Review: Cracked by K.M. Walton

Summary: 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.

Kim's Review: Cracked is told from two POVs - Victor, a boy who is bullied at school and has parents who don't care about him, and Bull, the boy who bullies Victor. I loved reading from the bully's point of view, getting more insight to his character, and seeing how his home life leads to him bullying Victor. 

In this book, both of the characters end up in a psychiatric ward - and are roommates. Through the five days they spend together there, they learn more about each other and discover that they both have their own issues at home.

K.M. Walton does an amazing job at making the plot realistic, especially at the end. Not everything is happily ever after, and I liked that. The reason this book earned only four stars instead of five was because I feel like Walton could have done a better job at writing the characters's emotions about their suicide attempt/accidents, because a lot of the time it seems like they (mostly Victor) was only concerned with their love interests and not what had happened to them.

Unless you are triggered by suicide or abuse, I would recommend this book. It's a pretty quick read - I finished it in a few hours - and offers insight into not only the victims but also the bullies themselves.