Undone by Cat Clarke (Young Adult, January 2013, 10/10)

31st January 2013 (ebook is out now), Quercus

352 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Themes: losing someone close, dealing with suicide, keeping people at arm's length, sexuality, prejudice, bullying, mean teasing, mean girls, popular group at school, unexpected & continuous presents, suicidal thoughts, being impulsive, trying new things, betrayal, dark moments, moderate to frequent strong language, moderate amount of strong adult situations, tissues needed. 

Summary from Quercus

Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she’s learning to live with it.

Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online … and he kills himself. 

Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down. 

Nayuleska's thoughts

I'm rather biased because Cat is a friend ^o^ It's because she's a friend that I kept reading the book. At the moment, I mostly prefer lighter reads, with hope and happiness in them. This is a dark read. It deals with really intense moments. There was hope in it but most of the time it was dim home. The betrayals and tragedy widens. It's very intense and graphic in terms of language, and adult situations. I would have stopped reading at some of them, as they shocked me, but I kept reading because I wanted to read what Cat had written. 

Although I didn't agree with Jem's actions, or what else happened in the novel, it's such a captivating read that I couldn't help but be impressed by the level of emotion Cat writes with and captures in Jem's story. It shows the darker side of humanity, just how far people will stop, as well as how much one sentence can change a person's life. Never underestimate how much you can help someone just by being there and supporting them, as Jem discovers in this 10/10 read.

You can find out more on Cat's website. 

Suggested read

Definitely check out Cat's other books! Another book which focuses on finding the reason for a suicide is Gina Blaxill's captivating Forget Me Never