Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Pub. Date: March 19th 2009
Date Read: June 28th 2016
Pages: 278
Rating:4/5 stars
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 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.
Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery
Before reading this book, I must say this book has various triggers, which may give spoilers to the book. however I would prefer you to be spoiled, and know if the book is suitable for you then, instead of being triggered because of me. TRIGGER Warning: Selfharm, Attempted Suicide, Mental Illness, Anorexia and Bulimia.
Wintergirls, was not at all what I expected, but I did definitely enjoy reading it. As I liked the ammount of internal monologue there was with Lia, and how the crossed out words effect on her thoughts, as it shows what she knows as the truth, and what society expects her to see.
This may be a completely inaccurate interpretation of anorexia, however it has made me feel as if i have a better understanding of the mental state of people who have this illness.However, this entire book makes me feel incredibly conflicted as I know that Lia should go to the hospital, as she has a serious problem, however a part of me is still rooting for Lia, as I feel a lot of sympathy for her.
***Spoiler***Elijah was very wishy washy as he encouraged Lia's visions and then stole her money and pretty much left her there to die. The arse.***End of Spoiler***
Wintergirls, has a very interesting way of having the chapter numbers, with having it shown as a weight scale. Also, if the calorie for each of the items is correct in this book, I believe a huge round of applause should be given to the author, as you can tell a huge amount of research went into this book.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe Wintergirls was a very powerful and thought provoking book, due to the strong and important issues of the book, which is why it took me quite a while (for me anyway) to get through it.
Would I recommend this?
I would recommend this to anyone, who wishes to understand the mentality of someone going through the eating disorder illnesses, such as anorexia or bulimia. However, apart from that I really enjoyed it, from the way that it is written and the extra tidbits, which are in there.
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