Pieces of Me

I was finally able to get around to reading the ARC that I was provided with.
Overview:

We encounter an 18-year-old girl named Dylan that wakes up in an apartment that is unrecognizable to her. She is greeted by other people. However, she has no idea who they are. Dylan can get her hands on a phone to call home. This is when she learns that she has been missing for a few days. On top of that, Dylan has no recollection. Eventually, she is diagnosed with DID.
Throughout the book. She learns more about herself, how to stand up to her abuser, and how to work together with her system.

Be mindful when you read this. This is marketed towards YA but it is on the border between adults and YA. There is some material within this book that is not suitable for everyone. Pieces of Me contains mature content that relates to the following:

Sexual Assult

Self-harm

Substance abuse

Trauma/Mental health

This is the first book by Kate McLaughlin that I have read and I can say that it was enjoyable. Since I am no expert on DID I can not tell you if Dylan's experience is true or not. However, Kate McLaughlin researched this topic (I appreciate seeing all the material she looked at to create this story). She did a great job with how she handed DID within this story. It did not feel rushed, stereotypical, or demonized. However, I do wish there was more about the disorder within the book.

I have recommended this book with caution to several of my friends who have Dissociative identity disorder to see their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and perspectives. This is a fascinating book that is worth reading.

I just finished Pieces of me by Kate Mclaughlin and here are my musings.

Dylan has no idea whose apartment she's in or how she got here. The people seem to know her but she can't place them. Connor is adamant nothing happened and that they had been hanging out. Mildly freaking out until she calls home and finds out she cannot remember the last three days.

This isn't new but, this length of time is excessive and now Dylan knows that there is something wrong. Imagine being diagnosed at 18 with Dissociative identity disorder. A disorder brought on by severe childhood trauma but she cannot remember whatever it is that was supposed to have happened and as she navigates getting to know her the other people that live rent free in her head, they know a dangerous secret that they are hiding from Dylan, a secret so bad, it is worth dying for.

Have you ever read a book that was so intoxicating that the book hangover was pretty horrific? This book did that to me. I was hooked right from the start. Dylan was the most perfect unreliable narrator but she was so likable and I felt the need to protect her myself. I didn't know much about DID but this book did an excellent job of dispelling some myths surrounding the disorder and really took the stigma out of it as well.

The human mind is incredible and this book really took entertainment to a whole other level. Yes the book was heavy but it was worth it.
The character development was very well done and the language was lucid and flowed beautifully. I had my doubts that a topic this complex could be written as a young adult book but I did enjoy being oh so wrong. You could tell the author took a lot of time researching and the talent in the writing shines through.

I couldn't find anything I didn't like about this book. Nothing, it was perfect and for me, the best read of the year so far!

I cannot wait to read more by the author!

5 stars! If you are a lover of YA like I am, this has to be on your list! Released today!! Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my review copy!

This was not at all what I was expecting, and I had a hard time putting this one down.

DID has always fascinated me, whether in movies or books. Pieces of Me is geared more towards YA so that is what immediately caught my attention. You can tell the author researched and did as best as possible to portray the reality of someone having DID. I don't know anyone who has it, but if it's anything like this story then I at least I can have some general idea.

That being said, this is a well written and interesting journey that Dylan and her alters go through. It's definitely easy to figure out early on where this is going, but I think this is more about the process of getting to a healing point versus the mystery of what happened that made DID a reality for Dylan.

I haven't read this author before and I really enjoyed the style of writing and storytelling. Definitely recommend this one for those who aren't sensitive to child trauma and abuse. I sincerely appreciate St. Martin's Press for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.