Uncover Wintergirls Chronicled By Laurie Halse Anderson Categorized In Printable Format

am ohsoready for more people I know to have read this book so I can talk with them about it!!

Though it will inevitably be compared to SPEAK, I felt like this marked a real advance in Laurie Halse Anderson's ability as a writer in comparison.
That said, the main character is dissociated, so it's hard to feel particuarly close to her as a reader, But I think that's the point,

I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to say that some readers will find salvation in this book, and for that alone, it deserves a dozen.
Overall I have a feeling this book would be frustrating and disturbing for those who know nothing of disordered eating and for those with disordered eating, I think it would be very triggering.
So really, I wouldnt recommend Wintergirls to anyone, sitelink
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DNF p,



I've been on a Laurie Halse Anderson binge as part of sitelinkthis project, I'm sure some of you are tired of hearing me talk about The Project and I'm sorry, but I am a book hoarder and this is my way of letting go and saying goodbye to some of my books giving them a final sendoff, if you will, before turning them over to a new owner.
So far, most of her books have held up reasonably well, I even enjoyed the relatively unpopular sitelinkPROM and sitelinkCATALYST,



WINTERGIRLS is a story about eating disorders, It is incredibly triggering, I think, because it has a lot about weight and calorie counting and the main girl's friend actually dies, so she's also trying to deal with her grief over that while managing her ED.
I remember really liking this book a lot when I had depression, I think it's because the lack of control is a theme in this book and when you're depressed, you feel totally lacking in control: of your feelings, of your body, of your life.
Even though I didn't have an ED, the MC's hopelessness and focus on her internal states really resonated with me.




Rereading this book, I found that I couldn't quite relate to it the same way as I did in my late teens/early twenties.
That's probably a good thing, though, I'd like to think that it means I'm a welladjusted thirtysomething, WINTERGIRLS has a totally different tone than the other Anderson books I've read, They all had this snark to balance out the hopelessness, but WINTERGIRLS is just pure hopelessness, I'm sure it will be solace for some but I just couldn't get into it now, I gave it four when I read it for the first time but now I'm giving it a two.
I could barely find the will to read it, It's too bleak. YMMV.



Wintergirls is a story about girl who's struggling with anorexia, It's a pretty quick read, but it didn't move me as much as I thought it would,

The story is good, Scary and shocking with a strong message, I don't have a lot insight into the disease so this was a real eye opener for me I wasn't aware how people with anorexia were able to actually selfdiscipline themselves to not eat.
We're shown through Lia's point of view how she warps her world and relationships that which steers her into depression.
It's not just about what she puts into her mouth, but how she perceives her compulsions and the empty void she lives in.
It's really an astonishing story that overflows with emotions,

However, I wish the characters were a bit more solid, We never really went into their reasons for thinking so negatively, What happened in their lives to get them to this point In this aspect it felt like the author went very stereotypical teen angst.


What really bugged me, though, while reading this book was the writing, It had a lot of analogies and metaphors that were just plain confusing at times, I sometimes didn't know what was real and what wasn't, It also took me a while to realize she was actually hallucinating and not just day dreaming or fantasizing, Additionally, the author uses a lot of different writing formats that were often annoying/distracting/disorienting

::distracting/disorienting/distracting/disorienting/::

while not really adding anything to the story.


All in all it wasn't anything overly special, though I still enjoyed the story, It had a lot of depth and was really thought provoking, but otherwise it fell flat, just a lil bit.



For more of my reviews, visit my blog at sitelink Xpresso Reads I didn't care for the writing style, all the crossed out words just felt like an unneccessary affectation that slowed down the pace of the book.
The chapter headings., etc were a distraction that took me several chapters to even realize what the numbers meant, The descriptions are ugly.
I didn't make any connection to Lia and never grew to like her, As written, her character seemed like a spoiled rich brat who was not even kind enough to pick up the phone to speak to the parents of her dead best friend, even when the girl's mother is begging her.

She is willing to run off with a young man that she barely knows or likes in order to not have to face the consequences of what she's done to herself.
She uses him to get what she wants/needs without giving him even a tiny bit of honesty until she is forced to do so.
None of the things she does make me understand her or like her, I simply never grew to care whether or not she got well and had this book been successful for me, I should have cared.

Lia makes reference to the fact that she knows she is starving herself so she isn't acting out of unawareness or confusion, she simply doesn't care if she's hurting herself or her family or anyone.
Her attitude toward her parents is heartless and cold, although all they try to do throughout the entire book is help her.
She blames them for her illness and doesn't ever seem to take responsibility for it on herself, A quote from the end of the book: "The tiny elf dancer became a wooden doll whose strings were jerked by people not paying attention.
"
That seems to say that she still isn't responisible for what she did to herself, if they'd been paying more attention to her, instead of trying to get her to be what they wanted or pursuing their careers, she wouldn't have gotten sick, in her opinion.
I'm sure there are many better books about anorexia, This reads like a manual on how to be anorexic, For me this one is a don't bother to read it,

NOTE: For anyone who wants to rip into me and tell me that I don't know anything about eating disorders.
Well, you don't know me and you don't know what I do or do not know about eating disorders, You don't know what personal experience I might or might not have, So I'd appreciate it, if that's your only intent, if you didn't leave a comment telling me what a bad person I am for not liking a fictional story.

