"My heart is broken and my head is barely inhabitable."- R.L. Griffin, Razorblades Kisses

Razorblade Kisses is a story of survival. It is a story of unfailing love, both eros and Phileo. It is a story that will make you wish you could crawl into the book and hug her, help her, save her. Emery, Emily, Emma, Ericka: all the same, but all so different.

Let's go back to those types of love I mentioned. We will start with Phileo love that immediately makes me think of Rachel. Phileo love is described as "brotherly love." It is the love between best friends, that indescribable feeling that this is the friend who will always be there for you, who will help you, laugh with you, cry with you, and do anything for you. C.S. Lewis describes it as, "the least biological, organic, instinctive, gregarious, and necessary...the least natural of loves, but the love that is profound because it is freely chosen." Rachel and Emery "clicked." From the moment they met in that mall, they were meant to be together. They were the true love story of this book. Now don't get me wrong-- Noah and Tim were amazing, wonderful, great male characters and I felt their love for Emily and Emma. But, Rachel... Rachel was the other half to Emery's whole. Emery would've never made it without Rachel, and I believe Rachel needs that friendship with Emery just as much. They saved each other. Rachel never gave up on Emery, never let her get too far away from what she needed, and always found a way to reach her. That bond, that friendship-- anyone with anything close to that is extremely blessed.

Onto the eros love I mentioned... now, we get to the boys! Noah started off as an eros love for Em, but I believe that type of love ended as soon as Em met Tim. At the beginning, Noah was exactly what Em needed to start over, after she left the life she'd only ever known. She'd just gotten away from a situation that would've killed her if she stayed and didn't know how to live. She'd escaped so that she could live, but the guilt she felt of leaving her only sister behind crippled her. Noah helped her to realize that life was worth living, and that she needed to try to live, try to give herself another chance because she'd made the choice to make a new life for herself. Noah fell in love with the girl Emily was. Emily wasn't able to love him back, but she knew how much she was given by having Noah put into her life.

"Noah peeled away her walls with the razorblades that was his kisses, confidence, and love."

Noah was instrumental in bringing Em (back) to her true eros love, Tim. Ah, you could feel the sparks between Tim and Emma. From that first interaction at the Savannah nightclub, it had Em running because she couldn't understand what she could be feeling. Throughout her life in Savannah, Tim pursued her. Helped her. Healed her. He stepped in to help with the sweetest little boy on Emma's DFCS case load. He introduced her to his grandparents. He begged her to tell him the truth and he'd do whatever he could to help. He loved her, and Em loved him back.

Then, tragedy struck causing Em to run- something she'd gotten very used to. The tragedy that occurred made Em empty inside, and she felt like doing nothing more than waiting to die. She decided she didn't deserve Rachel, Noah, or Tim. She was toxic. Everyone who loved her would be hurt in the end. Oh, how wrong you were, Em!! You were a survivor. You were a child. You did everything you knew to do after years of trauma. Both of those types of loves I mentioned are strong, and can reach into even the darkest corners of despair and pull someone out when they feel like there's nothing else to live for. Luckily, Em had love in spades from the people in her life. They created a strong support system for Em and she got by with a little help from her friends.