Swati Avasthi

Really powerful. Would be great to read with others. It made me think a lot about abuse and what's forgivable and if people can really change. I can't even get my thoughts straight about it. It's wonderfully challenging book with characters I could relate to and have empathy for, even when I felt like I shouldn't.

"Now I have to start lying. While I stare through the windshield at the building my brother lives in, I try to think up a good lie, but nothing comes to mind… my face will tell half the story. For the other half, I’ll keep my mouth shut and lie by omission. Someday I’ll fess up, tell him the whole deal, and then he can perform a lobotomy or whatever it takes. But right now, I just need Christian to open his door, nudge it wider, and let me stay."

Jace is sixteen years old when he leaves show more home, drives across the country from Chicago to Albuquerque, and shows up on his brother’s doorstep, where Christian and his girlfriend Mirriam are just about to celebrate their first anniversary. Over the next few weeks, Jace and his brother begin to unpack what it means to come from an abusive family. Jace enrolls at a local high school and gets a job at a nearby bookstore, while Christian tries to figure out his role as an older brother suddenly living with a little brother. Mirriam, who had no idea Jace even existed, pushes her way into Jace’s life, causing fights with both brothers, but also helping them to better understand one another. Meanwhile, Jace plots to contact his mother and get her away, while Christian worries about their father coming after them once again. But Christian doesn’t realize the secrets that Jace himself is hiding — until they get a call from their father.

This is an extraordinary novel about abuse and the effects it has on those who witness and experience it. Avasthi captures the confusion, frustration, fear, and anger which Jace experiences, as well as painting a vivid picture of those who interact with him — Christian, Mirriam, Dakota. There is no pat ending to the story — much as the reader hopes for it — and that makes it all the more realistic. A gritty, well-written debut novel. show less

Wow, this was great. I actually bought a copy before my ARC arrived from [personal profile] deepad, and I’m glad I did. The action begins with just the right amount of tension: Jace shows up at his older brother Christian’s, still bleeding. As you find out why, Jace is both sympathetic and legitimately dangerous. Both Jace and Christian have secrets and occasionally behave badly despite their attempts to take care of each other, and as Jace struggles to fit in to his brother’s new life show more and a new school, he has to deal with what he couldn’t leave behind: himself, and his connections to his mother and father. When is it okay to get out of a terrible situation, knowing that you’re leaving others you love behind to suffer, and knowing that if you reach out to them you’re much more likely to get pulled back in than you are to help? Is forgiveness for terrible acts ever justified, and how does that relate to change in the person who did them? There are no easy answers here; the story was powerful and ultimately hopeful. show less

Split covers the most important part of child abuse aside from stopping them in the first place, what happens afterward, an under-explored part of the picture. It does so with believable plot and flawed characters I liked. The narrative and author obviously care about kids in these situations, making for fine story.

Split is about recovery. Fucked up, messed up, painful, recovery. The people present don’t drag them down. They build them up. Jace and Christian build relationships. Split is show more hopeful all the way through, but not so positive as to be a sure thing. Steps forward and steps back, and I read through to the end worried that I would lose my friendships with these characters in one final giant leap backward. Either way, in Ms. Avasthi’s hands, it would have been the right ending. show less