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Heart-Shaped Bruise
They say I'm evil. The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who sigh on the six o'clock news and say they always knew there was something not quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you don't know. You don't know who I used to be. Who I could have been. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever shake off my mistakes or if I'll just carry them around with me forever like a bunch of red balloons.
Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time. Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge.
Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time. Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge.
318 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2012
31 people are currently reading
3527 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Byrne
11 books582 followersTanya Byrne is an award-winning young adult author.
She was born in London where she spent forty years before moving to Brighton in 2017 with her dog, Frida. After eight years at BBC Radio, she left to write her debut novel, HEART-SHAPED BRUISE, which was published by Headline in May 2012 and earned her a nomination for New Writer of the Year at the National Book Awards.
Since then, she has written three young adult novels, including FLOORED, a unique collaborative novel with six other bestselling and award-winning authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood.
She has also contributed to several short story anthologies including A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, which was named Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week and was honoured with a Special Achievement Award by the YA Book Prize.
As a brown, queer, working class author, she is determined not to pull the ladder up after her so she is passionate about encouraging authors from marginalised backgrounds to tell their own stories and making publishing more open to everyone.
Her next novel, AFTERLOVE, is published by Hachette Children's Group in August.
She was born in London where she spent forty years before moving to Brighton in 2017 with her dog, Frida. After eight years at BBC Radio, she left to write her debut novel, HEART-SHAPED BRUISE, which was published by Headline in May 2012 and earned her a nomination for New Writer of the Year at the National Book Awards.
Since then, she has written three young adult novels, including FLOORED, a unique collaborative novel with six other bestselling and award-winning authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood.
She has also contributed to several short story anthologies including A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, which was named Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week and was honoured with a Special Achievement Award by the YA Book Prize.
As a brown, queer, working class author, she is determined not to pull the ladder up after her so she is passionate about encouraging authors from marginalised backgrounds to tell their own stories and making publishing more open to everyone.
Her next novel, AFTERLOVE, is published by Hachette Children's Group in August.
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July 14, 2014
I adore teen thrillers particularly those that deal with mental health, a subject that is close to my heart, so I was really eager to read Heart-Shaped Bruise and had high expectations from the beginning. I was only a few pages in when I actually said out loud to myself “THIS is going to be a good book.” And I’m pleased to say that my early judgement was spot on.
Tanya Byrne, wow, I cannot believe that this is her debut novel. This is one of the most well written books that I’ve read this year. From the first page I was totally swept into this story because DAMN can this lady write! Serious born writer here folks! This book is chock full of such gorgeous lyrical prose. Tanya’s writing, from a troubled young girl’s perspective, was so truthful and raw that my heart would skip a beat at the beauty of a sentence or my gut would clench at the brutal honesty of a phrase. I love when an author connects with me in such a powerful way with their writing and I found myself jotting down meaningful quotes and reading moving sections aloud to my family I was that touched by Emily Koll’s voice and from this debut alone I already know that I will continue to read anything that Tanya Byrne writes in the future without hesitation, I loved her writing that much.
Despite all of the terrible things that Emily did that slowly get revealed throughout the book I couldn’t not like her. Although I didn’t agree with her actions I understood them, I understood how she came to be the way that she was and I was surprised that I came to feel that way about someone who could have easily been unlikeable. I also felt so many things towards the antagonist in this book, at least through Emily’s eyes, Juliet. From an outsiders perspective I felt sympathy for Juliet but when I was reading through Emily’s point of view I felt Em’s anger and hatred towards her too. Heart-Shaped Bruise is ultimately a role reversal story where the bad guy is our heroine and the victim is our villain. This book fills in all those shades of grey in what makes a person like Emily the way they are and do the things that she does, and makes you understand what leads a normal person to make bad choices.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is the kind of book that will have you up to the early hours racing to the end. I read this book in two sittings and was constantly thinking about it in between and after reading it. If you’re a fan of teen thrillers, gritty and hard-hitting storylines, or simply just well written thought provoking books then Heart-Shaped Bruise is a must read.
Tanya Byrne, wow, I cannot believe that this is her debut novel. This is one of the most well written books that I’ve read this year. From the first page I was totally swept into this story because DAMN can this lady write! Serious born writer here folks! This book is chock full of such gorgeous lyrical prose. Tanya’s writing, from a troubled young girl’s perspective, was so truthful and raw that my heart would skip a beat at the beauty of a sentence or my gut would clench at the brutal honesty of a phrase. I love when an author connects with me in such a powerful way with their writing and I found myself jotting down meaningful quotes and reading moving sections aloud to my family I was that touched by Emily Koll’s voice and from this debut alone I already know that I will continue to read anything that Tanya Byrne writes in the future without hesitation, I loved her writing that much.
Despite all of the terrible things that Emily did that slowly get revealed throughout the book I couldn’t not like her. Although I didn’t agree with her actions I understood them, I understood how she came to be the way that she was and I was surprised that I came to feel that way about someone who could have easily been unlikeable. I also felt so many things towards the antagonist in this book, at least through Emily’s eyes, Juliet. From an outsiders perspective I felt sympathy for Juliet but when I was reading through Emily’s point of view I felt Em’s anger and hatred towards her too. Heart-Shaped Bruise is ultimately a role reversal story where the bad guy is our heroine and the victim is our villain. This book fills in all those shades of grey in what makes a person like Emily the way they are and do the things that she does, and makes you understand what leads a normal person to make bad choices.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is the kind of book that will have you up to the early hours racing to the end. I read this book in two sittings and was constantly thinking about it in between and after reading it. If you’re a fan of teen thrillers, gritty and hard-hitting storylines, or simply just well written thought provoking books then Heart-Shaped Bruise is a must read.
May 28, 2012
Emily Koll is - well - she's -
she's here.
She's brittle, broken. But she's here.
She's here after -
(well, after everything she did, after everything that's been printed about her, after all the words that have been said)
She's telling her story for the first time. And oh - what a story. Emily is a glass-edged, vivid narrator full of fragile braggadocio and vicious, vicious pain.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is massively out of my comfort zone and I found it a little hard to get in to at first. It felt a bit too artful for what I was expecting. But then, once I was in there - it was good. Almost voyeuristically good. What Byrne does is, she gives heart to the heartless. Emily's one of those people who's done awful things and we shouldn't love her.
(But we sort of do. We sort of root for her to come back from this place she's in and pull herself out of the darkness).
Heart-Shaped Bruise is a massive book because, I think, it poses so many more questions than it can ever answer. Revenge. Love. Loss. Everything. It's big.
Emily Koll is bigger. There was one moment that leapt out of the sky at me. One of the characters asks Emily what she wants when she dies. Her reply? "When I go, I want to punch a hole in the sky."
That's it. That longing to make a mark - to just - just matter.
Tanya Byrne makes Emily matter.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is kind of spectacular.
she's here.
She's brittle, broken. But she's here.
She's here after -
(well, after everything she did, after everything that's been printed about her, after all the words that have been said)
She's telling her story for the first time. And oh - what a story. Emily is a glass-edged, vivid narrator full of fragile braggadocio and vicious, vicious pain.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is massively out of my comfort zone and I found it a little hard to get in to at first. It felt a bit too artful for what I was expecting. But then, once I was in there - it was good. Almost voyeuristically good. What Byrne does is, she gives heart to the heartless. Emily's one of those people who's done awful things and we shouldn't love her.
(But we sort of do. We sort of root for her to come back from this place she's in and pull herself out of the darkness).
Heart-Shaped Bruise is a massive book because, I think, it poses so many more questions than it can ever answer. Revenge. Love. Loss. Everything. It's big.
Emily Koll is bigger. There was one moment that leapt out of the sky at me. One of the characters asks Emily what she wants when she dies. Her reply? "When I go, I want to punch a hole in the sky."
That's it. That longing to make a mark - to just - just matter.
Tanya Byrne makes Emily matter.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is kind of spectacular.
October 5, 2015
The hazards of reading a good book. Phase 1 – before you start the book; good mental state, happy, able to eat. Phase 2 – after you finish the book; want to die, want to kill someone, want to rip your heart out and not feel the pain, spend hours in endless agony.
(Note, this review may be a little dramatic, given I just finished this book and I’m emotionally unstable) (all the more reason to read this book).
So. Okay. 4 hours ago, I started a book, which I just finished and in a fit of agony, I’m bashing the keyboard writing out this review.
Heart Shaped Bruise can only be called one thing – haunting. And I fell in love with it, as it slowly tugged me under with the characters, the story, the prose, only to have the rug tugged from under my feet at the end. I should feel a sense of betrayal somewhere, but I’m currently too busy nursing my broken heart. Anyway, here’s a review.
Our story starts with a chilling journal, found left in a room in the Young Offenders Mental Institution; through which we follow the story of Emily Koll. The tabloids have branded her as evil, something apparently unavoidable as she’s the daughter of a famous gangster. Yet as the world and media paints Emily as what people want to see, the author of this book takes us through the real life of Emily, as she spends her days inside, her psychological meetings, her internal rant and feelings.
We know Emily did something evil. Her Dad shot a policeman, his daughter, Juliet, saw and stabbed Emily’s Dad. That’s where it all started, and as Juliet’s life slowly starts to rebuild as she moves in with foster parents, who is ex-CID, we see Emily’s life falls apart. Yet what we don’t know, is how she went from normal 16 year old girl, who’s Mum left, and whose Dad was rich and did everything and anything to make her happy – to Emily being branded evil and left to tell her story behind bars.
But we hear Emily’s voice, the real voice from within. The author does such an amazing, heartfelt job of getting across the real emotions, the darkness and anguish from within. It’s not a complete story of redemption, but rather it’s gritty. We don’t have a main narrator here who tells us about remorse, and repentance, but rather Emily knows what she’s done, she has no regrets, and yet all the side effects and emotions that she didn’t expect – those make it all real.
Something that touched me with the author’s writing style, was how you could feel the despair, and the anguish and even share the same emotions Emily shares. Though we may not have tread the same path as Emily, yet somehow, these emotions can still feature in our everyday life – and this touches us. It’s brutally honest.
As for the characters – they are everything and more than I expected. We see how Emily, after the arrest of her father for murder of the police officer, moves to London, intent on revenge through Juliet for if she hasn’t stabbed her father, Emily’s life wouldn’t have fallen apart. Through the snippets of Emily’s journal and the sessions with her psychologist, we flit to the past and present, and the story of love, loss and despair is built. Emily is one of the best characters that I’ve read; greatly constructed, honest, witty, vulnerable – and though she keeps telling us that she knows what we think of her, that she’s evil – the opinion that forms of her as you read her struggle, makes you feel attached to her. Bring in Juliet, Sid, Mike and Eve, you’ll find that there’s a vast array of characters that draw you in.
The writing in itself is brass and bold – it’s gritty and dark, but you can’t put it down. You have to know what happens and this lures you through to the end, and brilliantly and brutally breaks your heart. I can usually tell where a story is going, but this time, I couldn’t foresee what was in store and I think that false sense of security, the calm before the storm, made me love this book even more.
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(Note, this review may be a little dramatic, given I just finished this book and I’m emotionally unstable) (all the more reason to read this book).
So. Okay. 4 hours ago, I started a book, which I just finished and in a fit of agony, I’m bashing the keyboard writing out this review.
Heart Shaped Bruise can only be called one thing – haunting. And I fell in love with it, as it slowly tugged me under with the characters, the story, the prose, only to have the rug tugged from under my feet at the end. I should feel a sense of betrayal somewhere, but I’m currently too busy nursing my broken heart. Anyway, here’s a review.
Our story starts with a chilling journal, found left in a room in the Young Offenders Mental Institution; through which we follow the story of Emily Koll. The tabloids have branded her as evil, something apparently unavoidable as she’s the daughter of a famous gangster. Yet as the world and media paints Emily as what people want to see, the author of this book takes us through the real life of Emily, as she spends her days inside, her psychological meetings, her internal rant and feelings.
We know Emily did something evil. Her Dad shot a policeman, his daughter, Juliet, saw and stabbed Emily’s Dad. That’s where it all started, and as Juliet’s life slowly starts to rebuild as she moves in with foster parents, who is ex-CID, we see Emily’s life falls apart. Yet what we don’t know, is how she went from normal 16 year old girl, who’s Mum left, and whose Dad was rich and did everything and anything to make her happy – to Emily being branded evil and left to tell her story behind bars.
But we hear Emily’s voice, the real voice from within. The author does such an amazing, heartfelt job of getting across the real emotions, the darkness and anguish from within. It’s not a complete story of redemption, but rather it’s gritty. We don’t have a main narrator here who tells us about remorse, and repentance, but rather Emily knows what she’s done, she has no regrets, and yet all the side effects and emotions that she didn’t expect – those make it all real.
