Review: Wintergirls
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Synopsis:
“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 are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.
Review:
I have to admit, I had a really tough time getting through this one, and not for the reasons one might think. The main reason has a lot to do with the book Speak
I read Speak
The problem I had with Wintergirls was that while Anderson’s writing is very uninhibited, I don’t think she did enough to distinguish the characters.
In Wintergirls, Lia is battling anorexia, but because Anderson wrote the story in the same style as Melinda’s, I couldn’t get Melinda out of my head while I read. In my mind, Lia was Melinda, dealing with starvation instead of rape. I know it’s not fair to compare the characters because their plights, while equally haunting, are very different, but I couldn’t help it.
As with Melinda’s story, it almost seems like we are in Lia’s personal diary as she struggles to make sense of her best friend’s death. To gain control over her emotions, Lia starves and cuts herself. It is only when she is near death that she realizes that she wants to fight for her life.
Anderson uses simple words in a very repetitive way to add shock value to her prose. In worked in the telling of Melinda’s tale, but I’m not so sure it worked in favor of Lia’s. To be honest, when I wasn’t feeling frustrated or bored with Wintergirls, I was upset over the sense that Speak was being undermined somehow.
Frankly, this is not a fair analysis on my part, I know. I read the author’s note at the end of Wintergirls and I realize it was not the author’s intention to make the stories sounds so similar, but again, because I couldn’t identify a distinguished ‘voice’ between the characters, I couldn’t help but compare them, which was unfortunate for many reasons. And while I admire Anderson’s exploration of server consequences of anorexia, the novel just didn’t resonate with me.
Posted at 4:42 pm • Labels: 2010, 3 stars, Book Review, contemporary fiction, YA, YALSA's Teens' Top Ten 2010
Great honest review, Missie. As one who has suffered with an ED for over half my life, I have to say I have a love/hate relationship with Wintergirls. I felt the story rang incredibly true for me – too true at points. There is no such thing as too thin for someone with anorexia or bulimia…I felt this book was a wee bit triggering for me. That said, LHA totally still has an awesome writing voice.
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@Melissa, Thanks for sharing that. I think there is just a level of understanding that I'm lost to with this novel. I wish I could have connected better with Lia, but it just didn't happen. But yes, LHA has an exceptional writing voice.
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Thanks for the honest review! I honestly loved Wintergirls, but again, as someone who has struggled with her eating (although it has never become an ED, thankfully), the book was really triggering. You review was really fair and honest and I think it's one of the first I've seen that didn't just praise Wintergirls to death!
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I agree wholeheartedly with your review. I really had a tough time reading this one because it was just so hard to get into. I was disappointed to be quite honest because I really enjoyed Speak! I wasn't fond of the narrative at all.
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I have heard a lot of mixed reviews with this book. Thanks for such an honest review. I think it's a problem that may be lost on the rest of us but really speak to those that have an eating disorder.
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O yah I could see my self having issues with that too. Thanks for the awesome review doll
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I have had this for a while and have not read it yet…thank you for your honest review.
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Fabulous review Missie, I can definitely see how it would be easy and natural to find the girls indistinguishable outside of their individual struggles if there's just not a different enough feel to overall voice. I haven't read this one yet, nor have I read Speak (which is a travesty, I know), but I would be interested to read them in the reverse order you did and see if that changes my overall opinion. Loved your thoughts as always:)
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I came by to grab your button for my blog and squealed at your Christmas look
LOVE IT!
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@Sam Ripley, I can certainly understand why there is much praise for Wintergirls. It is well deserved.
@Cialina at Muggle-Born.net, I can't help wishing that more was done to make the characters stand apart. But it has made me curious as to what other books by LHA would be like.
@Melissa (Books and Things), Awe. So there IS a difference between sympathy and empathy.
@Juju, Thank you!
@Patty, It is still a book I'd recommend, especially if you already have it. Let me know what you think once you read it.
@Jenny, That is a great idea. I'd be so curious to hear your take on the characters. I still find LHA narrative voice quite fascinating. It sort of reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk or even Ronald Sukenick.
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Interesting review. I've heard things about both titles throughout the blogosphere especially during banned books week. It's curious to see that the first character you read stuck with you that much. As I have yet to read a novel by this particular author and may be purchasing a copy of this very title soon, I can't help but wonder if that will work in my favor in this case….we shall see. Either way, sounds like it was a powerful book despite the character voice crossover. Thanks for sharing…and happy reading!
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I think I avoid books about Eds because I had issues with it in high school and on and off now as an adult. I do, however, need to stop avoiding reading Speak. I feel like the only person who hasn't read (and loved) it.
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