These Gentle Wounds by Helene Dunbar

I'm pretty sure I received These Gentle Wounds as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I feel like I remember receiving this one as part of a big stack of books...it could've been my birthday too, now that I'm thinking about it. It's nice to have so many books to read that you can't remember where some of them came from.

Anyway, this novel made its way to my shelves in one way or another a few years ago. It has great reviews on Goodreads, so I thought it would be a nice way to hit my reading goal for the year - this is my 76th book read in 2017. I'm officially one book ahead of where I ended up last year, and December's not even over yet. Not too shabby.

The plot of These Gentle Wounds follows fifteen-year-old Gordie Allen. At the novel's start, Gordie is revealed to be struggling with PTSD in the wake of a terrible family tragedy that he experienced a few years prior. He is in a lot of pain and is plagued with flashbacks. He has to fight to control muscle twitches and deal with a lack of appetite, as well suffer through recurring nightmares. He is able to cope with the help of his older half-brother Kevin, who calms him down when he is having an episode and watches over him at school. They are very close, so Gordie doesn't even want to think about what will happen when Kevin goes off to college in a year.

As time moves forward, Gordie encounters new challenges in his sophomore year of high school. He meets a new girl in one of his classes named Sarah that he feels a strong connection with. Being with her helps him to feel safe and more normal, and he falls for her quickly. Before long, he's wrapped up in his first romantic relationship-- a turn of events which both excites and confuses him. He begins to feel some hope and happiness for the first time in a while.

This new beginning is jeopardized, however, when Gordie's biological father reappears and demands visitation rights. His father is abusive and incredibly cruel, and his presence threatens to undo the progress Gordie has made since the tragedy occurred. As he struggles to deal with seeing his father again, he must face some of his deepest fears, confront his difficult past, and learn how to advocate for himself and for others.

What These Gentle Wounds did very well was get inside the head of someone suffering from PTSD. Gordie's narration was genuine and well-written. I could feel his pain throughout my reading and sympathize with his issues. He is a character that you want to see succeed and face his demons, and it was very easy to root for him and become invested in the plot. His story gave me greater insight into what those suffering from PTSD have to deal with.

Gordie's relationship with his brother Kevin was another high point in the novel. It was nice to see such a strong and supportive familial bond between the two boys. Kevin wasn't perfect in his caretaking; he was prone to outbursts of intense anger and was struggling with his own difficult past while he was trying to look out for his brother. This made him feel realistic as well. Both boys were just trying to do the best they could in a screwed up world, which is a feeling most readers, including myself, can relate too.

I did have a few small issues with the book, one of which was Gordie's girlfriend, Sarah. While I thought their burgeoning relationship was very sweet, I felt like her endless patience and understanding for Gordie's issues was a bit unrealistic. She was too good at helping him feel comfortable with her. It felt like she was bringing the techniques of a therapist to her interactions with him instead of speaking to him like a teenage girl that just met him would. This is a minor criticism though, and it didn't really impact my overall enjoyment of the story. It was actually nice to sidestep the typical boyfriend/girlfriend drama that often fills the pages of young adult fiction.

Another issue I had was that the plot moved a bit slowly at times. While this was a short novel, it didn't go by quickly for me. I kept getting distracted and taking breaks from it. I never felt like the story was weak or boring, but it wasn't always as engaging as I would have liked.

However, between its likeable protagonist and its realistic look at PTSD, I ended up enjoying These Gentle Wounds. While this didn't capture my interest as much as my favorites in this genre, I still thought it was a great read and a worthy choice to round out my goal of reading 76 books this year. This is one novel that I won't hesitate to recommend for my students that enjoy realistic fiction.


Total Books Read in 2017: 76