Wintergirls

Thoughtful, sensitive and brutally honest - 'Wintergirls' is a work of art. The gritty reality of Lia's journey through the darkness of her illness, juxtaposed with the fairy-tale like beauty of Anderson's prose make a haunting combination. This book gave me chills, in the good way. Despite the lyrical style of the writing, Lia's narrative was realistic, relatable, and deepy sad - especially the depiction of her and Cassie's friendship. In many ways, I think this book actually outshines 'Speak' which is the novel Anderson is most famous for. Would 100% recommend to anyone looking for a beautifully written YA.

A well-written novel about the teenage struggles of Lia, a wintergirl, who competes with her best friend Cassie to be the thinnest girl in the school. Lia's weapon is anorexia, Cassie's is bulimia. On the opening, Cassie and Lia are recently estranged and Cassie has died after trying to contact Lia for help. What follows is the descent of Lia into a half-world, struggling with her friend's death and her own battle to starve herself to her 'perfect' weight, a number always sliding lower on the scale. This is a well-written YA novel also suitable for adults about the teenage struggle to belong in a world that doesn't want you, when the only control you have comes from what you put in your mouth. A great book that can start the discussion with someone about how to handle loss, suffering, mental health and eating disorders.

Lia is a girl on the verge of leaving her adolescence, and also her life. She wakes up, she goes to school, she goes home, she goes to sleep. Just like the rest of us. But one thing she misses out is the eating part of her day, and after Cassie, her recently estranged best friend is found dead in a motel room, she finds her self once again engulfed by a life of nothing but making sure the scales read closer to zero. it's a powerful look into the life of a relapser, and just how overbearing those little voices in your head can be. At first I was a little dubious - sometimes the teen fiction style can be a bit weak in depth, but I loved the way this was written. It certainly evokes some emotion and seems very true to the core. I loved the stylistic switching from what Lia was thinking to her superficial actions; the sense of character is really great. There's also a layout aid about two thirds of the way in which is really, surprisingly, powerful. This book has clearly been well researched and thought of, as the harrowing realities of an eating disorder are subtly weaved into the characters without being blatant and fairytale. it's hard not to feel the pain that Lia is experiencing, and because of the natural intrigue in us all, once you start this book you'll really want to read on. There's somewhat of a cult genre with mental illness in books, and if like me you naturally gravitate towards them, Wintergirls is definitely one to add to the bookshelf.

The story is good however I couldn’t get attached to the character and I found it very triggering as someone who has a lot of issues with food myself.

I want to start off by saying this is probably so far the best book on Anorexia I've ever read (albeit I haven't read many yet) it is a very touching, powerful and thought provoking story of a young girl suffering in the clutches of a terrible illness. This is a must read book for all teens and young adult men and women as Anorexia is a very serious illness and more should be done to make people aware of it. The book progresses rather slowly but in a good way, it unfolds and is very realistic in those senses, it deals with all kinds of traumatic things but not in such a graphic way and comes to a good ending. It is one of those books that might stick with you for a long time after reading. It is written in the sense of being horribly graphic, upsetting and even frightening, however, the way it is written softens it enough to not disturb people, especially younger ones. I'm 20 reading this and I didn't think it was too young, it is suitable for teens and adults, although some parents may want to give it a check through before letting younger ones read it. I really enjoyed this book and hope that is does just that, brings hope to people suffering from or that know someone suffering from the illness. It has amazing insight and really opens your eyes to the tragic world of Anorexia.

Since I read 'Wasted' by Marya Hornbacher (not reviewed here as I didn't buy it from Amazon) I've gone through a spate of reading books about anorexia and this is probably the best fictional effort yet. It is beautiful, poetical and haunting and though it is aimed at a young adult/teenager market it is a well written book which can be enjoyed by adult readers as well. Probably not at all suitable for recovering anorexics though as it does glamorize the disease, to say nothing of giving them ideas of how to fool parents/doctors etc. She really is a talented author and I only wish 'Speak' was available on kindle as well.

I loved the insight this book gave. It is the closest I've ever seen to an actual version of someone with an eating disorder without making a mockery and it was actually a truthful side to it all. Loved the book although I didn't like the ending cause it got too "teenage book I can relate to your troubles" bla bla bla-ish for me but otherwise it was great! Quick delivery and the book was exactly what was promised. It's focused on young adults I would say but really it's appropriate for older generations as well. Would STRONGLY recommend it for those who are trying to understand the mind of someone with an eating disorder!!!

One of my favourite books. I’ve read it about three times and own it psychically and digitally. It’s one of those teen books, so don’t expect something jaw dropping. However I will say that I enjoy Lia’s portrayal and how the author doesn’t gloss over the horrors of her disorder. The ending does feel abrupt and rushed though. I wish the book would have gone into more detail about Lia’s recovery, and I would have loved to see more of her relationship with Emma as it’s clear she has a positive influence on Lia. I think that could have been extremely interesting to go more in depth with. I will say that I liked the step-mom’s character a lot. I think Lia as a narrator is quite harsh on most of the characters, but even so I can understand a lot of Jennifer’s choices (especially towards the end of the book). All in all, it’s a good book albeit a bit depressing.