Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Bruised by Sarah Skilton
Series: N/A
Source: Won
Publisher: Amulet
Publication Date: March 5, 2013

When Imogen, a sixteen-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do, freezes during a holdup at a local diner, the gunman is shot and killed by the police, and she blames herself for his death. Before the shooting, she believed that her black belt made her stronger than everyone else -- more responsible, more capable. But now her sense of self has been challenged and she must rebuild her life, a process that includes redefining her relationship with her family and navigating first love with the boy who was at the diner with her during the shootout. With action, romance, and a complex heroine, Bruised introduces a vibrant new voice to the young adult world -- full of dark humor and hard truths.

By the time my brother arrives, he can't get to me.

For me, Bruised was an interesting change from my normal reads. The only reason that I read it was because I got it from the SARC. I would have missed out on a fantastic book, to tell you the truth. It was nothing like what I expected. The synopsis made it sound fairly boring, but there was not one dull moment!

The very first scene was the scene. And I don't say that lightly. I loved the mystery behind the shooting-- Imogen is blocking it from her mind, and I really wanted to know what happened. It all unfolds beautifully towards the end, I must say.

Actually, a lot of things unfolded beautifully towards the end.

But let's talk about the beginning. The beginning was intense, y'all. We witness a shooting, then we witness life after a shooting for a black belt. The guilt that Imogen felt was so real and sad that I could imagine why she felt that way.

I loved Imogen, I really did! When we first met her, I feel like her spirit was crushed. But over the course of the story, she starts to really gain it back-- I love that kind of development. It felt so real and natural, but I wish that she hadn't been so hard on herself. I also wish that she hadn't been so hard on Ricky.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Ricky! Sometimes he said or did something that was a little off-color, but he made a great friend, and he was just so sweet and nice. I don't think that I could stress enough about his perfect mix of bad-boy and sweet-heart. He was such a gentleman!

All in all, Bruised was a fantastic read about putting yourself back together after tragedy.