Customer Reviews

Skin

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Adrianne Vrettos newest and first novel, Skin, is based on a boy's perspective in his life. The main character, fourteen year-old Donnie, tells us his experiences in life and what are the causes and effects of them. As he struggles to save his sister, sixteen year-old Karen, from dying of a serious case of anorexia, he is becoming more isolated from the world. He is so isolated that he has no friends whatsoever. With Donnie's parents arguing, his sister dying, and him becoming more isolated, what can get any worse?
Despite the fact that this is Ms. Vrettos' first novel, her writing is very fluent. Her writing grabs you, not only as a reader, but also because she puts you in the book as a character. It's as if you're in the book and you don't want to get out until it ends. In my opinion, this she has a great writing style. This is the type of book that I would rate 5 stars.

Donnie feels himself disappearing as his sister starves herself to death. Donnie and big sister, Karen, are both sick, literally, of their parents fighting. We find out mid-way through the book that Donnie is on some kind of medication, and Karen doesn't like to eat . . . ever. But this books is not really about anorexia. It's part of the story, but there is not the usual focus that an anorexia book would have with lots of details about how a person with an eating disorder would think, act, and feel, like there is in say The Best Little Girl in the World by Levenkron.

Instead, this is told through Donnie's eyes, and we see snippets of Donnie's life. The story is not told in a continuous way. There are often large gaps between chapters. This allows the reader to get a wide lens view of what happens to this family. This story is really about a little boy with no one that sees him. His parents fight with each other and pick on Karen about her eating. Donnie gets a scrap of attention when he is running a fever. But most of the time, he feels invisible. He turns it into a game where he tries to make sure no one speaks to him at school. Everyone complies, except for a new set of twins from his school who insist on saying hi to him at least once a day.

As Karen's body disappears and becomes just skin, Donnie feels himself disappearing into her disease.

SKIN
Skin is a dark story about a fourteen year old boy named Donnie. Donnie's life is falling apart. His parents fight everyday, the girl he likes hates him, he doesn't have any friends, and his sister won't eat. All Donnie wants to do, is to be noticed, he wants his parents to pay attention to him for once, instead of his anorexic sister Karen. Karen always has the spotlight because, she has no fears whatsoever. Karen isn't afraid of cussing in front of her parents or at her parents, or running away or getting in trouble. Donnie wants to help his sister eat. He sneaks protein powder into her water when she's not looking. Karen still doesn't get any healthier or wider. Donnie is now the outcast at school. He goes through classes and the hallways, like an invisible man. Donnie doesn't notice anybody, and nobody notices him. Donnie just wants a good life. He wants his parents to stay together, and he wants Amanda to be his girlfriend, he wants friends that won't ditch him in the cafeteria. He wants his sister to be healthy. Amanda doesn't like Donnie, because he started a nasty rumor about her and himself. It made Amanda so embarrassed that she never wanted to talk to Donnie again. Even though she did talk to him soon enough. In the end, Karen isn't what you would exactly call healthy. But, Donnie did make new friends. He forgot all about his family issues and focused on what really mattered. His future. "Skin," can actually teach you a lesson on life. Be thankful for what you have and what wonderful things have happened to you. Don't think about the negative. Donnie thought about the negative, and every time, he felt worse and worse. Donnie's life was a mess. But once he started thinking of the positive, he could think clearly and fix his problems.

Fourteen year-old Donnie is fairly invisible. He and his sister Karen escape during their parents' blow-out screaming matches. When Karen is with her best friend Amanda, Donnie becomes invisible to them.

Donnie had two best friends last year. Chris and Bean are "best friends with each other, and I'm best friends with the two of them at the same time. Not individually, though, because they already have each other." This year, however, Chris and Bean decided to move up in the pecking order, which necessitates having someone like Donnie below them to cement their status.

Skin is an unflinchingly honest look at family dynamics and formative friendships. Dad never had a father of his own, so parenting is shaky territory. Mom is desperately concerned with saving her marriage and getting her teen daughter to eat. Karen creates a web of lies about her health, always full of excuses about how she just ate at Amanda's or doesn't feel up to having food right now. Karen's weight is ready fodder for arguments between Mom and Dad.

All od these tensions render Donnie, our narrator, to the the background at home, at school, and in life. Skin is a story of survival. How much can one teen absorb before he stands up to shake the world up?

