You know when you finish a book but you're not actually finished with it, so you try to imagine what comes next so you never have to say goodbye to thYou know when you finish a book but you're not actually finished with it, so you try to imagine what comes next so you never have to say goodbye to the main characters? All Our Broken Pieces wraps everything up beautifully and yet I wanted to see more of Lennon and Kyler. I promise you, you will never meet two of the most realest fictional characters in literature.
I read this book without ever wanting to step out of the minds of Lennon and Kyler, and what intricate, thought-provoking, interesting minds they have. They're both broken and in need of someone who understands them for who they are, for who they can be, and both characters just fit, like they fit so beautifully in the narrative. The chapters are flip-flopped between first-person narratives of Lennon and Kyler, and it fits. The prose allows you to feel the raw emotions that each character endures, allowing us uncensored access to the deepest, most darkest parts of their minds.
Some spoilers ahead. Lennon is a girl with OCD - a condition that has dictated the way she thinks and acts around other people. She's ashamed, and what's so beautiful about this is that, as a reader, I know there's nothing wrong with her, and Kyler knows this too. I'm sick of reading books where love interests want to change their other half, but Kyler never wants to change her. He wants to understand her so that he can be a part of her world. He never wants her to feel ashamed for being who she is. There is no magical cure for OCD and I love that by the end of the novel, Lennon learns about her own self worth enough to be able to control it, like a superpower that has changed her life. It never goes away, and it shouldn't. That's the raw, honest truth about living with OCD, something that is so overlooked in today's media.
Kyler is a guy who has his own personal demons. His face is burned from a fire that occurred when he was a child (I didn't expect the backstory behind that and I won't spoil it here). There are so many times I just wanted to tell him he's beautiful. The thoughts he has, the compassion and kindness. His inner beauty revealed so much more about his character than the scars on his face ever do. He also lets it define him, he tries to hide it with hoodies and beanies and his hair - but he never needed to. Kyler needed Lennon. Lennon needed Kyler. They showed each other that their pieces fit, and when they do, the most magical thing happens - they believe in themselves, they accept their own demons for what they are, not what they think they are. They learn, and we learn as readers, about their mental health and that through listening to one another (as well as other characters, they really needed to listen to them too), they were able to wear their scars with pride and bravery.
The writing is beautiful. Leah Crichton has weaved the most wonderful prose that exposes the human condition of two fictional characters she makes feel real. And I feel everything for Lennon and Kyler. I feel true happiness when they're together and frustration when they're apart. I feel like screaming at other characters who try to keep them apart, or show a lack of understanding to who they are as people. They might only be characters, but what they go through, what they experience, is very real. The experiences they have are embedded throughout in touching moments and you'll read the most wonderful passages in this novel, a novel I know has been given the time and love that it needed to become the thought-provoking, inspiring read that it is.
I love All Our Broken Pieces and everything that it stands for. After reading this novel, I came to one conclusion: the world needs this story, and the world is lucky to have it....more
Loading...