Something that touched me with the author’s writing style, was how you could feel the despair, and the anguish and even share the same emotions Emily shares. Though we may not have tread the same path as Emily, yet somehow, these emotions can still feature in our everyday life – and this touches us. It’s brutally honest.
As for the characters – they are everything and more than I expected. We see how Emily, after the arrest of her father for murder of the police officer, moves to London, intent on revenge through Juliet for if she hasn’t stabbed her father, Emily’s life wouldn’t have fallen apart. Through the snippets of Emily’s journal and the sessions with her psychologist, we flit to the past and present, and the story of love, loss and despair is built. Emily is one of the best characters that I’ve read; greatly constructed, honest, witty, vulnerable – and though she keeps telling us that she knows what we think of her, that she’s evil – the opinion that forms of her as you read her struggle, makes you feel attached to her. Bring in Juliet, Sid, Mike and Eve, you’ll find that there’s a vast array of characters that draw you in.
The writing in itself is brass and bold – it’s gritty and dark, but you can’t put it down. You have to know what happens and this lures you through to the end, and brilliantly and brutally breaks your heart. I can usually tell where a story is going, but this time, I couldn’t foresee what was in store and I think that false sense of security, the calm before the storm, made me love this book even more.
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April 19, 2017
It was like this blackness that crept into the corners of my life until everything was grey and dirty. My insides felt burnt out, like if you cut me open, all you would find would be smoke. No heart. No bones. There was nothing left, just the anger. It followed me everywhere. It sat on my bed and watched me sleep and when I had to eat, it looked at me across the table.
Heart-Shaped Bruise sure did one thing right, and that's anger.
Have you ever felt so angry that you wanted to burn something?
If you have, then you'll understand Emily.
Because, WOW! The way she's decribing Emily's emotions: the hurt, betrayal, anger, rejection, it's almost beautiful. (Note the quotes I picked.) There's something poetic about her need for revenge.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, perhaps more for the character of Emily, than for the mystery part.
I recommend: to all YA mystery/suspense fans.
My heart was beating so hard I felt dizzy. I snatched at a breath, then another and another until I realised that there was nothing I could do. So I gave into it, let it rip through me, and it was such a relief that I smiled. I love it, you know, the anger. I love it when it's like that; wild and deep and unreachable. Because when I'm angry, it isn't me reacting, it's my body. I can't stop it. I have to let it run its course, like a fever.
December 14, 2015
Emily Koll is awaiting trial at the Archway Young Offenders Institution, and she is going to tell her side of the story. They say she’s evil, they always thought there was something wrong with her, but she is just broken. Heart Shaped Bruise is Emily Koll finally telling people what really was going through her mind.
This novel is told like a diary, which explores her life in the institution with the other girls and her sessions with her therapist. Slowly you begin to uncover just what happened to Emily Koll and why she constantly considers herself broken. You know from the beginning that she found out her father was a notorious gangster at the same time she found out that he had broken in and stabbed a police officer. Her father was then stabbed by Juliet but he didn’t die and is now in prison. Emily blames Juliet for breaking her and taking everything away from her, but you don’t know how she took out her revenge.
My main problem with this novel was that everything felt so superficial, she hated Juliet and wanted revenge but that was the extent of it. The book could have gone into the psychological aspects of Emily but it just skimmed the surface all the way through. There was the physiologist that could have helped explore this more but she was so annoying and only talked in questions. Nothing really happened in the form of recovery and nothing interesting happened.
I didn’t really care what she did, knowing that she got her revenge was all I needed and by the time this is revealed I’m left thinking “Is that it?”. I wasted two nights reading this book and I could have reread Crime and Punishment and enjoyed how it should be done. I could even read something like the Dexter series, since even that knows how to explore the interesting elements of being a sociopath.
This might be considered a New Adult novel since the protagonist is 18 at the time, but if you want to read a YA series that plays with the idea of a young sociopath and does it a hell of all more better, try Dan Wells’ John Cleaver series. The first book is called I Am Not A Serial Killer and the series explores a teenage boy with a very dark side.
Heart Shaped Bruise sounds like my type of book and I was hoping for something like the Dan Wells series minus the paranormal elements but I was sadly disappointed with it. It could have done so much with the story but ended up doing nothing interesting at all. I still live in hopes of a great YA novel with a teenage sociopath that doesn’t turn into a paranormal novel, but I’m losing hope fast. Skip this book, read something else, I don’t think it’s worth the effort.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
This novel is told like a diary, which explores her life in the institution with the other girls and her sessions with her therapist. Slowly you begin to uncover just what happened to Emily Koll and why she constantly considers herself broken. You know from the beginning that she found out her father was a notorious gangster at the same time she found out that he had broken in and stabbed a police officer. Her father was then stabbed by Juliet but he didn’t die and is now in prison. Emily blames Juliet for breaking her and taking everything away from her, but you don’t know how she took out her revenge.
My main problem with this novel was that everything felt so superficial, she hated Juliet and wanted revenge but that was the extent of it. The book could have gone into the psychological aspects of Emily but it just skimmed the surface all the way through. There was the physiologist that could have helped explore this more but she was so annoying and only talked in questions. Nothing really happened in the form of recovery and nothing interesting happened.
I didn’t really care what she did, knowing that she got her revenge was all I needed and by the time this is revealed I’m left thinking “Is that it?”. I wasted two nights reading this book and I could have reread Crime and Punishment and enjoyed how it should be done. I could even read something like the Dexter series, since even that knows how to explore the interesting elements of being a sociopath.
This might be considered a New Adult novel since the protagonist is 18 at the time, but if you want to read a YA series that plays with the idea of a young sociopath and does it a hell of all more better, try Dan Wells’ John Cleaver series. The first book is called I Am Not A Serial Killer and the series explores a teenage boy with a very dark side.
Heart Shaped Bruise sounds like my type of book and I was hoping for something like the Dan Wells series minus the paranormal elements but I was sadly disappointed with it. It could have done so much with the story but ended up doing nothing interesting at all. I still live in hopes of a great YA novel with a teenage sociopath that doesn’t turn into a paranormal novel, but I’m losing hope fast. Skip this book, read something else, I don’t think it’s worth the effort.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...
May 25, 2017
I picked this book up off the library shelf, sat down in the conveniently placed chair and devoured it in three hours flat. If that doesn't convince you that you must read it as soon as humanly possible, then I don't know what will.
Some people will think they've read this book before - a first person account of a criminal awaiting trial, but you haven't read it. You haven't read it at all. Emily is an incredible narrator. She will make you laugh. She will make you gasp (with horror). And, most of all, she will make you understand. She's a teenage girl with a realistic voice and, even though what she did was wrong and crazy, you can't help but sympathise with her.
The other characters - Juliet, Sid, Lily, Naomi, Grace, and the doctor - are all brilliantly painted. My favourites among them were probably Sid, who I honestly believe saw Emily as just a friend, though I suppose that is open to interpretation, and Lily, who vanishes quite early on. I was hoping she'd come back (I know that's technically a bad thing) but maybe the fact that she didn't showed that whatever the doctor did to her worked. Perhaps Lily getting out of that wing means that there is hope for Emily? The major characters are all teenagers and, even though most of them are young offenders, they're all relatable. From Emily wondering if she was only shy, quiet and clever because people told her she was to Sid wishing that he could run all the way to the end of the earth.
It is a crime thriller. Usually, that means I flick through to the end after about ten pages because I can't be bothered with the long, drawn out build up. Not this time though, and I'm glad I didn't. It would have ruined it. By the end of the second to last chapter, I was tearing up (this is the closest a novel has ever come to making me cry). The final line of the second to last chapter? My hand quite literally flew to my mouth. It was... a shock to say the least. And the worst part? What it meant, for the characters involved, was left totally ambiguous. I hoped that what happened in the aftermath would be revealed, but no, we're left guessing. Perhaps by what the papers have said about Emily, we can guess what happened and... I know I won't be able to sleep tonight for wondering whether I'm right or not. Poor Emily, though. Even with all the nasty things she planned, she never planned to do that.
The romance - and, yes, there is a love triangle in a manner of speaking - was both slow-building and innocent (Emily/) and physical and instant (Juliet/). This kind of makes sense given that, from the boy's point of view, one was love and one was friendship. It's the innocent one that I really fell in love with, and it made that one line (you know, the one I keep mentioning) all the more powerful.
This is an amazing novel, about happiness and hatred and coming out the other side to see that the sun is still shining down and everything is going to be okay. Eventually. There's hope at the end of this novel. How many other crime thrillers can you say that about?
Some people will think they've read this book before - a first person account of a criminal awaiting trial, but you haven't read it. You haven't read it at all. Emily is an incredible narrator. She will make you laugh. She will make you gasp (with horror). And, most of all, she will make you understand. She's a teenage girl with a realistic voice and, even though what she did was wrong and crazy, you can't help but sympathise with her.
The other characters - Juliet, Sid, Lily, Naomi, Grace, and the doctor - are all brilliantly painted. My favourites among them were probably Sid, who I honestly believe saw Emily as just a friend, though I suppose that is open to interpretation, and Lily, who vanishes quite early on. I was hoping she'd come back (I know that's technically a bad thing) but maybe the fact that she didn't showed that whatever the doctor did to her worked. Perhaps Lily getting out of that wing means that there is hope for Emily? The major characters are all teenagers and, even though most of them are young offenders, they're all relatable. From Emily wondering if she was only shy, quiet and clever because people told her she was to Sid wishing that he could run all the way to the end of the earth.
It is a crime thriller. Usually, that means I flick through to the end after about ten pages because I can't be bothered with the long, drawn out build up. Not this time though, and I'm glad I didn't. It would have ruined it. By the end of the second to last chapter, I was tearing up (this is the closest a novel has ever come to making me cry). The final line of the second to last chapter? My hand quite literally flew to my mouth. It was... a shock to say the least. And the worst part? What it meant, for the characters involved, was left totally ambiguous. I hoped that what happened in the aftermath would be revealed, but no, we're left guessing. Perhaps by what the papers have said about Emily, we can guess what happened and... I know I won't be able to sleep tonight for wondering whether I'm right or not. Poor Emily, though. Even with all the nasty things she planned, she never planned to do that.
The romance - and, yes, there is a love triangle in a manner of speaking - was both slow-building and innocent (Emily/) and physical and instant (Juliet/). This kind of makes sense given that, from the boy's point of view, one was love and one was friendship. It's the innocent one that I really fell in love with, and it made that one line (you know, the one I keep mentioning) all the more powerful.
This is an amazing novel, about happiness and hatred and coming out the other side to see that the sun is still shining down and everything is going to be okay. Eventually. There's hope at the end of this novel. How many other crime thrillers can you say that about?
August 27, 2016
Heart-Shaped Bruise is one of those novels that, although received a lot of press and internet buzz when it was first published (in early 2012), I knew next to nothing about. I knew that my fellow book bloggers raved about it. I knew many of them named it as one of their favourite books of 2012, which is high praise coming from people who often read 100 or 200 books per year. And I knew that reviewers called it 'compulsive', 'gripping' and 'compelling'. I finally decided to pick it up, after receiving it as a Christmas gift from Headline last year, because I felt like reading something quite dark. I wasn't in the mood for a happy contemporary novel. Heart-Shaped Bruise was the perfect choice.
Emily Koll is pure evil. At least, that is what the tabloids say. She is awaiting trial at the Archway Young Offenders Institution, confined to the psychiatric ward. Are you only how other people perceive you? It's time for Emily to explain her side of the story – and she's not holding back.
Heart-Shaped Bruise has a cover that I want to show people and a story that definitely lived up to my expectations – different, dark, deceptively simple. We know that Emily has committed a crime, but not exactly what. We know how other people see her, but not who she really is. Revenge is, well, odd. If you look it up in the dictionary, it says: 'revenge is personal and justice is societal'. It's an act often completely smothered by emotion in place of rationality. We feel it intensely and erratically. It's exciting, dangerous, and incredibly fascinating to read about (or watch!). But how far would you go?
Emily's a fabulous character. I was completely sucked in even until the very end, once we find out what she has done. I loathed Juliet as much as Emily did, even though, logically, I know it should be the other way round. What Juliet did was acceptable, logical, what any one of us would have done, and what Emily did was not. Tanya Byrne flips it completely and her talented prose makes the reader understand – and that's a very powerful tool. It's funny, how such a dysfunctional character can be so relatable, but it's because reading enables us to get inside the fictional minds of fictional characters, and Tanya Byrne does it brilliantly.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is now one of my favourite novels of the year so far.
