Customer Reviews

Walking on Broken Glass

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Walking on Broken Glass was incredible. I haven't reviewed such an honest and insightful novel in years. Having worked in several rehabs in the past I can attest to the fact that this author has done her research. She has masterfully captured the heart of someone who has had so much pain in her life that she did whatever was necessary to deaden the pain. Without the Lord, however, that usually ends up manifested in self-destructive behavior, such as addiction. I loved how the author showed clearly how families directly influence behavior. If a parent was withdrawn, people often marry a person who is equally withdrawn or passive. It's not what they want, but it's all they know.

I loved that this book gave Leah a voice and she was able to discover who she was underneath her various roles and her stuffed pain. The reader discovers her heart right along with her. And the responses she feels to those revelations is so genuine. There is no fluffy Christian-sounding denial here. While Jesus heals, this story shows that we must work at recovery (of any sort) and that faith is there to gives us legs to stand on, but we must still take each step. I loved that about this book. I also loved the issues between her and her husband. I've met so many women who have just submitted to "get it over with" and then they wonder why they despise their spouse when the layer of numbing addiction is removed.

This novel impressed me so much that it is making my best of 2010 fiction list. More Christian fiction should be this real. The faith journey was perfectly done and the ending made sense. I'd love to see a sequel to this story, but if there isn't one, I'm still satisfied. I am definitely paying attention when this author has new releases and I'm going to review each title as they come out. Walking on Broken Glass is highly recommended, especially for readers who know people who are struggling with addiction and want to understand them better.

Have you ever read a book that felt like it had been written just for you? How about one that seemed as if it had been written about you? Until recently, I hadn't. After reading Walking on Broken Glass, the debut novel by Christa Allan, I can't say that anymore.
On the surface, the story is nothing like my life. Leah Thornton has spent her life turning to alcohol, rather than facing the problems in her life. The death of her infant daughter leads her to depend more and more on beer, wine, and liquor to get through a day. Her best friend Molly and an interesting encounter with frozen apple juice force Leah to face that alcohol isn't covering up her problems, it is intensifying them. It has become her problem.
As Leah enters rehab and travels toward a life of sobriety, she learns more about herself. She's not perfect, with or without a drink in hand, and life is not perfect. Along the way, she realizes that she needs a relationship with God in order to be whole. Even with Him, her life still isn't going to be perfect, but for the first time in a very long time Leah has hope.
Leah's struggles made me face something inside of me. My daughter died before having a chance to live. I handled her death a lot like Leah and the others she met during rehab handled the tough times in their lives. I didn't drown out the pain of my miscarriage with alcohol or cocaine or pot. My drug of choice was food. I didn't really realize that until I read this--that food has become a bit of an addiction for me. Ten days ago we "celebrated" the fifth anniversary of Rylee's passing. I didn't curl up in a ball and cry all day as I had often done in the past. I didn't even have to sit and cuddle with the Care Bear we bought as a reminder. I thought that meant I was doing a good job of moving on with my life. Who knows? Maybe I am. But the fact that every thought of her makes me want to stuff something into my mouth makes me wonder.
And it makes me not want to see my life and my marriage become as out of control as Leah's.
Through this book, Allan gives a deep, realistic look into addictions. Her descriptions of Brookforest are vivid. I've never been in rehab myself, but I could see this place in my mind, could smell the stale cigarette smoke in the air, could feel the vinyl of the chairs. More than once, the situations her characters describe brought me to tears.
To me, the measure of a good book is that it makes the reader feel. Walking on Broken Glass is definitely a good book.

I just finished "Walking on Broken Glass" and enjoyed it immensely. It took me a little while to get into the book, because the main character, Leah, is an alcoholic who has decided to admit herself to rehab. I wasn't sure I could relate. But pretty quickly I began to relate to Leah in terms of her struggle to build balanced relationships with friends and family; her questioning of God and why He let's bad things happen; and the ongoing process of learning who she is.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I also really liked the way this book ends. It's a good ending, it just doesn't tie everything up in a neat package. You know, like life!

Leah Thornton is not your average Christian-fiction protagonist. She's obsessed with brand names, social status, and, well, alcohol. She's shelved God as a subject for a later date. Even when her best friend calls her on her drinking and she checks herself into rehab, Leah remains slow to change and quick to fire sarcasm. Yet her chilly shell protects layers of vulnerability that, in this worthwhile debut novel, author Christa Allan peels away gradually and believably.

