My colleague across town and I share a lot of books with one another since we both purchase and read teen fiction for work. If something’s catching her attention or the attention of her teens, she lets me know and vice versa. Scars by Cheryl Rainfield was a title she told me I needed to buy, as all of the pages at her work put holds on it immediately upon seeing it. With that kind of pitch, I knew I had to both buy it and read it. I’m glad I did, even though this isn’t a book I particularly loved.

Kendra’s been sexually abused, and she channels a lot of the anger and frustration from the situation into cutting herself. Kendra’s been getting help from a therapist who she really loves working with, and she’s using the positive energy and adult support from Carolyn to try to stop the cutting.

At school, things are tough. Kendra’s former best friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-ex girlfriend has moved away and she’s really feeling a little alone. In an instant when she thought she’d be a victim of bullying, another girl — Meghan — steps in to protect her. From here on in, Kendra is attracted to Meghan in a new and profound way that comes out in the art she creates. The art, as you’d imagine, shows the pain and torture she feels in her life. The art, as you’d also imagine, is something she can’t show her mom, who used to believe she had potential as an artist (she herself is one).

Kendra feels distanced from both her parents, and she doesn’t feel comfortable breaking the silence. Mom and dad know she was abused, but there’s an unspoken rule about that moment that it not be brought up. But when Kendra discovers she’s being stalked and her therapist finds out she’s cutting and must inform her parents, things unravel in unexpected ways.

Scars was a very fast read and will appeal greatly to reluctant readers. It reminded me in a lot of ways of Patricia McCormick’s classic Cut, and it will likely appeal to the same audience. The first reason seems obvious, but there are other similarities: a fully-fleshed main character with weaker secondary characters.

In Rainfield’s book, I was disappointed in the use of safety character Sandy, as well as in both Kendra’s mother and father. They were all straw characters, even in the dynamic and unexpected ending (or maybe BECAUSE of that unexpected ending). I had a very hard time buying the case of abuse being such a secret in the family because I never found myself learning anything about the family. I kind of suspect those last couple of lines might be spoiler-y, but I also don’t think that will detract from the greater story.

One of the gutsy things Rainfield does here is develop a very outcasted character — or at least what may be considered one socially — and made her fairly normal. Kendra’s a victim of abuse, a cutter, an artist, and a lesbian, but she never makes any of them define her singularly. A lot of times in issues books such as this, one issue becomes what defines a character, but for me, I found Kendra fully fleshed and wholly human: I cared a heck of a lot about her well-being and with each new aspect of her personality, I came to get a really good picture of how dynamic she was. I didn’t want her to consider ending her life because she really had so much going FOR her in terms of a relationship and in a career in art.

This is an unflinching book, though I felt the ending was a little rushed. I’m kind of glad some of it rushed because of the unflinching aspect, but other parts I would have liked more character. The pacing and character reminded me a LOT of Darlene Ryan’s Five Minutes More. I’d believe these two titles would also make good readalikes, as would they both appeal greatly to teens (and adults!) who are more reluctant readers. Scars stands out also because the language is pretty clean — I don’t remember any swearing but do remember an instance of the f-bomb being written as “f-you” or something similar…just as effective! — and there are no sexual situations aside from the abuse. That in itself is handled very tactfully without sanitizing the severity of the situation. And the sweet romance throughout will bring a smile to your face. Sweet really is the best way to describe it.

While Scars isn’t one of my personal favorites, it was a worthwhile and realistic read. It’ll have a good audience, and it’s one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to any number of teen readers. Give it to fans of Ellen Hopkins, Gail Giles, Patricia McCormick’s Cut, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls or Speak, Nina La Cour’s hold still, and other similar strong “issues” stories. It’s one worth making room for on your shelves for sure.