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
Emily Koll is pure evil. At least, that is what the tabloids say. She is awaiting trial at the Archway Young Offenders Institution, confined to the psychiatric ward. Are you only how other people perceive you? It's time for Emily to explain her side of the story – and she's not holding back.
Heart-Shaped Bruise has a cover that I want to show people and a story that definitely lived up to my expectations – different, dark, deceptively simple. We know that Emily has committed a crime, but not exactly what. We know how other people see her, but not who she really is. Revenge is, well, odd. If you look it up in the dictionary, it says: 'revenge is personal and justice is societal'. It's an act often completely smothered by emotion in place of rationality. We feel it intensely and erratically. It's exciting, dangerous, and incredibly fascinating to read about (or watch!). But how far would you go?
Emily's a fabulous character. I was completely sucked in even until the very end, once we find out what she has done. I loathed Juliet as much as Emily did, even though, logically, I know it should be the other way round. What Juliet did was acceptable, logical, what any one of us would have done, and what Emily did was not. Tanya Byrne flips it completely and her talented prose makes the reader understand – and that's a very powerful tool. It's funny, how such a dysfunctional character can be so relatable, but it's because reading enables us to get inside the fictional minds of fictional characters, and Tanya Byrne does it brilliantly.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is now one of my favourite novels of the year so far.
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
April 26, 2013
What a beautiful and evocative first novel from this author - Having finished it a very short time ago I am attempting to write this review whilst still slightly tearful and to me that is pretty much the best compliment I could pay. In its pages you will find the "diary" of Emily Koll, a young girl currently in a secure unit awaiting trial for a crime as yet unspecified. Emily tells us her story and really, whilst doing so, tries to work out for herself the events in her life that have led her to where she is today and created the reasons for doing what she did. Its really difficult to put into words the emotional rollercoaster I was on whilst reading this - its beautifully written and while you are there with Emily she is truly a flesh and blood person, not a literary character. Your heart will bleed for her, and indeed at certain parts of the narrative you will get extremely angry with her - every chance not taken, every turn she makes that you know is going to lead to tears and yet you are pulled along, helpless, to the final denouement. There is a lot more that could be said...but you need to take Emily's journey with her, not with me. At its heart this may well be a novel about redemption - but that is something each reader must decide for themselves. I like to think so.
July 18, 2012
"Heart-Shaped Bruise" is the diary of young criminal Emily Koll, written from her prison -- a young offender's institute in England.
This book has some balls: we've got a hard-to-categorise story (is it crime? mystery? psychological? contemporary?) with a hard-to-like protagonist who's in jail for something horrible. It's a daring book, and I love it.
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to relate to Emily, who's bitter about her imprisonment, difficult to talk to, and cold to her fellow inmates. But how can I not like a girl who talks about her grief like this:
"It was like a blackness that crept into the corners of my life until everything was grey and dirty. My insides felt burned out, like if you cut me open, all you would find would be smoke. No heart. No bones. There was nothing left, just the anger."
I spent my time reading it and highlighting lines that resonated: Yes, Emily, I know that blackness. I know your pain. Your betrayal. Your black, unstoppable fury. If I'm being honest, I think it's difficult to be a woman and not know exactly how she feels. She makes it so easy to understand her story.
Even though what Emily does might be unimaginable to some of us, the pain she goes through to reach that breaking point is something most of us can relate to.
If you've ever tried to write an unlikable character, it's worth picking up this book as an example of how to do it right without losing your character's edge.
This book has some balls: we've got a hard-to-categorise story (is it crime? mystery? psychological? contemporary?) with a hard-to-like protagonist who's in jail for something horrible. It's a daring book, and I love it.
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to relate to Emily, who's bitter about her imprisonment, difficult to talk to, and cold to her fellow inmates. But how can I not like a girl who talks about her grief like this:
"It was like a blackness that crept into the corners of my life until everything was grey and dirty. My insides felt burned out, like if you cut me open, all you would find would be smoke. No heart. No bones. There was nothing left, just the anger."
I spent my time reading it and highlighting lines that resonated: Yes, Emily, I know that blackness. I know your pain. Your betrayal. Your black, unstoppable fury. If I'm being honest, I think it's difficult to be a woman and not know exactly how she feels. She makes it so easy to understand her story.
Even though what Emily does might be unimaginable to some of us, the pain she goes through to reach that breaking point is something most of us can relate to.
If you've ever tried to write an unlikable character, it's worth picking up this book as an example of how to do it right without losing your character's edge.
July 26, 2012
This book read more like a teen read to me than an adult crime book.
I had no emotion towards any of the characters and found myself not really caring what she'd done. It was incredibly slow and the story didn't grab me at all. I think my expectations were slightly too high for this one, it had the potential to be great but just didn't quite make it.
I had no emotion towards any of the characters and found myself not really caring what she'd done. It was incredibly slow and the story didn't grab me at all. I think my expectations were slightly too high for this one, it had the potential to be great but just didn't quite make it.
September 17, 2020
I was sailing smoothly then the end just blown me away. My heart ache for Emily. That's all love is, you know, wanting to be the best person you can be for someone..
April 11, 2013
Firstly - Oh. My. God!
I read this novel in what was literally one sitting - several hours curled up on the sofa unable to release the book from my death-grip. When my partner came home from work, I carried on reading, practically ignoring her until I'd turned the last page.
Emily is... well actually there are two Emily's. There is the Emily that the tabloids have declared Evil and there's the Emily who pours out her heart in a diary night after night as she attempts to come to terms with what she has done.
Emily is a resident of the Psychiatric wing of Archway Young Offender's Institute. She is awaiting trial but everybody knows who she is and for Emily there's no doubt that she is guilty. The daughter of infamous London Gangster, Harry Koll, everybody is scared of Emily. And with reason. She was the one who ruined a girl. She is the one who did something 'Evil' and unforgiving purely to destroy 16 year old Juliet, the girl who stabbed her father.
Through a notebook found in one of the rooms after the Institute was closed, we get the chance to see into the crumbling mind of Emily as she pieces together her story, the fragmented reality of how she ended up behind bars.
The tabloids have labelled Emily Evil, the product of a Mobster family. But until the night Juliet stabbed Emily's father in self-defense after he'd murdered her own father, Emily had no idea that her dad was more than a mechanic. The tabloids however, would never print the story of how her whole world tumbled down around her ears that night, how her innocent eyes were opened to her father's murderous ways. The tabloids and the public only want to see what Emily did to hurt Juliet.
Tanya Byrne opens up the world of a Young Offenders Institute and candidly shows us the inside of a mind struggling to grasp the pain she has caused and the pain she is feeling.
We're not supposed to like Emily so much as come to understand her. But as I was reading I grew fond of this tortured teenager and wanted her to find some kind of personal resolution. I wanted her to find hope.
It probably helped that I saw a lot of myself in Emily. I don't mean that I'm capable of the things Emily did. It's just that so much of what she thinks and feels resonated with me. I wish I'd had this book as a teen. It's up there with 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' in terms of gripping, heart-wrenching, compulsive reading. I adored it.
I read this novel in what was literally one sitting - several hours curled up on the sofa unable to release the book from my death-grip. When my partner came home from work, I carried on reading, practically ignoring her until I'd turned the last page.
Emily is... well actually there are two Emily's. There is the Emily that the tabloids have declared Evil and there's the Emily who pours out her heart in a diary night after night as she attempts to come to terms with what she has done.
Emily is a resident of the Psychiatric wing of Archway Young Offender's Institute. She is awaiting trial but everybody knows who she is and for Emily there's no doubt that she is guilty. The daughter of infamous London Gangster, Harry Koll, everybody is scared of Emily. And with reason. She was the one who ruined a girl. She is the one who did something 'Evil' and unforgiving purely to destroy 16 year old Juliet, the girl who stabbed her father.
Through a notebook found in one of the rooms after the Institute was closed, we get the chance to see into the crumbling mind of Emily as she pieces together her story, the fragmented reality of how she ended up behind bars.
The tabloids have labelled Emily Evil, the product of a Mobster family. But until the night Juliet stabbed Emily's father in self-defense after he'd murdered her own father, Emily had no idea that her dad was more than a mechanic. The tabloids however, would never print the story of how her whole world tumbled down around her ears that night, how her innocent eyes were opened to her father's murderous ways. The tabloids and the public only want to see what Emily did to hurt Juliet.
Tanya Byrne opens up the world of a Young Offenders Institute and candidly shows us the inside of a mind struggling to grasp the pain she has caused and the pain she is feeling.
We're not supposed to like Emily so much as come to understand her. But as I was reading I grew fond of this tortured teenager and wanted her to find some kind of personal resolution. I wanted her to find hope.
It probably helped that I saw a lot of myself in Emily. I don't mean that I'm capable of the things Emily did. It's just that so much of what she thinks and feels resonated with me. I wish I'd had this book as a teen. It's up there with 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' in terms of gripping, heart-wrenching, compulsive reading. I adored it.
November 8, 2015
This book is amazing. It had been sitting on my shelf for years and I was going to get rid of it, because it was cheap and I didn't think I was going to read it. But I'm so glad I did!
This book changes your moral perspective. I like to think of myself as a morally sound person, that if something bad were to happen that I could trusted to do the right thing. Straightaway, we're told that Emily is in the wrong (shes in mental health ward for a reason) but as the book goes on you start to rationalise her actions and Juliette (the real victim from a sideline view) becomes the enemy, the bad one. It's only when you've put the book down and thought about it for a minute you begin to go "wait a minute..." And that's my favourite thing about this book, it literally changes you.
I went into this book with absolutely no expectations, and I think that's the way it needs to be started. Because knowing too much about this book may ruin it for you. I liked that even though Emily was the bad guy, the anti-heroine, I liked her. She was a good character (not morally, but that's another thing entirely) and that's why I was so invested in her story, even knowing the outcome.
My only problem was the love aspect of it. I liked Sid (hate his name though, sorry. I keep thinking of the sloth from Ice Age and he is in no way handsome) and I liked his friendship with Emily, but I didn't think he was anything special. He was just a normal teenage boy which, thinking about it now, I actually liked about him. He didn't try to be spectacular or something he wasn't. He was just a normal British teenager, not over romanticised like Noah Shaw (who I love, don't get me wrong). It's nice to have normal characters, especially boys. Teenage boys aren't romantic, trust me on this. The problem with the romance is that I just didn't buy into it. I didn't like Emily with Sid.
If you haven't read this book, please go and read it! I love it so much and hardly anyone I know has read it. It needs more fans!
This book changes your moral perspective. I like to think of myself as a morally sound person, that if something bad were to happen that I could trusted to do the right thing. Straightaway, we're told that Emily is in the wrong (shes in mental health ward for a reason) but as the book goes on you start to rationalise her actions and Juliette (the real victim from a sideline view) becomes the enemy, the bad one. It's only when you've put the book down and thought about it for a minute you begin to go "wait a minute..." And that's my favourite thing about this book, it literally changes you.
I went into this book with absolutely no expectations, and I think that's the way it needs to be started. Because knowing too much about this book may ruin it for you. I liked that even though Emily was the bad guy, the anti-heroine, I liked her. She was a good character (not morally, but that's another thing entirely) and that's why I was so invested in her story, even knowing the outcome.
My only problem was the love aspect of it. I liked Sid (hate his name though, sorry. I keep thinking of the sloth from Ice Age and he is in no way handsome) and I liked his friendship with Emily, but I didn't think he was anything special. He was just a normal teenage boy which, thinking about it now, I actually liked about him. He didn't try to be spectacular or something he wasn't. He was just a normal British teenager, not over romanticised like Noah Shaw (who I love, don't get me wrong). It's nice to have normal characters, especially boys. Teenage boys aren't romantic, trust me on this. The problem with the romance is that I just didn't buy into it. I didn't like Emily with Sid.
If you haven't read this book, please go and read it! I love it so much and hardly anyone I know has read it. It needs more fans!
April 25, 2012
The night that her father was stabbed was the night that Emily learned her whole life had been a lie. He was just dad to her and she was just another teenage girl. In reality he was a gangster and their life-style funded by organised crime. Heart-Shaped Bruise is told in the form of a journal that was found in the psychiatric unit of Archway Young Offenders Institution. A journal that Emily chose to tell her story in.
Emily is not the sort of character you're going to fall in love with. She's non-compliant with her therapist and she is unforgiving. The newspapers have made her notorious although she is reluctant to tell the reader what happened to put her behind bars. Yet told from her point of view, you can see how a young woman's life has fallen apart overnight. She is angry and confused so she funnels her negative emotions into seeking revenge against Juliet, the girl who gave testimony against her father and in her eyes the reason her life is ruined. You can empathise with her even if you don't come to like her in the end.