A debut is entitled to a few flaws, and this one does have a few. While some of the secondary characters are well developed (Carl, Bob, Theresa, Annie), I never really remembered others as soon as they left the page (Jan, Rebecca, Matthew, Ron--okay, maybe it's just the rehab staff that blurred together for me). Maybe there were simply too *many* minor characters. Also, verb tense occasionally feels off. I'm guessing the first draft was written in present tense and, in the editing to past tense, some "being" verbs were overlooked. Finally, Ms. Allan has a maddening tendency toward really-really-short and/or dangling scenes. Several times, a scene ends on a firecracker line of dialogue--an "I can't believe he said that!" moment--and then the narrative picks up hours *after* Leah's reaction. We discover her response as she's telling someone else about the rest of her evening. Argh, no! Show the action as it happens!

On the whole, though, the flaws don't detract from this quietly probing story of one woman's journey into the depths of herself. Leah's wounds and losses don't miraculously repair themselves in the final five pages. In fact, her healing has only started as her story ends; but she has found the path to a whole self and to God. I found myself caring about Leah, even about her husband Carl. Controlling and selfish as he is, he still seems potentially redeemable, simply never forced to grow up. If the author writes a sequel, I'll read it. I'd love to know if Carl and Leah will rebuild their marriage-house on the Rock of Christ, or if Leah will have to find courage to leave.

If you've read enough "finding God means finding a perfect life!" fiction to last two lifetimes, give this book a try. It smashes Christian fiction's plot and character stereotypes, and it introduces an endearing protagonist with a well defined narrative voice.

Wow. First, I want to say I would have given this 5 stars, but the ending felt incomplete. The rest of the book was so deeply emotional and raw, the ending just didn't complete the story.

I loved it, though. I felt like I knew Leah. I definitely know I knew Carl, only not as nice. Leah's journey had me laughing at her deadpan humor and crying at her weak moments. I hate to say it, but, for most of the book, I wanted to punch Carl.

Character development in the story was really good.

The author managed to reveal that everyone is broken. Only God can fix broken, but He won't do it without your cooperation.

Wonder if Ms. Allen has enough emotional energy and creativity to write a sequel?

Although this book was a quick read, I found that the "work" of rehab was really glossed over. Leah very easily accepts her need to go to rehab, and seemingly just sort of lives there without doing anything. There is very little therapy in rehab according to this book. It was all a little too easy. There seemed to be a lot more story that could have been fleshed out. I kept waiting for it to get better, and then it just ended.

This book just seemed...glib. I enjoyed the narration and the attention to detail, along with some good use of metaphor, but overall this book just skimmed the surface of everything. I suppose the best thing I can say about it is that the ending was like the beginning, a vague attempt at melodrama that just fell flat for what seems to be a total lack of effort.

Whether tragedy, angst, or a breakdown, Southern women know how to survive with panache. Christa Allan infuses that Southern charisma into her writing, giving us a captivating read. Alcoholism is a dark subject, yet Allan brings it right up to the very edge, and then pulls us back into the light with Leah's own brand of humor. Never depressing, Walking on Broken Glass is definitely a page-turner with all the emotions an alcoholic experiences. I give it a high recommendation.

Summary:
Leah realizes she is an alcoholic while freaking out about the most cost-worthy brand of frozen apple juice to buy. The book covers her brief stint in rehab, problems with her husband and dealing with loss.

Review (some spoilers)
Leah's stint in rehab and recovery has zero believability.

The story had no ending. It just stops with no resolution whatsoever. Even a two page epilogue would have helped. Leah is not your usual alcoholic. She's not very likable. I didn't feel sorry for her until it's mentioned that she found her baby dead in the crib. Her husband forces her into sex, which feeds her alcoholism. It's okay, but not great. Too much goes on off-screen.

I tried like mad to continue after chapter 6, but just couldn't. For me, this book dragged. The characters were of little interest, and I've seen enough of rehab in society to read through more. Overall, neither the plot nor characters hooked me in or motivated me to finish.

I was touched by the author's dedication to her grand child and wondered what other parallels were in the book besides the loss of a baby.

Hope Amazon finds this opinion long enough to publish. Sometimes they do not; yet, I find other reviews that are single sentences and they were posted despite brevity. Who knows?