Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Review contains spoilers.

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: YA
Pages: 278
First Line: "So she tells me, the words dribbling outwith the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee."

Summary: Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other poeple'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 all together.

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.

(Source: Back of book)

This review contains spoilers. They are pretty obvious spoilers, but...

Review: Usually I'm not interested in this sort of stuff. This book wasn't really any different. I was going to drop it after awhile but then something came up about some local land marks and stuff and I like reading books that take place around where I live so I kept at it. I can't say I'm glad or not glad that I did. It's one of those books that I definitely could have lived without reading, but I don't necessarily regret reading it. I enjoyed the style and the characters, specifically Lia's step-mother and Emma, were pretty interesting. Anderson managed to even surprise me with one twist involving someone Lia meets during this tale.

Like most anorexia books that I've read, I have a big problem with it. The books usually are about a relapse and then end with a "yay the character will be happy and healthy for ever more". Well, this isn't an exception. The problem is, they've had one relapse--what's to stop them from having another? Now, of course, these people aren't real people and stuff, but prove to me it won't happen again. Do an epilogue of when she's sixty or something and a quick recall of how she never again did relapse. /end rant.

All in all, it's not something that's totally necessary for you to read. I liked the style, which I was surprised with, because I didn't like Speak at all. And it seems Anderson is allowing her books to be type-casted, if that makes any sense. Always about big, scary things in teenage girls' lives. But if you're interested in anorexia, it has some interesting stuff in it.

Worst part: As I mentioned, the book doesn't really have any final solution. There's no way of knowing if she'll relapse again or not.

Best part: I actually really liked this style. I usually don't pay attention to style, but I liked this one.

Grade: C+

Other Books by This Author: Speak, Catalyst, others.