It's gripping and emotional and I read in one sitting. There's a desire for everything to work out for Emily but her location at the start of the book doesn't bode well and Tanya Byrne is nothing if not realistic. It's a fantastic piece of young adult writing that will appeal to young and old.
Emily is not the sort of character you're going to fall in love with. She's non-compliant with her therapist and she is unforgiving. The newspapers have made her notorious although she is reluctant to tell the reader what happened to put her behind bars. Yet told from her point of view, you can see how a young woman's life has fallen apart overnight. She is angry and confused so she funnels her negative emotions into seeking revenge against Juliet, the girl who gave testimony against her father and in her eyes the reason her life is ruined. You can empathise with her even if you don't come to like her in the end.
It's gripping and emotional and I read in one sitting. There's a desire for everything to work out for Emily but her location at the start of the book doesn't bode well and Tanya Byrne is nothing if not realistic. It's a fantastic piece of young adult writing that will appeal to young and old.
December 17, 2012
I am usually a fan of well-written Young Adult fiction and find that many books make the successful crossover, and can be read and enjoyed by Adult readers too. Tanya Byrne's debut novel is a very interesting concept - written as a diary that has been found in an old, closed-down psychiatric unit.
The author of the diary is Emily Koll - a spoilt 18-year-old who is a patient in the unit.
The short, sharp chapters work well and do keep the reader's interest, however I became pretty annoyed by the whole thing quite quickly. Short and sharp, yes - but still it dragged for me. The references to modern-day teenagers kind of passed me by, not helped by a couple of references to the Twilight series - which I've not read and don't intend to.
I think that mental health issues have been done much better than this, there was an almost stereotypical, patronising feel about some of the scenes in the unit, and about some of Emily's fellow patients.
Young Adults will probably love this one, for me, it did not work so well, but I will look out for her next books and give it a try.
The author of the diary is Emily Koll - a spoilt 18-year-old who is a patient in the unit.
The short, sharp chapters work well and do keep the reader's interest, however I became pretty annoyed by the whole thing quite quickly. Short and sharp, yes - but still it dragged for me. The references to modern-day teenagers kind of passed me by, not helped by a couple of references to the Twilight series - which I've not read and don't intend to.
I think that mental health issues have been done much better than this, there was an almost stereotypical, patronising feel about some of the scenes in the unit, and about some of Emily's fellow patients.
Young Adults will probably love this one, for me, it did not work so well, but I will look out for her next books and give it a try.
August 12, 2014
I think it's very important to write about women doing bad things - wicked or evil things, even - that aren't related to ideas about 'scorned' women.
Damn. I'm finding it hard to explain coherently. But it comes down to having few female anti-heroes - the closest we get is the Femme Fatale, whose risk and danger is still seen in terms of the men she interacts with.
I liked this book because the main character was complex and believable. I've been a teenage girl - I remember the intensity, the anger, the certainty that it would be this way forever and ever. And that's a side of girlhood I don't think gets explored often enough for my liking.
Young women have inner lives as complex and potentially dangerous as men.
Damn. I'm finding it hard to explain coherently. But it comes down to having few female anti-heroes - the closest we get is the Femme Fatale, whose risk and danger is still seen in terms of the men she interacts with.
I liked this book because the main character was complex and believable. I've been a teenage girl - I remember the intensity, the anger, the certainty that it would be this way forever and ever. And that's a side of girlhood I don't think gets explored often enough for my liking.
Young women have inner lives as complex and potentially dangerous as men.
January 2, 2014
I love thrillers, in case you haven't noticed, and I'm also a fan of Sophie Hannah and YA novels. Due to this, I simply had to get my hands on Heart-Shaped Bruise. I mean, did you read the synopsis? It’s pretty awesome.
Now done, I’m not sure if you can call this a thriller, because it doesn’t really have a plot. I mean, it does...kind of, but it’s never fully embraced.
Heart-Shaped Bruise has two stories that it presents to the reader, the before and the after. Before is when Emily Koll is on the outside world and the after takes places in a mental institution for juvenile offenders. Why she is there? I have no idea. Really. I don’t. I kept trying to understand why they would bring her there, but I got nothing
The book goes back and forth as Emily tells us why she is so badass and feared by everyone, while she also tries to get us to see her side of the story. The truth, as she puts it. All of this is the ‘Before’ aspect of the novel. While the ‘After’ is all about her slice of life fun times at the mental facility.
The before aspect of the novel had a lot of potential. Picture this; Emily is living life blissfully unaware that her dad is a notorious gangster. The day she finds out about his real profession is the day that Emily also finds out that her dad was arrested for killing a cop and that he was stabbed by the cop’s daughter, Juliet. Needless to say, this is a lot to take in for dear ol’ Emily, so she does the only logical thing, get revenge on Juliet and destroy her life. Now, this actually makes perfect sense. Her anger at how her life has fallen apart is obviously going to be transferred to an outside party and not to her father, who has been keeping his real life a secret.
In order to get her sweet, sweet revenge, Emily needs to get close to Juliet. So after finding out where witness protection has placed her, Emily changes her name, enrolls in the same college, the same classes and soon weaves herself into Juliet’s life. It doesn’t take too long, but sadly this is when everything starts to fall apart in her revenge scheme. Just like with Premeditated, Emily’s plan doesn’t go as far as befriending her prey. Sure, Emily keeps referring to what she does as horrible and the newspapers call her evil for what she did, but after so much hype the truth is kind of meh-worthy. It’s still pretty bad, but not as bad as they made it seem.
The after portions of Emily’s life were the low part of the novel. While the before aspect dragged on, they still kept you interested because you wanted to know what the big pay off was. Here, we see Emily judge girls and have almost daily sessions with her therapist, a therapist who only answers with questions. Perhaps this mental facility for juvenile delinquents is short staffed, so they hired someone who didn’t know much about therapy to provide therapy to those inside this place.
Hmmm, I suppose this might work in favour of the defense. If the girls are agitated by the sessions and become crazier, then they wouldn’t go to jail but stay there. But I’m still curious as to how Emily fits into this place. The only thing Emily has a problem with is her smoking habits and daddy issues, nothing more. Well, I suppose guilt, but that hardly warrants a stint in this facility.
Looking back through my review, it does seem like stuff happened in this novel, but it still feels like nothing did when I think back to my time reading it. Plus, there is a horrible love triangle that involves Juliet and Emily, which adds to why Emily hates her. At some point in the novel, it seemed like this was the only reason.
I will say one thing though; I did like how Emily was conflicted in what she was doing. The more time she spent with Juliet, the more she grew to like her. Also, the resentment Emily feels changed, not because of what Juliet did to her father, but because Juliet was able to embrace her new life without her dad while Emily seemed to be stuck. Could Emily move on and try to be normal, or was it only a matter of her not wanting to move on? Her revenge was the only thing that kept her sane. I just wish it was brought up more and that she planned it better.
Tanya Byrnes is a good writer and even though I didn’t like this book, I did enjoy the writing and how flawed but real Emily felt. Sadly, these two things weren’t enough for me to love this book or even like it all that much.
Overall: This book wasn’t what I expected it to be. It wasn’t really a thriller, the therapist doesn’t make much sense as a character, and the love triangle is just annoying. After much hype about how evil Emily is and how what she did was so horrible that she’s now going to jail for it, it’s a bit of a letdown when you realize what actually happened. What Emily does and her motivations seem almost like an afterthought, instead of carefully planning each step. Sadly, this book just didn’t do it for me.
Review can also be found at BookingRehab
Now done, I’m not sure if you can call this a thriller, because it doesn’t really have a plot. I mean, it does...kind of, but it’s never fully embraced.
Heart-Shaped Bruise has two stories that it presents to the reader, the before and the after. Before is when Emily Koll is on the outside world and the after takes places in a mental institution for juvenile offenders. Why she is there? I have no idea. Really. I don’t. I kept trying to understand why they would bring her there, but I got nothing
The book goes back and forth as Emily tells us why she is so badass and feared by everyone, while she also tries to get us to see her side of the story. The truth, as she puts it. All of this is the ‘Before’ aspect of the novel. While the ‘After’ is all about her slice of life fun times at the mental facility.
The before aspect of the novel had a lot of potential. Picture this; Emily is living life blissfully unaware that her dad is a notorious gangster. The day she finds out about his real profession is the day that Emily also finds out that her dad was arrested for killing a cop and that he was stabbed by the cop’s daughter, Juliet. Needless to say, this is a lot to take in for dear ol’ Emily, so she does the only logical thing, get revenge on Juliet and destroy her life. Now, this actually makes perfect sense. Her anger at how her life has fallen apart is obviously going to be transferred to an outside party and not to her father, who has been keeping his real life a secret.
In order to get her sweet, sweet revenge, Emily needs to get close to Juliet. So after finding out where witness protection has placed her, Emily changes her name, enrolls in the same college, the same classes and soon weaves herself into Juliet’s life. It doesn’t take too long, but sadly this is when everything starts to fall apart in her revenge scheme. Just like with Premeditated, Emily’s plan doesn’t go as far as befriending her prey. Sure, Emily keeps referring to what she does as horrible and the newspapers call her evil for what she did, but after so much hype the truth is kind of meh-worthy. It’s still pretty bad, but not as bad as they made it seem.
The after portions of Emily’s life were the low part of the novel. While the before aspect dragged on, they still kept you interested because you wanted to know what the big pay off was. Here, we see Emily judge girls and have almost daily sessions with her therapist, a therapist who only answers with questions. Perhaps this mental facility for juvenile delinquents is short staffed, so they hired someone who didn’t know much about therapy to provide therapy to those inside this place.
Hmmm, I suppose this might work in favour of the defense. If the girls are agitated by the sessions and become crazier, then they wouldn’t go to jail but stay there. But I’m still curious as to how Emily fits into this place. The only thing Emily has a problem with is her smoking habits and daddy issues, nothing more. Well, I suppose guilt, but that hardly warrants a stint in this facility.
Looking back through my review, it does seem like stuff happened in this novel, but it still feels like nothing did when I think back to my time reading it. Plus, there is a horrible love triangle that involves Juliet and Emily, which adds to why Emily hates her. At some point in the novel, it seemed like this was the only reason.
I will say one thing though; I did like how Emily was conflicted in what she was doing. The more time she spent with Juliet, the more she grew to like her. Also, the resentment Emily feels changed, not because of what Juliet did to her father, but because Juliet was able to embrace her new life without her dad while Emily seemed to be stuck. Could Emily move on and try to be normal, or was it only a matter of her not wanting to move on? Her revenge was the only thing that kept her sane. I just wish it was brought up more and that she planned it better.
Tanya Byrnes is a good writer and even though I didn’t like this book, I did enjoy the writing and how flawed but real Emily felt. Sadly, these two things weren’t enough for me to love this book or even like it all that much.
Overall: This book wasn’t what I expected it to be. It wasn’t really a thriller, the therapist doesn’t make much sense as a character, and the love triangle is just annoying. After much hype about how evil Emily is and how what she did was so horrible that she’s now going to jail for it, it’s a bit of a letdown when you realize what actually happened. What Emily does and her motivations seem almost like an afterthought, instead of carefully planning each step. Sadly, this book just didn’t do it for me.
Review can also be found at BookingRehab
May 11, 2012
'There's more than one side to a story, and this is mine...I'll be me and you be the stranger on the bus.'
Eighteen-year-old Emily Koll has written her story in a notebook, which we are immediately told was found in one of the rooms when the psychiatric unit of Archway Young Offenders Institution was closed. The story Emily has to tell is bursting out of her, weighing heavily on her, and there is a real immediacy about the fact that she has to get it out of her, onto paper, as if to a stranger:
'I need to say this, to be rid of it. I can't keep carrying it around with me; I'm buckling under the weight of it. I look at myself sometimes, at the broken lines across the palms of my hands and the creases in my elbows, and I can see myself coming apart at the seams.'
This is such a compelling, powerful story right from the word go. The nature of the first few pages, with Emily's voice leaping from the page, letting us into her deepest thoughts, the darkest corners of her mind, makes for an arresting opening which grabs hold of the reader. The letter to Juliet had me intrigued, and creates suspense regarding the plot - who is Juliet, what has happened in their lives, why did Juliet stab Emily's father, what has Emily done? Why has she turned into 'this hard, angry, miserable girl who did the most terrible things.'? Emily has to cope with the way that the happy image of her father whom she held dear was ripped apart when she discovered there was a whole other, darker side to him that had been hidden from her; 'I hate that now I look at every memory of my father from a slightly different angle so that even my fondest memories are dirty and dog eared', and with no mother in her life, she feels she has lost everything.