"These are the things you think when you come home to find out that your sister has starved herself to death and you have dropped to your knees to revive her." This is the first yet, chilling line that begins Donnie's story in this debut novel, Skin. Fourteen-year-old Donnie has just begun high school, which hasn't been going well. He has almost completely "disappeared." His older sister, Karen is the only person he could count on. Now that she is ill due to an eating disorder, Donnie must decide whether to stay "inside" or take action and help Karen.
This is all ready a totally awesome book. It is a better alternative to the normal "girl view". Seeing Karen through Donnies eyes makes him think inspiring, tearful, and painfully honest. We recommend this book to both genders. It gives a new perspective on an eating disorder and how bad it can be. This book can teach us how to be ourselves and try how not to let anything in our way.

-Jessica Vargas and Marissa Egipciaco

Skin is an excellent book by a young, new, and talented author. Her name is Adrienne Maria Vrettos. Skin is her first novel. This book is about a family's bond together and how they try to maintain that bond after Karen, the daughter, gets anorexia. Little Donnie, the brother, tells his story and how this affects him. "My sister looks like she could fold in a paper cup." Do not belittle this book! It may seem like an average book, but once you read the first chapter, there is a high possibility that you would want to read the whole thing.
Skin is a definite 10 out of 10. I really enjoyed this book because it shows the life and struggles of one girl, and how this fatal disease affects the family, especially the brother. There are also many situations that you might have been through, so you can relate to the characters in the book. You should be able to learn to love, hate, trust, and even honor the characters by the end of the book. I know this because it happened to me.

Julissa Ann Umhaefer
May 15, 2006
Skin, Adrienne Maria Vrettos
ISBN 978-1-4169-0655-1

Lost in the world of pain, only to find the result is due to family problems? When the only thing you can control is what you east and don't eat. Would you go to the extent of developing an eating disorder, eventually resulting to death, just to get the feeling of control? Would seeing the skin on your bones shrink to the point that you can be folded into a paper cup stop you from neglecting your body from food?
This is the case of Karen, a young teenager who faces the difficulties common to many teenagers. Going through the struggles along with her younger brother, the narrator of this novel, and her dysfunctional parents, Karen finds that the only way out is to develop an eating disorder. Karen goes on with life with the two people that understand her. The two people are her younger brother, Donnie, and best friend, Amanda. Having these two people understand seems like it would be enough, but for Karen its not.
As she grows weaker and her skin lies on her bones, she continues to rebel against the ones that love her most. Her brother, Donnie, has a hard time handling all that is happening and we are taken on a journey of his thoughts. We are able to experience this horrid situation through the eyes of her younger brother and are able to see how hard it is to see the one you love most starve to death.
Adrienne Vrettos has a unique writing style that draws the reader in. She creates a place that makes the reader hungry to continue to read her novel. Sharing laughs, tears, and heartache with the characters feel all that they do. As she goes on throughout the story she gives you the opportunity to create a bond with the characters, almost making you feel as though you are part of the story and are going through the experiences along with Karen, Donnie, and Amanda.

I am a nurse who has worked with anorexia in the past. This book brought me back to those days and how the diease could tear apart families. It was well writtien and it gave the point of view of others in the family who also were affected by it all.
Great job!!!

The book Skin is about a family who is going through problems. The story is told from a boys perspective who's name is Donnie. He describes what the situation in his household is like. On top of his parents fighting and his dad moving out, his sister, Karen is developing an eating disorder. Donnie tries to stop her but she won't listen to anyone.
The author wants to get the message across that no family is perfect. She does a good job delivering that because his family seems like the average family, but even they have their problems too. The book is good if you want a quick and easy read. The vocabulary isn't very challenging at any points, but it still gives a lot of detail. The book reminds me of other stories, movies and books that are out there
and has a bit of a cliche meaning to it, but it has a good message it's portraying and is an interesting read. I think it gets quite graphic at some parts and it goes into excessive detail that you can feel everything he is describing. I feel like this is a good book to write a review for because it might be more appealing to a certain crowd, and not others. I think this book is geared more towards female teens because they can relate to it more then anyone. Also, for any teenage girl out there, it is really easy to become self-consious about your body and now is the time we are most concerned about our image. Over all, I would recommend this book, especially for anyone that may know someone who is going through this situation. You may be able to help.

We know up front the outcome of the story, but it still doesn't stop us for shouting aloud at the characters as we read. The book held my interest, but it was frustrating that the parents' flaws were too tough to overcome and that the children bore the brunt of the emotional upheaval as it happened. Wanting to become invisible isn't a good feeling and it pretty well defines how the son feels.