It is raw and emotional and the cutting scenes were hard to read (for me, anyway!).  I know this review isn't doing the book justice, but I just don't know how to describe the emotions this book brought out in me.  It's definitely a book I would recommend.