Book Review: Use Me by Elissa Schappell

 

I have a habit of walking into the University of Akron bookstore in-between my classes. I buy bottled water and browse through the bargain bookshelf for something interesting fewer than five dollars. Every once in a while I stumble upon something simply splendid, at which time I'm compelled to jump up and down with glee and promptly make my purchases. Recently I had the good luck to happen upon a splendid book called Use Me.

The title itself called out to me, I mean, how could a book called Use Me not be good? I was of course right. At first glance I thought the book was ten short stories, fully disconnected. I was quite surprised and pleased when Evie's and Mary Beth's stories collided and combined. I loved the way Elissa told the story. The first person viewpoint put you so close to the characters that you could almost smell their breath and feel their eyelashes brush your cheek.

The stories develop on their own and then merge into one poignant tale. The delightful writing almost masks the bitter truths they tell and the result is exhilarating. I can't think of any other book that brought tears to my eyes and, believe me, I've read way more than my share of books. The hard reality of the book actually quite shocked me as I expected it to be more Bridget Jones, Diary-esque. I like being surprised though and quite enjoyed the twists and turns that Elissa Schappell weaves.

Evie and Mary Beth are just two girls that could be anyone. They could be your neighbors, your classmate; they could be you, or even me. The experiences they have, the thoughts, the feelings, the overwhelming emotions. It's all something we can relate to. In fact they seem to be a part of us, somewhere deep inside, and that's why the book is so hard-hitting. The experiences they have, though they seem to be extreme to some point, are quite common now. It's not as far fetched as we want to believe. We'd rather not think about a young girl going in for her third abortion. We don't want to think about the devastating effects of cancer. We don't want to think about reality. The beauty of this book is that it tells reality in such a way that you almost don't realize it's real. And then you stop, and think, and realize. Really the only thing I want to say about this book is read it.

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