Jaye Murray

When reading Bottled Up, I found that I enjoyed it because many of its qualities appealed to me. I enjoyed Murray’s use of the short poetic stories in between every chapter or two. The context appealed to me because I could relate in some ways as it was a story about someone my age, but once I understood his life, the many differences between me and the character made his story even more interesting to read. The way Bottled Up begins is almost startling because it immediately merges into a show more scene showing how Pip, the main character, has a complete lack of enthusiasm for school, a need to rebel towards authority, problems with drugs, and nothing but apathy for his own life and future. Bottled Up was written in first person and I noticed that Pip often speaks about himself in a way that makes him seem to have given up on life entirely. He seems to be accepting his failure thinking that success isn’t worth the work after all and he would prefer the life of a burnout. Although Pip is obviously wrong to not care about his life, his situation is extreme. The way he is treated at school by teachers is so bad that it is somewhat unbelievable and his home life is even worse. Pip’s father is a raging alcoholic and they have an unhealthy relationship; the short poetic stories happen in the novel whenever something bad happens in Pip’s life, usually about an experience he had with his father as a child. I think this is an interesting way to give the reader a better understanding of the relationship between Pip and his father. Although Pip acts like he is finished caring about trouble and failure, whenever he is getting in trouble at school or with his parents, the way his nervousness is described reminds me of when I would get in trouble as a kid; an, “oh crap look in my eyes” and a, “heart pounding so hard, my armpit hurt.” Pip has a bad relationship with his little brother, Mikey, as well. Mikey looks up to him, and on top of constantly trying to get rid of his brother, Pip sets bad examples and says mean things to him. In a way I can relate to this because of the relationships among my sisters and me. Although I do feel guilty after snapping at their every mistake, it is hard to get along with someone you are with all of the time. On the other hand, Pip’s relationship with his parents is something I can’t relate to at all. His parents don’t care about him anymore, he takes care of his brother, and his parents never care where he is as long as he isn’t late for something or getting into serious trouble. Although Pip is going to counseling throughout the novel, it seems that what really affects him is when Mikey tries to take his father’s Scotch in the end, bringing it to school in his backpack. When Pip was late to pick him up, Mikey waited and threw the bottles in the air, catching them for fun. He dropped one on his head and an ambulance came. The family got together at the emergency room and saw what a unhealthy environment in which they had cause their child to grow up. It was frustrating that while Pip changes, deciding to start getting clean, going to all of his classes, and trying to take care of Mikey, his parents are unaffected by this incident. This was an unpredictable, sad, and then promising ending to an enjoyable novel. show less

Reviewed by: JaeLyn (Class of 2013)

What if you were a 16 or 17 year old in high school and addicted to drugs and alcohol? Skipping classes and getting into trouble in school? Being someone that constantly goes to the office almost every week? The book "Bottled Up" by Jaye Murray, is all about that. Jaye Murray once was a social worker and now a first time novelist.

Pip, also known as Michael, is in high school, and is also addicted to drugs. His father is an alcoholic and he has a little show more brother that looks up to him for everything. Most of his life has dealt with drugs, fighting, and a lot of abuse. He realized that he wanted to change his life for good. One day Michael meets a girl named Sandra and they become friends until Sandra see's his home life. They both work together to change his lifestyle.

"Bottled Up" is really recommended to someone who likes real life situations. I really like this book because in some ways I could connect to the main character. When it talks about how his little brother likes to go wherever Michael goes, I am reminded of how my brothers are with me.

If you like real life experiences, then this is a book for you. show less

I enjoyed the writing of the book. It's about where all the characters are dependent on bottles one way or another.

As I read this book I found that it was hard to put down. It grabbed me with suspence and would not let me go until I finihed it.