Splintered people, Slowly piecing, Their lives together...

• ASIN: ‎ B09SR5X3GK
• Publisher: ‎ Pen It! Publications, LLC (16 Feb. 2022)
• Language: ‎ English
• Print length: ‎ 297 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN: ‎ 1639840524
• Genre: YA Fiction About Self Harm

The BookViral Review:

Incredibly powerful, instantly compelling and often heart-breaking, Belko hasn’t picked an easy subject on which to write but her willingness to steer away from a prescriptive approach means she reaches her readers on a powerful emotional level.

The result is a read that not only entertains but is insightful and encourages much in the way of reflection whilst leaving us with a degree of empathy and understanding we might not have otherwise embraced.

Through teen-speak and acerbic observation, Belko captures a pivotal period in Xander’s life and then mirrors it with a poetic perspective from Grace which further reinforces the often unscripted progression of choices, confrontations and events in a teenager’s life that leads to self-harm.

Belko doesn’t go for shock value but by switching between perspectives it feels like real life unfolding before our eyes. Comfortably rising above dysfunctional-family-drama clichés, thanks to the truthfulness of Belko’s narrative, to smash through our defences.

On this level, her novel is an uncompromising examination of controversial subject matter, written with tenderness and undeniable insight as she reveals layer after layer of Grace’s and Xander’s thoughts and reflections. The plotting is tightly wound, but rather than get bogged down in extraneous detail she takes us through a kinetic series of escalating events whilst ramping up momentum towards what proves to be a perfectly pitched and highly thought-provoking ending.

An undeniably powerful debut from Belko, Perchance to Dream is highly recommended.