Books like Damage

I absolutely adore Eve Ainsworth’s work because she writes about hard-hitting subjects. I was excited to get my hands on it. With Damage Eve explores the main protagonist’s slide into self-harm.Gabi, the main protagonist, is suffering from grief after the loss of her grandfather. Gabi’s home life is a bit of a mess. Her parents own a pub and don’t seem to have much time for her. Her relationship with her mother is strained. Gabi begins to self-harm as a release from the pain that she’s feeling inside. Cutting herself gives Gabi short relief from her struggles. Gabi knows she shouldn’t be hurting herself, but can’t help it.I thought this book was fascinating because as a reader, we got to see Gabi’s slide into self-harm. It didn’t start with self-harm, we saw the spiral. It certainly made me understand why Gabi felt like there was no way out. As a reader, we don’t have to work out Gabi’s reasons, it is made clear.This book is intriguing to read because it’s not just Gabi that’s ‘damaged’. Almost every single character is flawed in some way. They all have their own issues and whilst not all of them are explored or resolved, it makes every character inherently human.I don’t think this is the best book on characters that self-harm, but it is still a decent read and it doesn’t take long to read at all! It’s worth picking it up.