Megan @ The Book Babe's Reads

Other reviews at The Book Babe's Reads.

I'll be the first to say that the premise of Etched on Me appealed to me - I love the dark, gritty stories that I read, but this one didn't really work for me. It's not that it wasn't dark or gritty (it was!), the problem was that I couldn't connect with the main character, Lesley. She's a girl with a lot of problems, and although I understand that... I don't think that she was fleshed out enough.

I liked the inside look at mental institutions, and the people that are in them. It was interesting to see the things that they experience, and how Lesley reacted to them. I also liked the mystery of Lesley and her baby - it's said that they ended up on TV, and that there was a big battle between social services and such... but I didn't know why. I liked that these strings were tied up in the end.

I have to say, though... there were some parts throughout this book - well, they made me cringe, and I didn't exactly want to read them. But I did anyway - and I think I came through it with one thought - "I don't think I get this book".

I really don't think that I did. There were so many... plot twists. There was just so much going on, and I couldn't really get into it. My disconnection with Lesley didn't help either, because not only could I not connect with the story, the character just escaped me.

The message of this book is good - it lets people that are in Lesley's situation know that there is hope, and that they will get through it... but that message just isn't for me. All in all, Etched on Me just wasn't my thing, but I'm not going to try and dissuade you from reading it.