Book Review: Empty - K.M. Walton

Title: Empty

Author: K.M. Walton

Release Date: January 1st 2013

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Source: Edelweiss

Goodreads

Dell is used to disappointment. Ever since her dad left, it’s been one letdown after another. But no one—not even her best friend—gets all the pain she’s going through. So Dell hides behind self-deprecating jokes and forced smiles.

Then the one person she trusts betrays her. Dell is beyond devastated. Without anyone to turn to for comfort, her depression and self-loathing spin out of control. But just how far will she go to make all of the heartbreak and name-calling stop?

Let me tell you one thing about this book: it is not about hope or enlightening. Not even a tad bit. It aims - at least I think it does - to grab the reader's heart and plug in a wire to connect with it, to unmask Dell's disappointments hidden behind self-deprecation and nonchalance. Unfortunately, it failed to make that connection with me.

But that's not to say Empty was a failure. The prose was good, oozing with darkness and depression, befitting of Dell's emotional and disturbing life. The reason why it didn't affect me as much as I wanted it to was because, thankfully, my life's been very far from that. My parents didn't get a divorce, I didn't realize my dad hadn't really loved me, my mom has never been too wrecked to be a mother, my best friend is not becoming a stranger, and I am not filling any internal void with food. 

So instead of making me sad, Empty served as an eye-opener. It told me to be more appreciative and thankful for what I have, and sorry for even the little name-calling that I did back in high school. But even with Dell's hopelessness, her story fills one with anticipation for better things and strength to work towards those goals.

Anyway, that ending was totally unexpected. I kept eyeing the page number, willing for there to be more, chanting "someone or something stop her" in my head. My wish ended up being unfulfilled, but that way, the story became just so much more real.

MY FAVORITE PART was Dell's talent show performance. Let it all out, girl.

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)