Item: Paint My Body Red
Rating: 5
Author: Krystianna Pietrzak

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Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling | Review

Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling
Published by Entangled Teen on November 2, 2015
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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Sometimes you have to lose everything to find where you truly belong.

Eighteen-year-old Paige Mason’s problems aren’t ordinary. Not anymore.

After the cluster of suicides at her Silicon Valley high school, everything changed. All her bright plans of attending a fancy private college, finding a solid group of girlfriends, falling in love...everything faded to ashes.

In order to feel something in the face of numb, dulling pain, she made bad choices. Dangerous choices. And now that she's been shipped back to her sick father’s dilapidated Wyoming ranch, Paige has a choice. Piece together the jagged edges of her past, or give up a potentially incredible future with Jake, the cowboy she can’t stay away from no matter how hard she tries...

(Last Updated On: June 10, 2022)

I went into Paint My Body Red by Heidi R Kling, only knowing that it had something to do with suicide. Other than that, I knew absolutely nothing. I think that’s partly why I enjoyed the book so much – I really didn’t know that much at all when I first picked it up, and wow, did it surprise me.

Summary of Paint My Body Red by Heidi R Kling

The story follows a girl named Paige who lives in California. In her town, teenagers have been mysteriously killing themselves by standing in the way of a train, though nobody knows exactly why.

However, it’s strange that so many people are committing suicide at the same time in the same way at the same exact place. For that reason, Paige’s mother sends Paige away to spend time in Wyoming with her sick father.

She’s not looking forward to it all; she just wants to go to Wesleyan and can’t wait for summer to be over. In Wyoming, she finds that her father is way sicker than she thought. She also meets a boy named Jake, who has been helping her father a lot.

Characters in Paint My Body Red

Paige was a very interesting character. I felt horrible for her as I learned more of her story, which is told throughout the pages. She’s been through a lot and is still very strong, considering what she has had to endure. It’s rather scary.

I’m glad that she met Jake. I loved their relationship; the two of them were great. Jake really helped Paige loosen up a bit which was nice to see. I know that she liked it too.

My Final Thoughts

I love the way that this story was told, and I feel that it’s worth mentioning. Paige loves writing and is actually going to college for creative writing. She keeps a journal in which she’s been trying to tell her story of what she’s been through.

The reader actually gets to read about the past through entries titled “then,” which are scattered throughout the “now” story. Sometimes I thought that I liked the “then” parts better, though the more I read, the more I knew that I honestly loved the “now” parts as well.

I’ve always been a sucker for books that are told in different tenses throughout. It really lets the reader get a feel for how things used to be versus how things are, which overall helps with the storytelling and even the worldbuilding. It was one of my favorite parts of this read.

That’s why Paint My Body Red by Heidi R Kling is an all-around amazing book that I won’t cease recommending. Note that because of the subject matter of this book, you should decide whether it’s something you can read!

Notable Quotes:

“What made the difference between choosing to die and deciding to live? Was it the weight of sadness that buckled them over and dragged them away from all sane, rational thoughts with an anchor of hopelessness so intense they just gave up fighting?”

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