• About Us
    • Disclaimer and Policies
  • Giveaways
  • Features
    • Pre-Order Deal Incentives!
    • Author Talk Podcasts
    • Flashback Friday
    • Whadda YA Know Wednesday

Fiction Fare

  • Banners
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us

REVIEW: Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir

October 2, 2014 by Jaime Leave a Comment

BLEED LIKE ME
By: Christa Desir
Publication Date:  October 7, 2014
Bleed Like Me
From the author of Fault Line comes an edgy and heartbreaking novel about two self-destructive teens in a Sid and Nancy-like romance full of passion, chaos, and dyed hair.


Seventeen-year-old Amelia Gannon (just “Gannon” to her friends) is invisible to almost everyone in her life. To her parents, to her teachers-even her best friend, who is more interested in bumming cigarettes than bonding. Some days the only way Gannon knows she is real is by carving bloody lines into the flesh of her stomach.

Then she meets Michael Brooks, and for the first time, she feels like she is being seen to the core of her being. Obnoxious, controlling, damaged, and addictive, he inserts himself into her life until all her scars are exposed. Each moment together is a passionate, painful relief.

But as the relationship deepens, Gannon starts to feel as if she’s standing at the foot of a dam about to burst. She’s given up everything and everyone in her life for him, but somehow nothing is enough for Brooks-until he poses the ultimate test.

Bleed Like Me is a piercing, intimate portrayal of the danger of a love so obsessive it becomes its own biggest threat.


About Christa
Christa DesirI’m a YA author who loves dark contemporary books. Novels include: FAULT LINE (Oct 2013), BLEED LIKE ME (Oct 2014), LOVE BLIND (fall 2015).

I am also a feminist, rape victim activist, and romance novel editor. I live outside of Chicago with my awesome husband and our three small children.





Erin’s Thoughts

Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir is one of those books that I couldn’t put down. If you have read Fault Line by Desir, you already know that she doesn’t pull any punches and this is especially true in her newest book. I found myself unable to put this down until I finished and while it moves quickly, it is in no way what I would consider a light and easy read but please don’t let that deter you from reading.

Gannon is seventeen and has spent the last five years being invisible. Ever since her parents adopted 3 Guatemalan boys, she has taken a back seat to everything going on in her family and the only way she could ever feel anything was when she was cutting herself. All of this changes the day she meets Brooks. He jumps into her life and slowly takes over everything because he sees past the walls she has put up to everyone around her. Eventually Gannon trades one addiction (cutting) for another (Brooks) and her life blows completely out of control.

I don’t know how she does it but Desir knows exactly how to create these beautifully damaged characters that make me want to crawl into the pages and just hug them until all their problems go away. In the case of these two characters, they become severely co-dependent and create a situation that as a reader, I knew wouldn’t end in a great way. Despite that, I was rooting for them the entire book because they both got dealt a really crappy hand in life and could have used something good to happen to them.

I loved the secondary characters in this story. Dennis and Ricardo were the family that Gannon didn’t really realize she had and they initially were a source of stabilization for her. Despite coming from a family that had a mom and a dad, Gannon never really had parents that had time to focus on her because of the situation with her brothers and I loved that Dennis and Ricardo never really gave up on her.

Ali was another character that made things interesting as I got the feeling she thought she and Gannon were closer friends that perhaps Gannon did…at least at first. She was always pushing Gannon to talk and share information whereas Gannon always held pieces of herself back.

The only people in Brooks’ life were those tied to him through his foster home or through drugs and it became very clear that other than Gannon, he didn’t really have anyone in his life he could lean on. This made it extra hard to see him struggle because his biggest fear was losing Gannon because he wouldn’t be able to make her happy.

As their relationship changes, it is very clear these two are obsessed with each other and it creates a very tenuous situation. I don’t think this book will be for everyone but if you feel like you can handle it, definitely check this one out when you can as it is well worth it. Kudos to Desir for taking several sensitive topics and creating a story that I was unable to put down and even now has me thinking of the characters. While this review probably does the story no justice, take my word for it. You should add this to your to read list if you haven’t already.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon Pulse for the review copy.

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: The Boleyn Reckoning (The Boleyn Trilogy #3) by Laura Andersen
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: Blackbird by Anna Carey
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
Fiction Fare
Review: The Witch’s Daughter
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Reviewed by Erin

About Jaime

Avid reader and book blogger, lover of music, writing, my kid & my cats. Master of sarcasm and snark and doing what makes me happy.

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • bloglovin
  • custom1
  • goodreads
  • rss
  • custom2

Get Our Updates!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

E-Book Deals!

E-Book Deals!


Author Talk

 photo author-talk_zpscsw6iy8a.png

Archives

What We’re Currently Reading

Jaime's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Trouble with Destiny
0 of 5 stars
The Trouble with Destiny
by Lauren Morrill
The Beginning of Everything
0 of 5 stars
The Beginning of Everything
by Robyn Schneider
Forget Tomorrow
0 of 5 stars
Forget Tomorrow
by Pintip Dunn

goodreads.com

Erin's bookshelf: currently-reading

Endure
0 of 5 stars
Endure
by Sara B. Larson
The Unquiet
0 of 5 stars
The Unquiet
by Mikaela Everett
Twist
0 of 5 stars
Twist
by Karen Akins

goodreads.com

Upcoming Reviews

None yet!

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Challenge Participant

Recent Comments

  • Lisa Loves Lit on Waiting on Wednesday: The Queens of Innis Lear By Tessa Gratton
  • bookbunny68 on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • Kristy Petree on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • MischaS_ on Cover Reveal: Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha
  • Maggie @ ReadingDiva's Blog on Blog Tour: Tempests & Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Recent Posts

  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • Flashback Friday: Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk
  • Our Top Ten Most Anticipated Books to Screen Podcast Episode
  • Flashback Friday: The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1) by Kerrigan Byrne
  • Podcast Episode 81: #FicNews–March 2021

Recent Reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George
Crown of Bones (Amassia #1) by A.K. Wilder
Courting Trouble (Goode Girls Romance #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Eventide by Sarah Goodman
All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Deadly Curious by Cindy Anstey
Review: Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
A Dark and Stormy Knight (Victorian Rebels #7) by Kerrigan Byrne

Copyright ©2010-2015 Fiction Fare « All Rights Reserved « Site Design by The CreativeB « Login