Emily tells us about the public perception of her, what you might read about her on Google or in the press, what other girls have said about her. And then she tells us her side of the story, and we can see the full picture from her viewpoint. But how reliable is she as a narrator, when she feels she is not herself anymore, when she herself tells one of the other girls in the institution, 'Don't believe everything you read', and then, tellingly, she voices the warning to us, the readers of her notebook, 'You shouldn't either, by the way.' In the notebook, Emily recounts her version of events, often mentioning what occurred when she visited Doctor Gilyard, the therapist she sees weekly in the institution. These encounters reveal a lot about her personality. We gradually learn about how Emily disguised herself and insinuated her way into Juliet's life, and how things developed towards the chilling conclusion, when we finally learn the infamous crime, the act of revenge that has left Emily locked away, awaiting trial.
Immediately that I started reading, I wanted to know more, and I was compelled to read on by Emily's insistence that she is not sorry, hungrily wanting more details of the plot to be revealed. This is a fairly quick read - read it in one or two sittings if you can, and feel the full force of all the emotions. The writing is, for me, very realistic in terms of the author having successfully captured the age and style of voice for Emily; I believed her, and the emotional torment she is experiencing comes across vividly, the pain she feels, her bitterness and jealously, is raw, and the defensiveness and cynicism in how she communicates is belied by the more fearful, damaged person underneath. As she writes down her story, we are party to her thought processes, and can see that as she is thinking about things, wondering how it might have been if things had been different, for example if she and Juliet had become friends without any of the other things that have happened, and eventually she comes to a realisation about her own part in her situation.
The author has cleverly integrated the imagery of the heart, and bruises of the title, and of this idea of 'blackness' and evil, at points throughout the story. Emily questions if her heart looks 'thin and burnt and black.' It's interesting to contemplate the question of whether Emily is seeking forgiveness, knowingly or not, by writing her story, in fact there is an awful lot here that could be discussed if the book were used by reading groups.
A compelling, tense young adult debut novel, which this older adult thought was a good read too.
Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a proof copy of this novel to read and review.
4.5/5
Eighteen-year-old Emily Koll has written her story in a notebook, which we are immediately told was found in one of the rooms when the psychiatric unit of Archway Young Offenders Institution was closed. The story Emily has to tell is bursting out of her, weighing heavily on her, and there is a real immediacy about the fact that she has to get it out of her, onto paper, as if to a stranger:
'I need to say this, to be rid of it. I can't keep carrying it around with me; I'm buckling under the weight of it. I look at myself sometimes, at the broken lines across the palms of my hands and the creases in my elbows, and I can see myself coming apart at the seams.'
This is such a compelling, powerful story right from the word go. The nature of the first few pages, with Emily's voice leaping from the page, letting us into her deepest thoughts, the darkest corners of her mind, makes for an arresting opening which grabs hold of the reader. The letter to Juliet had me intrigued, and creates suspense regarding the plot - who is Juliet, what has happened in their lives, why did Juliet stab Emily's father, what has Emily done? Why has she turned into 'this hard, angry, miserable girl who did the most terrible things.'? Emily has to cope with the way that the happy image of her father whom she held dear was ripped apart when she discovered there was a whole other, darker side to him that had been hidden from her; 'I hate that now I look at every memory of my father from a slightly different angle so that even my fondest memories are dirty and dog eared', and with no mother in her life, she feels she has lost everything.
Emily tells us about the public perception of her, what you might read about her on Google or in the press, what other girls have said about her. And then she tells us her side of the story, and we can see the full picture from her viewpoint. But how reliable is she as a narrator, when she feels she is not herself anymore, when she herself tells one of the other girls in the institution, 'Don't believe everything you read', and then, tellingly, she voices the warning to us, the readers of her notebook, 'You shouldn't either, by the way.' In the notebook, Emily recounts her version of events, often mentioning what occurred when she visited Doctor Gilyard, the therapist she sees weekly in the institution. These encounters reveal a lot about her personality. We gradually learn about how Emily disguised herself and insinuated her way into Juliet's life, and how things developed towards the chilling conclusion, when we finally learn the infamous crime, the act of revenge that has left Emily locked away, awaiting trial.
Immediately that I started reading, I wanted to know more, and I was compelled to read on by Emily's insistence that she is not sorry, hungrily wanting more details of the plot to be revealed. This is a fairly quick read - read it in one or two sittings if you can, and feel the full force of all the emotions. The writing is, for me, very realistic in terms of the author having successfully captured the age and style of voice for Emily; I believed her, and the emotional torment she is experiencing comes across vividly, the pain she feels, her bitterness and jealously, is raw, and the defensiveness and cynicism in how she communicates is belied by the more fearful, damaged person underneath. As she writes down her story, we are party to her thought processes, and can see that as she is thinking about things, wondering how it might have been if things had been different, for example if she and Juliet had become friends without any of the other things that have happened, and eventually she comes to a realisation about her own part in her situation.
The author has cleverly integrated the imagery of the heart, and bruises of the title, and of this idea of 'blackness' and evil, at points throughout the story. Emily questions if her heart looks 'thin and burnt and black.' It's interesting to contemplate the question of whether Emily is seeking forgiveness, knowingly or not, by writing her story, in fact there is an awful lot here that could be discussed if the book were used by reading groups.
A compelling, tense young adult debut novel, which this older adult thought was a good read too.
Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a proof copy of this novel to read and review.
4.5/5
May 13, 2012
Heart-Shaped Bruise tells the story of a 17-year-old girl called Emily Koll. Emily has been locked up in a psychiatric unit for young offenders because she has done something very bad...the novel follows a journal-style format that strips away the lies and reveals the truth about Emily Koll.
Tanya Byrne is the LOVELIEST on Twitter, and her debut novel sounded amazing, so obviously I *had* to beg Sam for a copy! And you know what? I am SO glad I did. Because Heart-Shaped Bruise was awesome and an extremely powerful read. Also, had I not known Tanya before or heard about her book, I would've assumed that she had written millions of successful books solely based on how much I loved this.
I like pretty much any book that features psychological ideas and murder and stuff like that (take from that what you want) and Heart-Shaped Bruise sounded exactly like something I would love. A story set in a psychiatric ward with teenage girl for a protagonist?! How could I EVER stay away?
I really connected with Emily, and I think that may have been because she reminded me of myself. Oh wait, what does that say about me then?! I thought Emily was tough and smart, but also very sweet (in a kind of twisted way), if you can believe it. She was written with such great skill and I highly applaud Byrne for creating such a gorgeously-written book with such a thought-provoking character. The journal part was another plus.
There's a lot of questioning family and if it is they that make us who we are or if it's the persona we build ourselves, and seriously? I ate it all up like chocolate cake because that's how enticing it was. What else did I eat up? Emily's session with her psychiatrist were really interesting and the dialogue between the two was thought-provoking AND humourous (YES, we've all picked up omn the fact that I'm a bit deranged, but WHATEVS).
Heart-Shaped Bruise is one of those books that you know that you really shouldn't enjoy, but you do. Like a crazy mix of Cat Clarke and Anne Cassidy and Byrne's own special touch. Refreshing too, with all the dystopia and vampires and light-hearted stuff (not that I don't like light-hearted stuff)! I really don't want to spoil anything so I'll stop now, but seriously, you NEED to read this book. It was gritty, raw, and so full of emotions you will be practically hyperventilating*.
*or maybe that was just me.
"As soon as I stepped inside, I smelt it - wood and old paper - and my heart was hysterical, as though I'd just bumped into an old boyfriend. A music shop."
Tanya Byrne is the LOVELIEST on Twitter, and her debut novel sounded amazing, so obviously I *had* to beg Sam for a copy! And you know what? I am SO glad I did. Because Heart-Shaped Bruise was awesome and an extremely powerful read. Also, had I not known Tanya before or heard about her book, I would've assumed that she had written millions of successful books solely based on how much I loved this.
I like pretty much any book that features psychological ideas and murder and stuff like that (take from that what you want) and Heart-Shaped Bruise sounded exactly like something I would love. A story set in a psychiatric ward with teenage girl for a protagonist?! How could I EVER stay away?
I really connected with Emily, and I think that may have been because she reminded me of myself. Oh wait, what does that say about me then?! I thought Emily was tough and smart, but also very sweet (in a kind of twisted way), if you can believe it. She was written with such great skill and I highly applaud Byrne for creating such a gorgeously-written book with such a thought-provoking character. The journal part was another plus.
There's a lot of questioning family and if it is they that make us who we are or if it's the persona we build ourselves, and seriously? I ate it all up like chocolate cake because that's how enticing it was. What else did I eat up? Emily's session with her psychiatrist were really interesting and the dialogue between the two was thought-provoking AND humourous (YES, we've all picked up omn the fact that I'm a bit deranged, but WHATEVS).
Heart-Shaped Bruise is one of those books that you know that you really shouldn't enjoy, but you do. Like a crazy mix of Cat Clarke and Anne Cassidy and Byrne's own special touch. Refreshing too, with all the dystopia and vampires and light-hearted stuff (not that I don't like light-hearted stuff)! I really don't want to spoil anything so I'll stop now, but seriously, you NEED to read this book. It was gritty, raw, and so full of emotions you will be practically hyperventilating*.
*or maybe that was just me.
"As soon as I stepped inside, I smelt it - wood and old paper - and my heart was hysterical, as though I'd just bumped into an old boyfriend. A music shop."
January 18, 2017
Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. Way to start a review, right? Can I just say this book is perfection? Utter, spotless, beautiful perfection. It’s just…I don’t even want to say anything bad about it. Not that I can’t, but there isn’t anything at all. It’s a story of revenge. Beautiful, sweet revenge. And as you may be familiar, revenge usually stems either from sheer stupidity or madness. This was definitely madness, but beautiful madness. Reading this novel was like eating a delicious, rich cake. Every word was just perfection. The novel is written in a documentary-style journal, but you’d never actually think it unless the character told you, and it flows seamlessly.
Emily is awaiting trial at a juvenile jail for the mentally unstable. I guess that’s the easiest way to describe it. She goes through a set of therapy sessions with her psychiatrist and recalls everything that’s led up to this point while also moving past it and discovering herself. Basically, she wanted to get back at a girl who stabbed her father, Juliet, and therefore unraveled his secret life as a gangster. It flipped her world upside down, and because she let it, Emily hates Juliet because she goes on living life as if everything is okay.
There is so much depth and meaning in this that I can’t even put it into words, and yet the author somehow managed to do so. I am now and forever an eternal fan. What an amazing perspective—a “villain’s” perspective—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Five stars, baby! And if I could give it more, I would.
Full, spoilerific review can be found on my blog!
Emily is awaiting trial at a juvenile jail for the mentally unstable. I guess that’s the easiest way to describe it. She goes through a set of therapy sessions with her psychiatrist and recalls everything that’s led up to this point while also moving past it and discovering herself. Basically, she wanted to get back at a girl who stabbed her father, Juliet, and therefore unraveled his secret life as a gangster. It flipped her world upside down, and because she let it, Emily hates Juliet because she goes on living life as if everything is okay.
There is so much depth and meaning in this that I can’t even put it into words, and yet the author somehow managed to do so. I am now and forever an eternal fan. What an amazing perspective—a “villain’s” perspective—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Five stars, baby! And if I could give it more, I would.
Full, spoilerific review can be found on my blog!
April 4, 2017
I almost didn't finish this book, it just didn't grab me even though it had great reviews. It is written from the perspective of Emily whose father is a criminal and was stabbed by Juliet in self defence. Juliet goes on a witness protection programme and becomes Nancy, Emily becomes Rose and befriends Nancy so that she can get revenge. I found it confusing and didn't connect to characters.
January 23, 2018
I have a soft spot when it comes to Y/A crime novels. I tend to read them as soon as I find a new one. But this is easy easier said than done when it comes to finding a new one. Most of the sites I buy books from tending to lump all young adult novels into one genre. So it was a bit of a sideways route that brought this book to attention. Having spent several hours skipping from one site to the next I finally found a U.S retailer who actually broke Y/A down by individual sub-genres. It was then back to my usual sites to order a copy.
It is not often that we get to experience a crime book from the perspective of the culprit. I guess it's because most authors chose to make this the catalyst for their stories. The hunt for the killer's identity becomes all consuming. But Byrne did away with all this in fact as her story starts Emily is already in a young offenders unit awaiting trial for the crimes she committed. A bold step yet one that comes with its own set of benefits.
The book is laid out in the style of Emily's diary which she has stanched away. This not only allows her to tell her story in a form the papers and news will not allow her to do but it also allowed me to get some insight into her thought process and how she was driven by her emotions. By choosing this route it allowed me to connect with a character who otherwise I don't think I would have been able to. This is a girl whose life is set on a completely different trajectory by events she has no control over. Had this been written from any of the other characters perspectives it would have been far to easy to write her off as some complete nut job.
