The Merciful Scar, by Rebecca St. James and Nancy Rue

The Merciful Scar, by Rebecca St. James & Nancy Rue

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars











Goodreads Summary: "Kirsten has spent her life trying to forget. But mercy begs her to remember.

When she was in high school, a terrible accident fractured her family, and the only relief Kirsten could find was carving tiny lines into her skin, burying her pain in her flesh. The pain she caused herself was neat and manageable compared to the emotional pain that raged inside.

She was coping. Or so she thought.

But then, eight years later, on the night she expects her long-time boyfriend to propose, Kirsten learns he's been secretly seeing her best friend. Desperate to escape her feelings, she reaches for the one thing that gives her a sense of control in the midst of chaos.

But this time the cut isn't so tiny, and it lands her in the psych hospital. Within hours of being there she knows she can't stay--she isn't crazy, after all. But she can't go back to the life she knew before either.

So when her pastor mentions a treatment program on a working ranch, Kirsten decides to take him up on the offer and get away from it all. But the one thing she can't escape is herself--and her shame.

The ranch is home to a motley crew, each with a lesson to teach. Ever so slowly, Kirsten opens herself to embrace healing--even the scarred places that hurt the most. Mercy begs her to remember the past . . . showing her there's nothing that cannot be redeemed."

Review:

• Suicide is a hard concept to write about, but authors usually do an amazing job on writing them. I feel like this book was very vague. It needed something more, more tragedy and romance. This whole church program was kind of ironic, and I wish that it was tragic in another way.
• This book was very slow paced. Not much happened until the late middle. And then it got boring for the rest of the book. I hated the ending.
• The only thing that I actually liked was the main protagonist. Kirsten was very self-conscious and I her thinking, even though she didn't have a positive attitude 24/7. 
• I wouldn't recommend this book. If you're looking for a tragic book, read The Program by Suzanne Young.