Review Detail

In Swati
Avasthi's debut novel, Split, Sixteen-year-old Jace Witherspoon just
wants to be a normal teenager. He dreams of soccer games, girlfriends,
and his love for photography that are not tainted by his past.  Growing
up with an abusive father, a passive mother and a brother who abandoned
him when he needed him the most, Jace is afraid for his future. 
Finally standing up to his father, he escapes his past that he just can
not leave behind and shows up on the doorstep of his estranged
brother.  New friends, a new school and a new job can not hide his
abusive past and the secret he is hoping no one ever finds out.  Will
Jace escape his horrid past?  Will he move on and find the family he
always dreamed of? Or will he realize his past has become his future? 
Read Split by Swati Avasthi to find out for yourself.

For
me, Split was a story that no one ever wants to tell.  The pain, abuse
and heartbreak that Jace experiences pops from the pages of this
truthful read.  Written in first person, Jace is able to tell the
readers what he is feeling and how he sees himself.  The flashbacks to
what Jace had to endure living in a home constantly at war will make
even the strongest reader's heart break.  I felt that Split was as
honest as a work a fiction could be in feeling the pain of an abused
child and now abusing teen.  The voice of Jace is real of a teen boy
going through what he went through.  Never did I feel that this was
written by an adult woman.  It was true to the teenage male heart and
the teenage male mind.  Avasthi really got into her character of Jace
and felt his heart and found his voice.  If you are a victim of abuse
or someone who has never experienced anything like what Jace went
through in this book, you will relate to Avasthi's characters in some
way and you will feel the need to protect them.  Swati Avasthi
completely succeeded with Split and I know she will continue to write
great things in the future.

Review originally printed on my blog Draw A Blank.