Emily felt to me to be a more fleshed out character because of how we learn her story. You get to see that she can be funny and witty. And at times struggles to reconcile her self with the action she chose to take. All of this allows her story to come floating off the page into the real world. She genuinely feels like a real teenager her actions follow a logic that makes total sense given these parameters. This is not to say that she entirely trusts worthy or for that matter likable. By her own admission, she is prone to lying and exaggerating the truth. but all of this makes her a deeper and more interesting person to learn about.
This is a story about people feeding of their most basic instincts in the search for some form of justice. And how feeding of these raw emotions can take you to some very dark places. In Emily's cases, the author did an amazing job of showing how someone can completely lose them self in their obsessions. Even when she has moments of clarity about the path she has chosen they a fleeting. I felt that Emily is not the only characters in this book suffering from the actions their parents have put out into the world. This is a dark story about a person you shouldn't care for in the slightest. And while I cannot condone the action she chose to commit fundamentally because she didn't have to do it. I did care about her even knowing from the start where she ends up. For me, the author did an incredible job of worming her character into my heart. I found myself wanting to see the best outcome for her even though I know she did a very bad bad thing. It's kind of a strange place to find myself in but it was defiantly an enjoyable and interesting read.
It is not often that we get to experience a crime book from the perspective of the culprit. I guess it's because most authors chose to make this the catalyst for their stories. The hunt for the killer's identity becomes all consuming. But Byrne did away with all this in fact as her story starts Emily is already in a young offenders unit awaiting trial for the crimes she committed. A bold step yet one that comes with its own set of benefits.
The book is laid out in the style of Emily's diary which she has stanched away. This not only allows her to tell her story in a form the papers and news will not allow her to do but it also allowed me to get some insight into her thought process and how she was driven by her emotions. By choosing this route it allowed me to connect with a character who otherwise I don't think I would have been able to. This is a girl whose life is set on a completely different trajectory by events she has no control over. Had this been written from any of the other characters perspectives it would have been far to easy to write her off as some complete nut job.
Emily felt to me to be a more fleshed out character because of how we learn her story. You get to see that she can be funny and witty. And at times struggles to reconcile her self with the action she chose to take. All of this allows her story to come floating off the page into the real world. She genuinely feels like a real teenager her actions follow a logic that makes total sense given these parameters. This is not to say that she entirely trusts worthy or for that matter likable. By her own admission, she is prone to lying and exaggerating the truth. but all of this makes her a deeper and more interesting person to learn about.
This is a story about people feeding of their most basic instincts in the search for some form of justice. And how feeding of these raw emotions can take you to some very dark places. In Emily's cases, the author did an amazing job of showing how someone can completely lose them self in their obsessions. Even when she has moments of clarity about the path she has chosen they a fleeting. I felt that Emily is not the only characters in this book suffering from the actions their parents have put out into the world. This is a dark story about a person you shouldn't care for in the slightest. And while I cannot condone the action she chose to commit fundamentally because she didn't have to do it. I did care about her even knowing from the start where she ends up. For me, the author did an incredible job of worming her character into my heart. I found myself wanting to see the best outcome for her even though I know she did a very bad bad thing. It's kind of a strange place to find myself in but it was defiantly an enjoyable and interesting read.
December 27, 2012
Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne was one of the books all over my Twitter feed in the past year. It received a lot of buzz and enthusiastic reactions, so I was pleased to get a copy for Christmas. As soon as it landed on my huge TBR-pile, Wiebe made off with it – to my complete and utter amazement, as I'd never expected him to start reading contemporary YA, but that's a different story – and after finishing the book in three hours flat he came back and said: "You have to read this NOW, this is something special." For a book to draw such a reaction from my quite critical husband it has to be extraordinary, so I read it I did, and he was right; it is something special indeed. Heart-Shaped Bruise is a stunning book, which just left me speechless when I finished it. I even had to take a few days to gather my thoughts so I could write a somewhat coherent review for it.
From the first pages I was gripped; as a reader, one of the things I look for in a book is a strong authorial voice and Byrne has that in spades. It didn't take long to see that this was quite a unique voice, one that I really connected with whole-heartedly. What was surprising was how much the book made me laugh. Emily is genuinely funny and wields a kind of gallows humour that tickled my funny bone. In Emily, Byrne has created a character that will be hard to forget for anyone who meets her. She's funny, hard, angry, vulnerable, insecure, broken, and ultimately very, very human. As narrators go, she's also rather unreliable as she deliberately leaves things out and tells us so. In addition, we never learn what she's incarcerated for exactly. We learn what happens, but we don't learn the charges. In the first chapter of the book, Emily says she did what she did, because Juliet had broken her, while through the narrative the Emily we get to know seems to have at least been structurally weakened even before finding out about her dad. Byrne succeeds in making the reader care for this damaged, creepy girl, despite all she does, which reminded me of this guest blog by Foz Meadows over on The Book Smugglers. Emily is like the new bad boys Foz describes, she displays all the symptoms of being seriously disturbed and dangerous. Where she differs though, is that she knows very well that what she did was wrong and even if she'll never admit it, you get the sense that she's sorry.
The other characterisations in the book are very strong as well—my favourites being Juliet, Sid, and Dr Gilyard. What I loved about the character of Juliet is how completely skewed the reader's emotions become towards her. Here is a girl, who was attacked and had her father brutally murdered, to all intents and purposes scrabbling back up and going on with her life and despite all life has thrown at her she seems to have kept her innate kindness and decency intact. And through Emily's narration she takes on a slightly petulant and spoiled cast, which seems both natural – nobody is that perfect – and slightly wrong. I also liked the juxtaposition of the two girls; Dr Gilyard draws Emily's attention to the many similarities in their background, raised by single dads, who were very successful at their chosen professions and both smart and well-educated. If only their dads hadn't been on opposing teams, so to speak, what would have happened had they met then? Sid is one of my favourite love interests I've ever encountered in my YA reading; he's slightly dark and bad boyish on first acquaintance, but turns out to be a really decent guy with a complicated past and a heart filled with good intentions. Again, it's unclear whether this shift is due to Emily's perceptions of him being affected by her feelings for him or whether it is just a case of first impressions being shallow, but I rather like that uncertainty. Dr Gilyard's tenacity and the sessions with her Emily describes were fabulous, not only did they bring out Emily's inner snark, I also loved how cool, calm, and collected Dr Gilyard remained when Emily tried to get under her skin. She really seems to care for these girls without turning into a bleeding heart. I do have to add that I think Byrne writes genius characters, even those we only encounter the once in Emily's narration. One of those was her college councillor Ms Grace Humm. Now there's a lady who jumped off the page and who I kept hoping we'd see more off as she was just so amazingly cool.
The settings are rather limited. Obviously, the parts pertaining to Emily's time on ward would be rather limited, as it's a small world they get to occupy, but even so, those few rooms we're shown are clear and I found the glimpses we got of life there interesting and Emily's fellow long-staying inmates were interesting and well-developed. The 'outside' setting in comparison felt rather flat. That part of the story is set in London and while clearly London, it didn't ooze the city as much as some of the other books I've read this year. However, I think that in the parts set in the past the emphasis is very heavily on character interaction and the relationships between various characters, so the 'stage' rather fades into the background. The plot is rather brilliant, as we're kept in suspense almost until the last page, even if from page one we know she did it. The suspense here is concerned with what and how, not with whether she did it or not. And even while I knew that there wasn't going to be a happy ending for Emily, as we know she's in prison when we meet her, I kept hoping that she would get one, that she wouldn't do whatever horrible thing she was going to do and just sail off into the sunset to a happily ever after. That is how powerful Byrne's writing is.
To convey how much I loved Heart-Shaped Bruise is hard without turning into a gabbling fan girl. It had me chuckling and laughing out loud at some of Emily's snarky remarks and had me reading with bated breath and hoping against hope that everything would be okay. Its story and characters are still stuck in my mind and they made me ponder their intent and have a long discussion with Wiebe on what had happened and why, and what did this mean etc. If you only get to pick one more book to read this year, let it be Heart-Shaped Bruise. Even if you don't read YA or non-genre books, read this one. It's an amazing story and to think this is only Ms Byrne's debut—imagine what her next book must be like. I know I'll be reading it soon as I can.
From the first pages I was gripped; as a reader, one of the things I look for in a book is a strong authorial voice and Byrne has that in spades. It didn't take long to see that this was quite a unique voice, one that I really connected with whole-heartedly. What was surprising was how much the book made me laugh. Emily is genuinely funny and wields a kind of gallows humour that tickled my funny bone. In Emily, Byrne has created a character that will be hard to forget for anyone who meets her. She's funny, hard, angry, vulnerable, insecure, broken, and ultimately very, very human. As narrators go, she's also rather unreliable as she deliberately leaves things out and tells us so. In addition, we never learn what she's incarcerated for exactly. We learn what happens, but we don't learn the charges. In the first chapter of the book, Emily says she did what she did, because Juliet had broken her, while through the narrative the Emily we get to know seems to have at least been structurally weakened even before finding out about her dad. Byrne succeeds in making the reader care for this damaged, creepy girl, despite all she does, which reminded me of this guest blog by Foz Meadows over on The Book Smugglers. Emily is like the new bad boys Foz describes, she displays all the symptoms of being seriously disturbed and dangerous. Where she differs though, is that she knows very well that what she did was wrong and even if she'll never admit it, you get the sense that she's sorry.
The other characterisations in the book are very strong as well—my favourites being Juliet, Sid, and Dr Gilyard. What I loved about the character of Juliet is how completely skewed the reader's emotions become towards her. Here is a girl, who was attacked and had her father brutally murdered, to all intents and purposes scrabbling back up and going on with her life and despite all life has thrown at her she seems to have kept her innate kindness and decency intact. And through Emily's narration she takes on a slightly petulant and spoiled cast, which seems both natural – nobody is that perfect – and slightly wrong. I also liked the juxtaposition of the two girls; Dr Gilyard draws Emily's attention to the many similarities in their background, raised by single dads, who were very successful at their chosen professions and both smart and well-educated. If only their dads hadn't been on opposing teams, so to speak, what would have happened had they met then? Sid is one of my favourite love interests I've ever encountered in my YA reading; he's slightly dark and bad boyish on first acquaintance, but turns out to be a really decent guy with a complicated past and a heart filled with good intentions. Again, it's unclear whether this shift is due to Emily's perceptions of him being affected by her feelings for him or whether it is just a case of first impressions being shallow, but I rather like that uncertainty. Dr Gilyard's tenacity and the sessions with her Emily describes were fabulous, not only did they bring out Emily's inner snark, I also loved how cool, calm, and collected Dr Gilyard remained when Emily tried to get under her skin. She really seems to care for these girls without turning into a bleeding heart. I do have to add that I think Byrne writes genius characters, even those we only encounter the once in Emily's narration. One of those was her college councillor Ms Grace Humm. Now there's a lady who jumped off the page and who I kept hoping we'd see more off as she was just so amazingly cool.
The settings are rather limited. Obviously, the parts pertaining to Emily's time on ward would be rather limited, as it's a small world they get to occupy, but even so, those few rooms we're shown are clear and I found the glimpses we got of life there interesting and Emily's fellow long-staying inmates were interesting and well-developed. The 'outside' setting in comparison felt rather flat. That part of the story is set in London and while clearly London, it didn't ooze the city as much as some of the other books I've read this year. However, I think that in the parts set in the past the emphasis is very heavily on character interaction and the relationships between various characters, so the 'stage' rather fades into the background. The plot is rather brilliant, as we're kept in suspense almost until the last page, even if from page one we know she did it. The suspense here is concerned with what and how, not with whether she did it or not. And even while I knew that there wasn't going to be a happy ending for Emily, as we know she's in prison when we meet her, I kept hoping that she would get one, that she wouldn't do whatever horrible thing she was going to do and just sail off into the sunset to a happily ever after. That is how powerful Byrne's writing is.
To convey how much I loved Heart-Shaped Bruise is hard without turning into a gabbling fan girl. It had me chuckling and laughing out loud at some of Emily's snarky remarks and had me reading with bated breath and hoping against hope that everything would be okay. Its story and characters are still stuck in my mind and they made me ponder their intent and have a long discussion with Wiebe on what had happened and why, and what did this mean etc. If you only get to pick one more book to read this year, let it be Heart-Shaped Bruise. Even if you don't read YA or non-genre books, read this one. It's an amazing story and to think this is only Ms Byrne's debut—imagine what her next book must be like. I know I'll be reading it soon as I can.
November 22, 2021
I couldn’t put this book down! One of my favourite books of this year!
