A review by oofsharkz73
Cut by Patricia McCormick

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"'It must take a lot of energy,' you say.
I blink.
'Not talking. It must be very tiring.'
I watch granules of dust slowly drift through a shaft of afternoon sun, and all at once I am tired. Something inside me sags, like a seam giving way. But my brain fights back."

"How do I feel? I feel like cutting. I don't know why. And I don't tell you."


Penetrative. That would be the best way to describe Cut by Patricia McCormick. From the perspective of Callie, the reader is engulfed in the story of girls in a rehabilitation center, Sea Pines or "Sick Minds." Among the guests, there is a myriad of issues - eating disorders, anger management, and self harm. Being inside the mind of Callie - who is dealing with self-harm, cutting specifically - is intensely moving, as we see her inner monologue about her surroundings and self. Each character is overwhelmingly relatable, with McCormick's words acting like a swift punch to the gut when you realize you have been there, you know what these girls are going through. 

A sudden liquid heat floods my body. The pain is so sharp, so sudden, I catch my breath. There's no rush, no relief. Just pain, a keen, pulsing pain. I drop the pie plate and grasp my wrist with my other hand, dimly aware even as I'm doing it that this is something I've never done before. Never tried to stop the blood. Never interfered. It's
never hurt like this before. And it's never not worked.

I imagine you working on me as an algebra problem, reducing me to fractions, crossing out common denominators, until there's nothing left on the page but a line that says x = whatever it is that is wrong with me. You fix it. I get to home.

Absorbing every critical detail that happens, every fleeting thought in Callie's mind, and then watching her begin to make progress in her recovery is transformative. With resonant visualization of self-harm and anorexia, Cut is such an important story. I still feel rattled from reading it, honestly, and can't gather my thoughts all that well - but it feels like a good thing.