Summary: “Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl. I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.
Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the National Book Award finalist Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores one girl's chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.
Summary Credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5152478-wintergirls
A little rant...
My good friend Emma told me to read this. My librarian told me to read this. A random girl who walked into the library told me to read this.
I had no idea what I was getting into.
When I took it out from the library, I was getting ready to go on a long trip. Whilst in the car, I decided to open this book and give it a try...
Less than an hour later, I was half-way through the book and was beside myself in tears.
The Good: The narration. Or the writing depending on how you want to look at it. Oh my lord, it's amazing. Every. Single. Phrase. They are so pretty and tell in truth, what it's like to have an eating disorder. I loved how after each time she mentioned a food she would put in brackets how many calories was in it. I loved the crossed out phrases, making it look like it was her body versus her mind. I had entered the mind of an anorexic and props to Halse Anderson for it.
The characters. Each was so alive and so vivid, I could feel them inside the book, just waiting for me to discover their secrets. I was in tears as I read each of their struggles. And I almost never cry in books. Never. Not unless it hits some part of me. Which it totally did.
The plot. It was perfect. It was a different then the normal mental illness plot thing that most people enjoy writing. It was what really sticks with you when you have a mental illness... It's not when you first get it that it effects you... It's the aftermath that nearly kills you. You feel like you should still be watching your weight, cutting yourself, or still be covered in sadness. This book told that amazingly.
The ending. It was so freaking beautiful. I want a copy of the last chapter on my wall. I was in tears when I first read it, and even now when I read it, it can still bring a tear to my eye. Not very many other books can really do that to me. So when they can, that means they are really good.
The Bad: BAD? You want me to say bad things about this book? What kind of monster are you? Just kidding...
I guess the way it's written can be a little annoying when you first start reading it, but you get used to it just like any book. And after about two chapters, you are to wrapped in the story to even care anymore.
Overall: I read so many fictional books about mental illness, and none have any sort of idea of what's it's like to be mentally ill, save for this one. So far, this is one of best and one of my favourite books overall.
10 out of 10
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