I’m not going to post any spoilers as i want others to read and enjoy this as much as I did. It started with me getting a free sample of this book from Amazon some time ago, and deciding on reading that small excerpt that I needed to read this book. Unfortunately I didn’t find it until recently! And I’m so glad I did….
Set in the psychiatric unit of a Young Offenders Institute, a notebook is found when the YOI closes down, and this book is the story behind it. And what a story it is, with twists and turns like a rollercoaster ride and an unexpected finale! A gripping and intriguing book which I was unable to put down, labelled as ‘young adult’ fiction but a well written, most enjoyable and different novel.
I feel almost sorry to be leaving Emily Koll behind now, as I feel as if I knew her and could almost empathise with her, after all, we all suffer at some point from mental health issues, don’t we?
I will be looking out for more by Tanya Byrne, but would highly recommend this book.
A well deserved 5* rating from me.
I’m not going to post any spoilers as i want others to read and enjoy this as much as I did. It started with me getting a free sample of this book from Amazon some time ago, and deciding on reading that small excerpt that I needed to read this book. Unfortunately I didn’t find it until recently! And I’m so glad I did….
Set in the psychiatric unit of a Young Offenders Institute, a notebook is found when the YOI closes down, and this book is the story behind it. And what a story it is, with twists and turns like a rollercoaster ride and an unexpected finale! A gripping and intriguing book which I was unable to put down, labelled as ‘young adult’ fiction but a well written, most enjoyable and different novel.
I feel almost sorry to be leaving Emily Koll behind now, as I feel as if I knew her and could almost empathise with her, after all, we all suffer at some point from mental health issues, don’t we?
I will be looking out for more by Tanya Byrne, but would highly recommend this book.
A well deserved 5* rating from me.
May 1, 2024
3.5
Read as if you are the person who found the diary. I was engaged in Emily's story and witnessing her revealing more to Dr Gilyard more and more but just never enough. I felt I wasn't getting enough of the story throughout. I wanted more. I loved the little bits about the other inmates and their stories but am glad they didn't take over from Emily's story.
The ending wasn't what I hoped and didn't really correlate with the prologue of the book as it is read as someone who has found the diary.
Read as if you are the person who found the diary. I was engaged in Emily's story and witnessing her revealing more to Dr Gilyard more and more but just never enough. I felt I wasn't getting enough of the story throughout. I wanted more. I loved the little bits about the other inmates and their stories but am glad they didn't take over from Emily's story.
The ending wasn't what I hoped and didn't really correlate with the prologue of the book as it is read as someone who has found the diary.
September 29, 2025
i havent been so addicted to a book in a long time
June 1, 2012
Juliet,
I know you’ve been waiting three months for this apology, but I have to start by saying that this isn’t an apology. I’m not sorry. I’m not. (1, Heart Shaped-Bruise, Byrne)
I approached this book with a little bit of concern; for a start I talked to Tanya on twitter and she is a wonderful person and I was dreading reading her debut and not liking it and having to tell her that, but it did sound amazing. The press release also compared it to one my favourite all-time novels, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which set my expectations exceptionally high. As you know, high expectations can easily lead to disappointment though.
I was not disappointed in the slightest however. In fact, in the end I had to try and hold in my inner-fangirl and a long post about why this book and author is amazing. Whether I succeeded or not, I’ll leave up to you!
Heart-Shaped Bruise (HSB) tells Emily Koll’s story; she begins the novel in a psychiatric ward of a young offenders’ institution awaiting trial for an as yet unknown crime. Having listened to Tanya Byrne at the fabulous Creative Voices events at Foyles last week, she explained that Emily in fact has Borderline personality disorder, but has not been told this yet and that is why she behaves how she does.
The reason, we are told, for whatever leads Emily to await trial is to do with when Emily’s dad kills Juliet’s parents and she stabs him, everything is thrown into turmoil for both characters. Emily is shocked to learn her dad is a gangster, a murderer, and Juliet is placed in witness protection. When we’re young, we believe our parents are like superheroes and like Emily, I can remember the first times I realised my parents were human or they disappointed me. Granted it wasn’t quite so extreme, or illegal, for me, but that sense of betrayal and loss of innocence is one of those horrific things that happens before your grow up generally. Therefore, I could see why she blamed Juliet, as a catalyst, for everything. Naturally, I don’t condone stalking someone in witness protection and befriending them though which is what Emily does.
Both characters take on new identities within the novel which I found really interesting. As a teenager, I constantly attempted to reinvent myself, but the many incarnations of Lucy were still Lucy. Having to utterly change myself, my name, my look, everything? I don’t know if I could have done it or how I would have felt.
There is wonderful skill in Byrne’s characterisation; Emily pulls you right in and even though you know she’s done something wrong, you feel a great deal of emotion, even sympathy towards her. When you feel sympathy and like the villain of the novel, you know the author is doing their job really well and to be honest, this is a genuinely gorgeous book which has left me desperate to see what Tanya Byrne will do next. If this is her debut, what about her second or third novel?
The prose is beautiful and very quotable in places, a quality which I adored. I absolutely devoured my copy and read it in a matter of hours as I couldn’t put t down. This is definitely able to crossover into the adult market, in fact the hardback is the adult cover and the paperback will be the YA, but I don’t think it matters. This is a novel teenagers will get swept away by, this is also a novel I think adults will be swept away by. The main point here is obviously the sweeping.
There is a sort of romance and very slight love triangle, but it is written in such a way it doesn’t really feel like a triangle. I would say that this is because
I can’t spoil the end for you, but I hated it. I understood it, but I hated the decisions made by certain characters, but I was not a happy bunny.
If you loved The Perks of Being A Wallflower, are a contemporary YA fan, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to you. It already is in my top books of the year, and in one of my all time favourites perhaps already too.
Heart Shaped Bruise is Tanya Byrne’s debut novel and out now. I received a free proof of this novel in exchange for the above honest review.
This review originally appeared on www.chooseya.com on May 16th 2012.
I know you’ve been waiting three months for this apology, but I have to start by saying that this isn’t an apology. I’m not sorry. I’m not. (1, Heart Shaped-Bruise, Byrne)
I approached this book with a little bit of concern; for a start I talked to Tanya on twitter and she is a wonderful person and I was dreading reading her debut and not liking it and having to tell her that, but it did sound amazing. The press release also compared it to one my favourite all-time novels, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which set my expectations exceptionally high. As you know, high expectations can easily lead to disappointment though.
I was not disappointed in the slightest however. In fact, in the end I had to try and hold in my inner-fangirl and a long post about why this book and author is amazing. Whether I succeeded or not, I’ll leave up to you!
Heart-Shaped Bruise (HSB) tells Emily Koll’s story; she begins the novel in a psychiatric ward of a young offenders’ institution awaiting trial for an as yet unknown crime. Having listened to Tanya Byrne at the fabulous Creative Voices events at Foyles last week, she explained that Emily in fact has Borderline personality disorder, but has not been told this yet and that is why she behaves how she does.
The reason, we are told, for whatever leads Emily to await trial is to do with when Emily’s dad kills Juliet’s parents and she stabs him, everything is thrown into turmoil for both characters. Emily is shocked to learn her dad is a gangster, a murderer, and Juliet is placed in witness protection. When we’re young, we believe our parents are like superheroes and like Emily, I can remember the first times I realised my parents were human or they disappointed me. Granted it wasn’t quite so extreme, or illegal, for me, but that sense of betrayal and loss of innocence is one of those horrific things that happens before your grow up generally. Therefore, I could see why she blamed Juliet, as a catalyst, for everything. Naturally, I don’t condone stalking someone in witness protection and befriending them though which is what Emily does.
Both characters take on new identities within the novel which I found really interesting. As a teenager, I constantly attempted to reinvent myself, but the many incarnations of Lucy were still Lucy. Having to utterly change myself, my name, my look, everything? I don’t know if I could have done it or how I would have felt.
There is wonderful skill in Byrne’s characterisation; Emily pulls you right in and even though you know she’s done something wrong, you feel a great deal of emotion, even sympathy towards her. When you feel sympathy and like the villain of the novel, you know the author is doing their job really well and to be honest, this is a genuinely gorgeous book which has left me desperate to see what Tanya Byrne will do next. If this is her debut, what about her second or third novel?
The prose is beautiful and very quotable in places, a quality which I adored. I absolutely devoured my copy and read it in a matter of hours as I couldn’t put t down. This is definitely able to crossover into the adult market, in fact the hardback is the adult cover and the paperback will be the YA, but I don’t think it matters. This is a novel teenagers will get swept away by, this is also a novel I think adults will be swept away by. The main point here is obviously the sweeping.
There is a sort of romance and very slight love triangle, but it is written in such a way it doesn’t really feel like a triangle. I would say that this is because
I can’t spoil the end for you, but I hated it. I understood it, but I hated the decisions made by certain characters, but I was not a happy bunny.
If you loved The Perks of Being A Wallflower, are a contemporary YA fan, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to you. It already is in my top books of the year, and in one of my all time favourites perhaps already too.
Heart Shaped Bruise is Tanya Byrne’s debut novel and out now. I received a free proof of this novel in exchange for the above honest review.
This review originally appeared on www.chooseya.com on May 16th 2012.
May 16, 2012
Review posted at
Amaterasu Reads
There's a line in this book that had the most impact to me:
"Curiousity will break your heart."
I didn't believe it at first, but when I was at the last few pages, I realized it did. Because curiousity will make you want to know Emily Koll and what she has done. To herself, to her life, to Juliet. And you will wonder if she will ever get better. You will want to know her story, and that story will break your heart into a million pieces.
Emily left a mark on my heart. She's broken. In a single moment, her world has shifted into something she doesn't recognize and she had to make sense of what was left of her life. Figuring out if she was beyond repair was one of the most heartbreaking things I had to find out while reading this book, and it wasn't easy. Never have I ever read of so much broken people before, and hearing their side of the story was a different experience.
Is something wrong with Emily? Yes. I didn't like her at all when I first met her. A privileged kid who had the rug pulled out under her due to the consequences of her father's actions. But who could blame her for realizing her whole life was a lie? They say that people find out who their real friends are during the most trying time of their lives and Emily found out she had none when her life changed. Who would want to be friends with a bad seed? People can be so judgmental and Emily turned into someone she was not in the eyes of the world because of these people. Through the pages of her diary, I felt her anger. If only people realized she was also a victim. But something is definitely wrong with Emily. She let her anger destroy her, that incessant need for vengeance, that single minded purpose to get even. She could have been someone good, someone better. Instead she remade herself into someone unrecognizable, someone so far off she couldn't go back to who she was before. What was real and what was for revenge? Was it worth trying to get even if it meant destroying your own life?
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. However cliche that might sound, Emily goes by that mantra because of Juliet. Her existence fueled Emily's need for revenge. She was the reason Emily's life unraveled, and what happened to her? She got a second chance at life, while Emily was ostracized, shunned by the people who once were a big part of her life. But Emily was like Juliet in some ways. All of it was done for their family. Emily's revenge was for her father, and Juliet did what she had to do for hers. What makes them so different? None. Even if Juliet had a fresh start, the darkness inside will continue to haunt her, like Emily.
Heart Shaped Bruise is a chilling tale of just how far one can go in order to exact revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. A life for a life. How much of a coincidence is it that this book reminds me the tv series, Revenge? The appeal of this book comes from the emotions Emily is dealing with and the reasons she has done what she did. Family, that desire to get even, that desperate want to just feel right again. Venture on to the dark side of humanity where vengeance and anger can be the sole reasons for living, where lies are a necessity and breaking a person bit by bit gives someone happiness like no other. Tanya Byrne presents us with a chilling tale of a girl and the path she chose to take in her quest to punish those that wronged her. It's filled with ugly feelings and terrifying scenes that will eat away at your resolve and your belief of what is right and what is wrong.
Tanya Byrne will take you in an unforgettable journey with Heart-Shaped Bruise. This book will stay with you for a long time. Unexpectedly dark but undeniably, a great book. Try to keep your emotions at bay as Emily tells you all about her life. It's haunting and heavy, but I wouldn't trade even a minute I've spent reading this book. If you are looking for an edgy, darker form of YA novel, then give this book a try and you wouldn't be disappointed!
There's a line in this book that had the most impact to me:
"Curiousity will break your heart."
I didn't believe it at first, but when I was at the last few pages, I realized it did. Because curiousity will make you want to know Emily Koll and what she has done. To herself, to her life, to Juliet. And you will wonder if she will ever get better. You will want to know her story, and that story will break your heart into a million pieces.
