Student Review: Split (Avasthi)

Title: Split
Author: Swati Avasthi
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Survival
Pages: 233
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


At age 16 Jace Witherspoon runs away from home to escape his father’s abusive tendencies. His plan is to find his brother Christian who also ran away but before him and then save his mother, but his father warns him he will kill her if Jace comes back. Jace is at a loss, but then he hurries to realize that he must save his mother before his father has another temper burst and decides to kill her. The clock is ticking so Jace finally decides to make his decision and go back to save his mother.


I think this book was a great example of the domestic violence that people go through every day. I enjoyed the story because seeing what it was like to go through life with an abusive father and suffer what Jace has suffered. The entire story itself is about how Jace deals with what he has gone through and how he will deal with it. The story talks about his problems in the past, like how he discovers he has his own abusive problems and beats up his girlfriend. Parts of the story were all flashbacks and commonly reoccur during the story and explain a lot about his past. But in the end he resolves his problems and he makes a big emotional breakthrough.


The theme here in this book is coming of age, because Jace deals with a lot and matures through these experiences. He experiences several events that shape him into a person that is positive, calm, and trustworthy. A small note is that at first Jace abandons his mother when he first leaves. This comes back to haunt him even after he tried to rescue her.


I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because the book was relatively short and packed a big story into a small book. I would have like for the author to elaborate more. This book is good for both boys and girls but the genre is mainly for people who like tragedy stories.


What would you do if you had to make a decision, a decision to leave your old life behind or try to piece together the remains?
-Aaron, 8th grade

This was one of the first books I reviewed on the blog.  You can read my quick  review here.  I notice that I gave the book a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars...which is interesting because now I actually feel very strongly about how much I love this book.  Hmmmm...