Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Well, I noticed that Sarah Skilton has a new novel coming out (in April, called High and Dry) so that guilted me into sitting down to write a review of her debut, Bruised. I am pretty much a book blogger failure on this one because I requested it and read it about a year ago but never wrote a review. That is basically the theme of In The Next Room these days, and I'm sorry about that. I started my PhD a little over a year ago and it definitely took up more time and energy than I expected. I'm going to continue to try to get reviews up here when I can, but no promises about their regularity. 

I requested Bruised because the story really caught my attention as something unique and exciting in YA literature. In it, Imogen has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and she always expected it would protect her but when she fails to act during a holdup at a dinner, the gunman is killed by the police and she holds herself responsible. Now she has to rebuild her life in the face of PTSD and without the confidence and skills that she once thought were irrevocable.

What I really liked about Bruised was how easy to was to read, the story was straightforward, Imogen's voice was clear, and it kept me turning the pages (according to Goodreads I finished it over 2 days). However, the main issue I had with Bruised is that I really just didn't feel that gut-wrenching connection to the story and the characters that I wanted to, especially with such an emotional premise. Sometimes, when I was reading it was more like I knew that things were upsetting than I really felt it. I was definitely still rooting for Imogen, but I wanted to be doing it with a bit more of my soul. There were moments when I did get that connection, but it wasn't consistent. I also wanted more from the secondary characters as some of them felt a bit like background.

Ultimately, the easy flow and details of Skilton's writing kept my interest in Bruised so I would consider reading her next novel, but when it came to Bruised it just didn't hit me emotionally as strongly as I wanted it to.

Release Date: March 5th, 2013  Pages: 288  Format: ARC

Source: Publisher Publisher: Amulet/Abrams  Buy It: Book Depository