Emily left a mark on my heart. She's broken. In a single moment, her world has shifted into something she doesn't recognize and she had to make sense of what was left of her life. Figuring out if she was beyond repair was one of the most heartbreaking things I had to find out while reading this book, and it wasn't easy. Never have I ever read of so much broken people before, and hearing their side of the story was a different experience.
Is something wrong with Emily? Yes. I didn't like her at all when I first met her. A privileged kid who had the rug pulled out under her due to the consequences of her father's actions. But who could blame her for realizing her whole life was a lie? They say that people find out who their real friends are during the most trying time of their lives and Emily found out she had none when her life changed. Who would want to be friends with a bad seed? People can be so judgmental and Emily turned into someone she was not in the eyes of the world because of these people. Through the pages of her diary, I felt her anger. If only people realized she was also a victim. But something is definitely wrong with Emily. She let her anger destroy her, that incessant need for vengeance, that single minded purpose to get even. She could have been someone good, someone better. Instead she remade herself into someone unrecognizable, someone so far off she couldn't go back to who she was before. What was real and what was for revenge? Was it worth trying to get even if it meant destroying your own life?
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. However cliche that might sound, Emily goes by that mantra because of Juliet. Her existence fueled Emily's need for revenge. She was the reason Emily's life unraveled, and what happened to her? She got a second chance at life, while Emily was ostracized, shunned by the people who once were a big part of her life. But Emily was like Juliet in some ways. All of it was done for their family. Emily's revenge was for her father, and Juliet did what she had to do for hers. What makes them so different? None. Even if Juliet had a fresh start, the darkness inside will continue to haunt her, like Emily.
Heart Shaped Bruise is a chilling tale of just how far one can go in order to exact revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. A life for a life. How much of a coincidence is it that this book reminds me the tv series, Revenge? The appeal of this book comes from the emotions Emily is dealing with and the reasons she has done what she did. Family, that desire to get even, that desperate want to just feel right again. Venture on to the dark side of humanity where vengeance and anger can be the sole reasons for living, where lies are a necessity and breaking a person bit by bit gives someone happiness like no other. Tanya Byrne presents us with a chilling tale of a girl and the path she chose to take in her quest to punish those that wronged her. It's filled with ugly feelings and terrifying scenes that will eat away at your resolve and your belief of what is right and what is wrong.
Tanya Byrne will take you in an unforgettable journey with Heart-Shaped Bruise. This book will stay with you for a long time. Unexpectedly dark but undeniably, a great book. Try to keep your emotions at bay as Emily tells you all about her life. It's haunting and heavy, but I wouldn't trade even a minute I've spent reading this book. If you are looking for an edgy, darker form of YA novel, then give this book a try and you wouldn't be disappointed!
November 9, 2013
Although Heart-Shaped Bruise has been released for a relatively long while, it has taken quite some time to actually get around to reading it! As soon as I read the blurb of this book, it was something that I knew that I'd have to get around to as the premise sounds as though this book was written for me! I love reading anything to do with mental health and for some unknown reason, I also find prison and criminology very interesting. What could be better than reading the story of a girl in a psychiatric ward of a prison? I couldn't wait to delve into this book!
This book is in the form of a notebook of the now infamous Emily Koll, a girl who is awaiting trial after committing a crime that some consider evil. When Emily's father was stabbed by a girl of her own age, Juliet, her life was turned upside down as she realised her father wasn't the man she thought he was. Emily decided to seek revenge for herself and her father and so, disguising herself as - or rather changing into - a girl named Rose, she infiltrates into Juliet's life, attempting to appear as her best friend whilst simultaneously destroying her. Along the way, we also meet Sid, a guy who becomes somewhat of an equal to both Juliet and Emily, someone who they both end up loving and who is a particularly important character to Emily. It's very difficult for me to try and explain what happens plot wise without giving any spoilers, so I won't say much more. When you pick the book up yourself, you'll almost immediately have questions flying around in your head and will be eager to find out all of the answers for yourself!
This book explores so much of Emily's mind and Byrne has done a stupendous job of crafting a realistic, troubled yet also somewhat relatable character in the form of Emily. Emily is in a psychiatric unit, having frequent therapy sessions with Doctor Gilyard. The idea of Emily having Borderline Personality Disorder is briefly insinuated quite early on in the novel, and this immediately caught my attention as someone who has been diagnosed with that same disorder. I don't know if I was particularly sensitive to seeing Emily's 'symptoms', but wow - the author has done an incredible job. As Emily says herself, the symptoms of BPD can been seen in almost anyone at some point, but Byrne shows us how these symptoms develop, and how the person's personality is disordered. Instead of listing things, Byrne smoothly tells us of times in Emily's life where she has displayed traits, and we see how normal her thought processes seem for her. I think that the thing about this book that impressed the most were Emily's psychiatric sessions with Doctor G - if you told me that their sessions were actually real, I would totally believe you, their chemistry together was so believable and it felt as though I was inside Emily's head at some points, at others I was willing her to open up to her doctor. The emotion that was conjured in sometimes only a few sentences between them was amazing.
Despite Emily's cruel, quite twisted crime, she helps us understand why she did what she did and honestly, I can't help but feel for her, even if what she did was very wrong. Reading through the book, Emily's acts seem very logical to her and it's easy to get caught up in her passion. I'd hope that anyone who reads this book would see why Emily did what she did and also see the real version of herself that she was trying to express. Emily's relationship with Sid is something that really interested me and I think it really made an impact on how I saw her, at least until a certain point. On the whole, I don't completely know how I feel about Emily, but I don't think that she knows that either. However, what we both do know is that nothing is wholly good/pure or wholly bad/evil.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is a fantastically written novel, with one of the best formed characters that I've read about. Tanya Byrne is a tremendously talented author and I really hope that she has more characters like Koll to keep us on the edge of our seats. Recommended to young adults and adults alike.
This book is in the form of a notebook of the now infamous Emily Koll, a girl who is awaiting trial after committing a crime that some consider evil. When Emily's father was stabbed by a girl of her own age, Juliet, her life was turned upside down as she realised her father wasn't the man she thought he was. Emily decided to seek revenge for herself and her father and so, disguising herself as - or rather changing into - a girl named Rose, she infiltrates into Juliet's life, attempting to appear as her best friend whilst simultaneously destroying her. Along the way, we also meet Sid, a guy who becomes somewhat of an equal to both Juliet and Emily, someone who they both end up loving and who is a particularly important character to Emily. It's very difficult for me to try and explain what happens plot wise without giving any spoilers, so I won't say much more. When you pick the book up yourself, you'll almost immediately have questions flying around in your head and will be eager to find out all of the answers for yourself!
This book explores so much of Emily's mind and Byrne has done a stupendous job of crafting a realistic, troubled yet also somewhat relatable character in the form of Emily. Emily is in a psychiatric unit, having frequent therapy sessions with Doctor Gilyard. The idea of Emily having Borderline Personality Disorder is briefly insinuated quite early on in the novel, and this immediately caught my attention as someone who has been diagnosed with that same disorder. I don't know if I was particularly sensitive to seeing Emily's 'symptoms', but wow - the author has done an incredible job. As Emily says herself, the symptoms of BPD can been seen in almost anyone at some point, but Byrne shows us how these symptoms develop, and how the person's personality is disordered. Instead of listing things, Byrne smoothly tells us of times in Emily's life where she has displayed traits, and we see how normal her thought processes seem for her. I think that the thing about this book that impressed the most were Emily's psychiatric sessions with Doctor G - if you told me that their sessions were actually real, I would totally believe you, their chemistry together was so believable and it felt as though I was inside Emily's head at some points, at others I was willing her to open up to her doctor. The emotion that was conjured in sometimes only a few sentences between them was amazing.
Despite Emily's cruel, quite twisted crime, she helps us understand why she did what she did and honestly, I can't help but feel for her, even if what she did was very wrong. Reading through the book, Emily's acts seem very logical to her and it's easy to get caught up in her passion. I'd hope that anyone who reads this book would see why Emily did what she did and also see the real version of herself that she was trying to express. Emily's relationship with Sid is something that really interested me and I think it really made an impact on how I saw her, at least until a certain point. On the whole, I don't completely know how I feel about Emily, but I don't think that she knows that either. However, what we both do know is that nothing is wholly good/pure or wholly bad/evil.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is a fantastically written novel, with one of the best formed characters that I've read about. Tanya Byrne is a tremendously talented author and I really hope that she has more characters like Koll to keep us on the edge of our seats. Recommended to young adults and adults alike.
June 21, 2014
I’ve been meaning to read this book for so long after it came with an extremely high recommendation from my sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads. It was fitting therefore that it should be the first book that I read for June 2014 – Chrissi Cupboard Month – please see my previous post HERE. It tells the story of a young woman called Emily Koll who is incarcerated prior to her trial in Archway Young Offenders Institution in London for committing a horrific crime. Whilst on the unit she begins to keep a journal, providing us with juicy snippets about who she is and how she came to be in the unenviable position she now finds herself. A the beginning of the novel Emily is writing a letter to the wronged party, a girl called Juliet, yet she makes it quite clear that she is not apologising for her actions but merely expressing her viewpoint.
We are never given the full details about what she did but the author builds detail upon detail, ramping up the pace exponentially until the dramatic finale when the truth about what happened is revealed. Or is it? Emily’s story is both gritty and compelling yet reader be warned, she appears to be quite an unreliable narrator convincing another girl at the institution that she shouldn’t believe everything she read while she directly addresses us with: “You shouldn’t either, by the way.” So, what do we know? The bare bones of the plot involves Emily’s father who she places high on a pedestal despite his shady connections with the criminal underworld. During a burglary instigated by Emily’s father, he attacks a police officer whom is Juliet’s father. Juliet is present at the incident and retaliates by stabbing Emily’s father and although he survives, he is put behind bars leaving Emily to fend for herself and seek revenge for the ruin that she believes her and her father’s life to now be. Claiming a new identity, Emily be-friends Juliet and her mission to destroy her begins in earnest.
Emily’s journal is a way for her to tell her side of the story. She has been vilified and hounded by the press, referred to as evil and a monster, and must undergo daily therapy sessions which attempts to get to the root of her issues. One of the things I loved most about this book was the way in which the author managed to create a character that although she may be the villain of the piece, moves the reader to feel sorry for her predicament and while not condoning her actions, somewhat understand why she did what she did. The writing was phenomenal, intense yet incredibly beautiful and the power of Emily’s emotions and her complexity as a character was a complete joy to read. By the conclusion, I was literally on the edge of my seat as the reader discovers the event that led to Emily’s imprisonment and believe me, it’s a nail-biter! In fact, I had to remind myself constantly that this was a debut novel, the story is both unique and outstanding and there is no doubt that Tanya Byrne is a talented addition to the YA market. There are also a lot of important issues like mental health running throughout the novel which the author dealt with in a dignified manner. After this complete gem of a story, I am really excited to read her second novel, Follow Me Down and predict huge things for this author in the future.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
We are never given the full details about what she did but the author builds detail upon detail, ramping up the pace exponentially until the dramatic finale when the truth about what happened is revealed. Or is it? Emily’s story is both gritty and compelling yet reader be warned, she appears to be quite an unreliable narrator convincing another girl at the institution that she shouldn’t believe everything she read while she directly addresses us with: “You shouldn’t either, by the way.” So, what do we know? The bare bones of the plot involves Emily’s father who she places high on a pedestal despite his shady connections with the criminal underworld. During a burglary instigated by Emily’s father, he attacks a police officer whom is Juliet’s father. Juliet is present at the incident and retaliates by stabbing Emily’s father and although he survives, he is put behind bars leaving Emily to fend for herself and seek revenge for the ruin that she believes her and her father’s life to now be. Claiming a new identity, Emily be-friends Juliet and her mission to destroy her begins in earnest.
Emily’s journal is a way for her to tell her side of the story. She has been vilified and hounded by the press, referred to as evil and a monster, and must undergo daily therapy sessions which attempts to get to the root of her issues. One of the things I loved most about this book was the way in which the author managed to create a character that although she may be the villain of the piece, moves the reader to feel sorry for her predicament and while not condoning her actions, somewhat understand why she did what she did. The writing was phenomenal, intense yet incredibly beautiful and the power of Emily’s emotions and her complexity as a character was a complete joy to read. By the conclusion, I was literally on the edge of my seat as the reader discovers the event that led to Emily’s imprisonment and believe me, it’s a nail-biter! In fact, I had to remind myself constantly that this was a debut novel, the story is both unique and outstanding and there is no doubt that Tanya Byrne is a talented addition to the YA market. There are also a lot of important issues like mental health running throughout the novel which the author dealt with in a dignified manner. After this complete gem of a story, I am really excited to read her second novel, Follow Me Down and predict huge things for this author in the future.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
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