Review: Cracked by K.M. Walton

Cracked

By: K.M. Walton

Pub. Date: January 3, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 312

Source: Bought

Sometimes there's no easy way out.

Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills—only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn't stop Bull's grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there's no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much worse—before they get better….

This book broke my heart from the very beginning. On one side there is Victor. He is bullied at school by Bull and there is no love for him at home. His parents are horrible. They might be rich and provide for him, but he is completely alone. Then there is Bull. Bull's dad isn't in the picture, his mom is an alcoholic who literally made her child eat mouse crap when he was seven, and his grandfather beats the crap out of him all the time. On the same day, Victor tries to kill himself and Bull tries to kill his grandfather, landing them both in the suicidal psych ward in the hospital. Both boys are in so much pain and are so broken, each in their on way.

My main issue I had with Cracked was that from the description, I really thought that both Victor and Bull were going to bond. I thought that they were going to spill their hearts out to each other, but that did not happen. Bull didn't even talk about his life with the other teenagers in group therapy, and I was really hoping that he would.

The ending was very moving and filled with hope. Overall, I really enjoyed Cracked. It was a very quick read which flowed nicely.