Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - Farah

Title: Wintergirls

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Publisher: Viking Juvenile 

Publication Date: March 19th, 2009

Genre(s): Young Adult (Realistic Fiction )

Challenges: A-Z title, Contemporary, SARC

Source: Library 
Format: Hardcover

Pages: 278

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“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.

Whatever I say in my review will never give justice to this book.  Never in my life have I read a breathtaking and phenomenal book as Wintergirls. I didn't feel like I was reading a book, but I felt like I was watching it through the main protagonists's eyes. Like I was her. Laurie Halse Anderson chooses the strongest words to portray Lia's feelings, and throughout the book, the flow and rhythm were absolutely perfect. Wintergirls is a very powerful novel. It had me crying, shocked, and definitely anxious. I just don't think there are any words to describe how amazing and heartbreaking Wintergirls is.

The main protagonist, Lia, suffers from an eating disorder. She is anorexic, and all she wants to do is get thinner, thinner, thinner, until she disappears. The story revolves around how Lia is struggling with this disorder, even with her family's help. She starts lying, secrets develop, and everything just becomes one big messy lump. I never felt that Lia was an annoying character or so, because she does have a disorder and I excuse her actions for that. It's tough to control it, and Laurie Halse Anderson really represented the characters with such precision and thought. She made me feel for the character, like I was suffering with her myself. I wanted to cry with her, I wanted to laugh with her, and I wanted to fight with her. I wanted to jump right in the book and ease Lia's suffering. After thinking that nothing can get worse than it already is, it does. This exactly shows the cruelty of reality, which makes the story have a more realistic feeling to it. As well to the anorexia, the conflicts Lia has with her family gives an interesting twist to the story. 

Overall, I can say that Wintergirls is one of my overall favorites. It was like I experienced the story and tragedies of Lia. Im not sure if my review convinced people how amazing this book is, but trust me, its a must read! Not only is it a realistic novel, but also a novel about a struggling teenager with a problem who many girls out there might relate to!

All Time Favorite