Cut

by Patricia McCormick

While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

• ISBN10: 0756913578
• ISBN13: 9780756913571
• Publish Date: 1 January 2002 (first published 1 November 2000)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Perfection Learning
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amanda]

Actual rating: 3.5

This review originally appeared as a guest review on Smash Attack Reads!: http://www.smashattackreads.com/2011/11/guest-review-cut-by-patricia-mccormick.html

I was torn on how to rate Cut. When it comes to tackling the issue of cutting and what it entails, I thought that Cut fell in the 4 star range (8 on my scale). But Cut is also a very short book, and the ending felt rushed and much too neat, which I am not sure I liked given the nature of the issue, and put me in the 3 star range (6 on my scale). I ended up settling in the middle.

Cut launches us into Callie’s story without much warning or background on why she is at Sea Pines. Callie narrates, but it alternates between past and present with only the tense change to clue us in (side note: I noticed some general formatting issues in the ebook, so I’m not sure if the paperback would be different in this regard). Callie also refers to her therapist/psychologist as “you” and never by name. These elements combined could turn off some people. I found them intriguing rather than distracting.

Though there are other characters at the “residential treatment factory,” they are often difficult to keep straight during the story, especially at the beginning. It was moderately frustrating, but given how Callie interacts (or doesn’t interact) with them for a good portion of the book, it makes sense. I don’t have much experience with the kinds of issues the girls struggled with, but they seemed real enough to me once I had them mostly sorted out. And though the girls’ problems were different, it appeared as though many of the underlying causes were similar.

As Callie begins to reveal her story, it is both disheartening and sad. The connections between Callie’s story and how it relates to her cutting are implied rather than ever stated until the very end. One of the few grips I have with this story is that people who have little understanding of cutting may not make these connections and become frustrated with the story. The ending, though positive, felt too easy for me. Bottom line: Cut is an interesting look into world of cutting, though it is not suited for those searching for an introduction to cutting.