My review of a BOOK is not intended to put down or devalue anyone, A careful reading of the review would make it clear that I did not care for the way the author chose to portray this character, not that I was putting her down for having an eating disorder.
Let me say that again, If Lia was an alcoholic, chocoholic, shopaholic, drug addict, sex addict, hoarder, snowboarder, prom queen, cheerleader or any other kind of character, I still would NOT have enjoyed the way the story and charcter was presented.
I hope that's clear.
This isn't an autobiography or Lia's reallife memoirs, It's made up, a story, fiction, not true, There are characters in many books that, for whatever reason, are not likeable, For me, personally, Lia is one of them,
Any further comments that are merely tearing into me about what I do or not know, any personal attacks, are not productive.
Name calling and hurling insults isn't adding anything to the discussion, If you want to discuss the book, I'll gladly do that, Thanks I love Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak is one of my all time favorite novels, so to say I was excited to read Wintergirls was an understatement.
I was excited until I realized what Wintergirls was really about: anorexia, Was that something that I wanted to read about, It sounded truly depressing and slightly disturbing, But as hard as it was to read this novel, I felt like it was even harder to put down.
Anderson continues to impress my with her beautifully written novels,

Ive seen Andersons writing described as lyrical and I have to say that I fully agree, And Wintergirls in no exception, Andersons writing is almost hypnotizing, she has a way of explaining a situation thoroughly using as few words as possible.
Genius.

And its so much more than writing, its the characterization, Lias character is so rawly displayed its heartbreaking, I never fully understand the metal effects that an eating disorder can have, I marveled at a part of the text where Lia watches her dad eat.
and how she wishes she could eat like that, Aimlessly, automatic, effortless. For some reason that part really stuck out for me, and it was so simple,

Im sure this novel will make an impact and be discussed, maybe even more so than Speak, I cant wait to see what LAH has in store next,

When Lia's best friend Cassie dies in a motel room, Lia is left all alone, Alone to finish the game and carry out the oath she shared with Cassie to continue to lose weight, Lia is trapped in a deadly competition with her own body don't eat, weigh less, and look thinner, Casting away her family that doesn't understand the limbo of tantalizing fats and calories, Lia marches solo into the storm that will take her entire living existence away from her anorexia.


Even though this book was almost too difficult to read, I loved it, Every single word. Anderson writes with such great quality, and I love her lyrical and concise prose, She really infuses emotion into her writing and Wintergirls is my favorite book of hers since Speak.


At times when I read this book I felt cold, almost numb, Lia's descent into anorexia was horrible, and I sincerely hope teenage girls who read this book will walk away with something learned.
Heck, when I finished Wintergirls I walked straight into the pantry and ate half of an entire party size bag of potato chips.
My coach is probably going to be angry at me, It'll be worth it, though, Wintergirls was amazing, Lia and Cassie were always the best of friends, They called themselves the Wintergirls, the two were competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest.
But Lia had not spoken to Cassie in months after her trip into the hospital when her weight hit the danger zone.


Now, Lia finds that Cassie has died alone in a motel and all Lia wants is answers to what happened.
Lia had ignored Cassie's numerous phone calls and is now carrying guilt over the loss of her friend which starts a downward spiral of calorie counting and refusal to eat.


To be honest I wasn't a huge fan of Wintergirls when I first started reading this one, I found the pace a bit slow while Lia was often a bit frantic and wasn't even sure I wanted to continue to read and finish the whole book.
When done though I was glad I did as this one is a look into a territory that I was not at all familiar with and I think it does a good job showing what a girl like Lia is going through.


Lia is an extremely flawed character, Not only is she anorexic but she is also into cutting herself and had never felt comfortable in her own skin.
These may be problems that most cannot relate to but this fictional work seemed to give a realistic look into these problems that a lot of young girls do suffer from.
If anything give this one a try just to get a look into a world that isn't easy to understand.


Lia's story grew on me as it went on and I'd recommend checking this one out to anyone that is the least bit curious about this disease and what someone in Lia's position could possibly be thinking.


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ariel says everyone loves this book, and that's probably true, these girls today are probably superdrawn to this kind of story.
it's not bad, i just already have sitelinka favorite teenproblemnovel about anorexia, one that doesn't have the voice of this narrator, who was so immersed in her dreamworld, she frequently spoke in this forcedpoetic voice that i found distracting:

"used to be that my whole body was my canvas hot cuts lick my ribs, ladder rungs climbing my arms, thick milkweed stalks shooting up my thighs.
when i moved to jenniferland, my father made one condition, a daughter who forgets how to eat, well that was bad, but it was just a phase and i was over it.
but a daughter who opens her own skin bag, wanting to let her shell fall to the ground so she can dance that was just sick.


"

"my hands read a braille map hewn from bone, starting with my hollow breasts threaded with bluevein rivers thick with ice.
i count my ribs like rosary beads, muttering incantations, fingers curling under the bony cage, they can almost touch what's hiding inside, "

for me, that voice gets old pretty quick, and the constant crossouts not pictured it stands out and makes the layout eyecatching, but not in a positive way, to my elderly eye.


i honestly don't understand anorexia, me, i have no discipline, i lack the amount of selfcontrol it takes to not eat the entire pint of ice cream, and even with all of the political/social pressure, i lack the interest/willpower to stop eating fuzzy baby animals.
so the rigorous scrutiny of everything that passes the lips of the anorectic, the obsessing and caloriememorizing and constant vigilance.
shit, i'm in grad school, i don't need anything else to think about, for reals, why can't these girls channel this energy into something awesome, like painting or science and bridgebuilding i know it is more complicated than all that, but it just seems exhausting and more trouble than it is worth.


this put a nice twist on the teenorexia novel the way it takes it a step further and really plays upon the character's perceived culpability in the death of her best friend, which is of course a factor in her own illness, but is also a whole other potential novel.
so i liked the layering of two different enmeshed problems i appreciated its ambition, but ultimately i prefer my old tried and true book from my junior high "be aware fair".


i want to like her books so much, and there are still three i plan to read, but so far, the two i have read have seemed like books teen girls would really respond to, but i just can't get into.


but greg sheesh speak is like his all time favorite, he is such a girl, but not a little gollumgirl: