Shut Up [Kindle Edition]

I was given an e-book copy of this from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I actually accepted this months ago and have only just got round to it, so for that I apologise to the author for the delay, it did mean though that when I picked it up today I didn't remember anything about it or have any idea what it was about. I had a PDF file and it didn't include a synopsis so I just started reading. And this book was not anything I had expected.
Mary is only 12 but has a very hard life. Her sister who was destined for college to become a teacher and be a shining start has fallen in with a bad baoy who Mary refers to as 'The Creep', her sister is now pregnant and planning on marrying the Creep and her family is imploding around her. Tension is at its highest in the house and Mary seems to be the scapegoat, every problem, every angry word, every disappointment is directed onto her.
This story is very brutal in places but a very compelling read, the sort of thing you can't look away from.
At times I could agree that mary was a bit of a pain and she didn't help herself sometimes speaking up when you know you should just back off, but 95% of the time she was unfairly treated, sometimes very harshly. But no one wants to hear about her problems and things start to spiral out of control.
There were times in this book where I just wanted to give Mary a hug and tell her everythng will turn out OK. There were times when I wanted to slap her sister and tell her to grow up and stop being such a self-centered ***** and her parents shocked me, they seemed to have little or no thought for Mary's safety or happiness, she was there as the punching bag both metaphorically and literally in some places.
This book is very short at just over 100 pages, I read it in about 50 minutes but it is very hard hitting. This isn't short and sweet but very real and serious. The author deals with some very sensitive topics very well and even manages character development as Mary goes from a weak and wimpy little 12 year old to a more confident, more mature 12 year old, wise beyond her years.
Some of the narration confused me in places. I wasn't sure if it was Mary talking or her brother and there were a few places where I had to re-read a paragraph or so to make sure i knew what was going on. It also jumps between the [resent and teh past and this tripped me a couple of times, I would just get into the story and it would jump and drag me back out, but I know this is a popular writing style and can be effective so maybe that's what the author was going for.
This is by no means my usual read but it is short, sharp and well written. Good if you want a quick read or something that will grab you.

It is impossible to read Shut Up and not feel sorry for Mary. Her whole family have been shaken by her sister Gwen's spoilt behaviour which has led to her pregnancy and impending marriage to The Creep. Gwen's character is thoroughly unlikeable despite her awful predicament and even in her weaker moments it's hard to feel any empathy towards her.
Whatever Mary says or does, she's in the wrong, her parents seem unable to stand up to Gwen and instead take out all their anger and upset on Mary. At times it's possible to see that Mary is being a right pain and making situations even more difficult for her parents but when you consider she's meant to be twelve years old, this should be acceptable behaviour really.
Shut Up is extremely hard hitting and leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to what Mary has to go through, how she's treated by her sister, her parents and even The Creep. Throughout the novel you see Mary grow from a young naïve child into a preteen who is more worldly wise than you could ever have imagined and Tibbets packs her narrative out with emotive language to portray this dysfunctional family.
An extremely short read and certainly not what you'd call sweet, Shut Up is an honest, believable tale that can be read in a couple of short sittings. It is packed full of serious issues dealt with competently from teenage pregnancy to physical abuse and Tibbets successfully deals with some of many of the teenage and family issues which are rife in society.

Shut Up is a really hard hitting story. Mary's life is miserable. Because of her spoilt older sister, Gewen, the whole family is stressing out. Gwen must get what she wants, or she throws tantrums to rival a two-year-old. It wouldn't be surprising if her family forgot what her normal voice sounded like, because she's constantly wailing like a banshee at the slightest thing. Nothing is ever good enough. Instead of her parents sitting her down and saying "We're the parents, you're the child. You do what you're told, not dictate to us," they let her get away with murder. Her constant nagging an screaming causes everyone to be miserable, and quick to snap at everyone else.

So when 12-year-old Mary asks too many questions, doesn't act quick enough when she's asked to do things, or gets blamed for something she didn't do and is then called a liar, the treatment she gets is harsh. The way she is spoken to is really disgusting, by both her parents and Gwen. Gwen talks to Mary like she's lower than the dirt beneath her shoes every second of every day, constantly bullying her, calling her nasty names for seemingly simply existing. It's awful, so terrible to read. And on top of that, her mother will result to beating if she deems it necessary. It's a completely miserable existance, and leads to Mary acting drasticallly.

At 118 pages, Shut Up is a very quick read, but it's still a fully formed story and you can't help but get emotionally involved. It's very much like a car crash; it's such a difficult story to read, but you simply can't put it down, wondering if things get any better, or if they get worse. there are several instances in the book which lead you to make assumptions about what might be coming, which lead you to dread getting to the end, because you just don't want those things to happen. You can just feel your heart sink.

There are a few negatives, though. I feel it could have been better edited. There is an instance of where a word is repeated right after it's used, and another instance where Mary's first person narration changes to third; instead of Mary saying "myself", she says "herself". I also felt that some of the dialogue didn't feel natural, sentences that I felt a 12-year-old wouldn't use, or, when there were arguments, considering how much anger there was, some of the things said just didn't feel angry enough. It was a little disappointing, because it kind of jarred me out of the story, but the dialogue issues could just be down to personal preferences.

All in all, a very heart-wrenching, moving story, and one that hists you even a harder to know it's loosely based on the author's childhood. A really enjoyable read.