Wintergirls

I really really really did not like most of this book. I found the main character, Lia, unlikeable at best and overly selfish at worst, but as the book wore on I think I could understand her better. (It does seem kind of insensitive that I didn't like her but eh) I feel like this is a book that certain people should be very careful about and others shouldn't even read, because despite its bringing to light a very important issue, it does so I a way that is what I assume would be problematic ally triggering for someone going through that same issue. 

I couldn't connect with the characters and I really didn't like the writing style, I'm just not a fan of stream of consciousness writing. I did get used to it after a while though and that made the book easier to read. That being said, I don't know how I feel about the book. It's about a serious issue and is very chilling at times. However, I don't ever connect with these kinds of psychological books nor do I really enjoy them. I think it's time to stop reading them.

I'll try to write a summary after I write my review:

Wow..I love this book. Its..haunting and chilling and amazing. Parts of it gaze me goose bumps, just the word “Wintergirls” is freaky. The writing is dazzling, especially the “literary devices”. Cassie, Lia's old friend, reminded me so much of one of my friends it was scary. Not the skinny part, but the personality part. I love the little crossed out parts, they made me laugh.


SUMMARY

Lia is a girl headed straight toward Wintergirl-life. She eats barely anything, and excerises for hours at night to get rid of her food. She's already been admitted to a center, twice and is now living with her father, her step-mom(Jennifer), and her step-sister(Emma). In order to fool Jennifer when she steps on the scale, she sews quarters into the pockets of her robe.
But starving herself isn't her only problem, to “let the pain go” Lia makes little cuts on her hips and legs.
Then her old best friend, Cassie, dies alone in a motel room.
And it only gets worse when Lia discovers that Cassie called her thirty-three times.
Then, she starts seeing and hearing Cassie's ghost. Talking to her. Telling her how she can't wait for Lia to become one of her, a Wintergirl. And doing crossword puzzles in her shrink's office.
To add to that, her mother Dr.Marrigan is trying to get Lia admitted again, which sparks a few quarrels with Lia and her father.
Adding even more to that, Lia finds out that Cassie's last message to her was “You won”, referring to the bet that Lia would be skinnier than Cassie.
But back to the fighting thing.
After Lia and her dad have this one fight, Lia decides to cut herself. Really cut herself. She's half-dead when her third-grade sister finds her. Needless to say, Lia is sent to live with her mom and is going to be reviewed for psycho-ness(after she told her therapist about seeing Cassie and everything else).
However, Lia doesn't want this. So she spends 10 days in a motel room, once again becoming very,very, very close to death and Forever Wintergirl Land. What saves her, is talking to Cassie and seeing what her life could be like, if she gets better.
It ends with Lia deciding she wants to get better and knowing how long it would take her.

GRRRR!!! I wrote a review and it disappeared. HERE IS TAKE TWO!


WHAT A MIND TRIP THIS BOOK WAS! I give this book a 4 star rating because it was written well but not how it made me feel.

We venture into the life of Lia Overbrook, an 18 year old who has a love/hate relationship with food. Lia and her best friend Cassie at the age of nine or so make a pact that they will be the skinniest girls ever, for always, together. Cassie chooses the “let me eat anything and everything I want then head over to the bathroom or anywhere, stick my finger in my mouth and throw it all up” route while Lia chooses the “I will only eat 500 to 800 calories a day and the less the better” route. At some point Lia and Cassie end their friendship and at the age of 19, Cassie is found dead in a motel room after calling Lia 33 times. This is where the story picks up... Lia finds out that Cassie is dead and starts to feel guilty for not picking up any of the 33 calls. Lia has already been admitted twice because of her eating disorder. Instead of vowing never to return because she will be healthier, Lia vows to never get caught which in turn is a vow never to return. BTW, Lia is not only anorexic but a cutter as well. Lia spirals out of control and we as readers take the ride with her.

Again, I gave this book four stars because it is written very well. It left me feeling all sorts of wrong and I cannot begin to count the many times I wanted to stop reading this book and chuck it out of my kindle. If it weren't for this 50 states challenge I WANT/NEED to finish or the fact that I have this thing about finishing all the books I start I definitely would have.

I honestly don't know if I would recommend this book to my nieces or my son for that matter. I know that the author must have wanted to bring awareness to this disease, to this addiction. I just can't bring myself to trust that some of the girls I know will walk away with the positive of this book because I myself felt slimy, gross, ugly while reading this book. Lia has a lot of self hate going on but hate for how others look as well. I am all about loving yourself no matter what weight. If you are overweight and don't want to be, the answer is not berate yourself until you get skinny. The answer is to love yourself enough to push yourself to lose the weight and still love yourself at whatever weight you are at. The way society is nowadays this message is lost even in the best of homes, lost among the best support systems you have in place. Doctors are already targeting children and their weight. Their recommendations are not tact. Kids walk out of the office thinking they are fat and they have to do something about it. This book could give them the means to think they can do something about it. Kids never think this stuff can happen to them. They don't think things could spiral out of control for them. Lia didn't love herself at all. Lia didn't want to get well. Lia felt she was doing what was best for her. Lia got away with a lot of things. Lia was uber smart and Lia was uber reckless. Would kids that were already down this road take away with them the message this book is trying to convey?

This book was intense, makes you feel very real feelings and is extremely scary. If you have your child, pre-teen, teen read this book I would suggest to read it with them and then discuss it with them. Use it as a means to spark a discussion on this. Please please please tell them every day how beautiful and wonderful they are already.

Lia + Cassie, bestfriends linked by their paired eating disorders until Cassie decided to get better by cutting Lia out and Lia cycled out of her most recent inpatient program. Then Cassie dies and her ghost haunts Lia through her final spiral into anorexia.

I've got a thing for eating disorder stories, this one did some interesting things with the text and felt pretty true to some of the memoirs I've read. It really sucked me in right through to the end (not sure I was totally convinced by it but, so it goes.)