Reviewed by Lucero Ortiz

Willow is a novel that is sure to hit a nerve.  It’s told from Willow’s perspective.  Everything starts when her parents died in a car accident while she was driving.  Refusing to cope with her new reality and the emotional pait it was causing her, Willow finds a way to numb the pain – by cutting herself.  She believes that by inflicting physical pain in her body that life will be more bearable without her parents.  Willow holds herselft accountable for her parent’s death which leads her to “punish” herself.  Then she meets a boy named Guy who is as sensitive and complicated as she is.  When Guy finds out Willow’s “pain killer”, he works to pull her out of the solitary life she’d created for herselft.  With him Willow live a potentially life changing relationship…”It’s hard to keep a secret when it’s written all over your body.”

If you enjoy this novel, I’m sure you’ll like a short story called “Cut” by Patricia McCormick.