Review: Heart on a Chain

Title:  Heart on a Chain
Author:  Cindy C. Bennett
Genre:  Young adult; Chick Lit; Drama; Romance
Publisher:  CreateSpace
Release date:  January 15, 2011
File Size/Pages:  469 kb/311 pgs
Source:  Gift from Nay
Challenge(s):  eBook Challenge; A-Z Challenge; Chick Lit Challenge

My Rating:  5/5

Summary:  17-year-old Kate has lived her whole life in abject poverty, with an alcoholic father and drug-addicted mother, who severely abuses Kate. At school, her second-hand clothing marks her as a target. Her refusal to stand up for herself makes her the recipient of her classmates taunts and bullying. That is, until Henry returns.  Henry Jamison moved away six years earlier, just as he and Kate had begun to develop feelings for one another. He returns to find the bright, funny, outgoing girl he had known now timidly hiding in corners, barely speaking to anyone around her, suspicious of even him.  Kate can't figure out what game Henry is playing with her - for surely it is a game. What else would the gorgeous, popular boy from her past want with her?  Kate finally decides to trust Henry's intentions, opening her heart to him. Just when it seems he might be genuine in his friendship, tragedy strikes, threatening everything Kate has worked so hard to gain. Can Henry help her to overcome this new devastation, or will it tear them apart forever?

Review:  I received this book as gift from my baby sister, Nay, and I absolutely enjoyed it!!!  "Heart on a Chain" is unlike any book I've ever read before in my entire life, that's not a bad thing though.  The main character, Kathryn Mosley,  has literally been through it all; with dealing with a mother who is addicted to pills and extremely abusive, and with a father who is an alcoholic, she has definitely had to grow up fast.  The story begins with us learning the history of Kate and Henry Jamison; Henry Jamison is a guy that Kate had grew up with.  When they confess their feelings for one another, shortly after, Henry moves away.  Six years later, Henry has moved back into town and they fun, outgoing Kate he had left behind, is now shy, distant, and talks to no one.  Although the characters weren't aware of it, the readers were definitely aware of Kathryn's home life, and you felt sorry for her; she had to deal with the abuse from her mother, and the bullying at school.  After realizing that Henry is not like the other students, and his motives are genuine, she starts to trust him more than she has ever trusted anyone else in her entire life.  In the end, things take a MAJOR turn in Kathryn's life that, in my opinion, NONE of the readers will expect.  I absolutely loved this book; again, like I said, I've never read any other books like that in my entire life.  To me, this book was very powerful; at times, I felt myself having to pause because the abuse was ridiculous, and the sad thing about it is that they have people out their whose lives are just like Kathryn Mosley's life…maybe not to a T, but close enough.  I love the fact that Henry was her best friend and saw in her what no one (not even herself) could see.  It did seem kind of odd to me how Henry was just sort of clinging to her; I get that they were crazy about each other, and that Henry was probably a light at the end of a tunnel that Kate had been waiting for, but it just seemed to be a bit much, but it didn't take away from the story…it just simply gave it more meaning to the theme of "you never forget your first love".   I did find it weird that the school never investigated the abuse…I understand that Kate wasn't very vocal about what was going on, but I just thought that when someone shows up to school with that many bruises that many time, the school would interfere.  "Heart on a Chain" was such a powerful book; I think that it should be one of those books that you are required to read in school growing up, because it was just that great and it teaches you about the abuse that some people have to deal with.  I read that the author, Cindy C. Bennett, changed the cover of the book because people were saying that they almost didn't read the book because of the cover, but I loved the old cover for this book; to me, it kind of matched the story with the heart chain, and the far away shot of Kathryn, as opposed to the up close shot on the new cover, because we know from the story that Kate isn't a person who likes to be seen.  Personally, I like the first cover, but neither of the covers take away from how great the story was.  It just goes to show you that you should never judge a book by its cover, because you might miss out on a really good story.  I would recommend this book to all people of all ages:  men, women, high school students, junior high students, people who bullies people, and people who have been or is being bullied; for bullies, I think this book would shed some light on what people may go through that bullies tend to bully…I hope it would minimize bullying.  For people who is being bullied, I think that this story can show them that there is hope out there, or it could be an even bigger picture; for example, if someone is going through the exact same thing that Kate is going through at home, it may give them the courage to speak up and get help. 

Original cover for book