How did I get the book? I bought it.
Genre: Contemporary
Additional Information: I meet Tanya Byrne at Keris Stainton’s book launch where she signed my copy of Heart-Shaped Bruise.
There is this fear that when you’ve meet an author in person and they are awesome – what do you do if you don’t like the book? Thankfully this is not a problem with Heart-Shaped Bruise.
Synopsis: They say I’m evil. The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who shake their heads on the six o’clock news and say they always knew there was something not quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you don’t know. You don’t know who I used to be.
Who I could have been.
Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time.
Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge.
200word review: Heart-Shaped Bruise has so much going for it, the story, the writing but if I had to pick one reason why I loved it it’s because of Emily.
Emily Koll grew up attending boarding school, had a father that spoilt her and was happy. She was that girl, and then suddenly she wasn’t. You don’t have to agree with her, you probably won’t, but Emily blames one person and she has made that person pay. This is why she is where she is. But Emily isn’t sorry, the book begins: “… I have to start by saying that this isn’t an apology. I am not sorry.”
As the story continues you learn about Emily’s life at Archway, who she used to be and the mission she was on. I don’t have a moral high ground with this book, I really love Emily as a character she is fascinating and incredibly smart.
Given the beginning it’s easy to assume the story will end a certain way but that that didn’t matter to me as I wanted to unravel everything Emily is and was.
Then I reached the end and it wasn’t what I expected – that makes Heart-Shaped Bruise even better.
Recommend it?
Sunshine Star
Luna's Little Library 
I loved the book . I loved emily it shows what people would really do for there faimily . I wish there was second book about how she does in court and how she kind of trys to start from fresh there that would be an amazing story xxx