Laurie Halse Anderson

A beautifully written and riveting look at anorexia from acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson. Cassie and Lia are best friends, and united in their quest to be thin. But when Cassie is found dead in a motel room, Lia must question whether she continues to lose weight, or choose life instead.

Wintergirls

kelsey

“I am beginning to measure myself in strength, not pounds. Sometimes in smiles.”

important triggers to be aware of: 

major themes of eating disorders (anorexia [mc lia has] bulimia [friend cassie died from]), self harm, and loss of a friend 


this is honestly one of the most real and honest depictions of EDs i’ve ever read and this is my 3rd read of the book. EDs have the highest death rate of all mental illnesses and they are not talked about enough. (especially in men)

“We turned us into wintergirls, and when she tried to leave, I pulled her back into the snow because I was afraid to be alone.”

lia has the hardest time of the two recovering from her anorexia. cassie had wanted to get better until a fight with her parents on thanksgiving. after an oath lia made with cassie she never sees herself in the mirror correctly again.

the whole book too lia sees cassie after her death— as a ghost. she’s stuck in between death and living. and wants lia to join her until lia asks her what do you miss about living. and she tells her her mom’s singing, the library, waffles, fresh clothes out of the dryer. 

“I never thought of trying this, of taking the best parts with me.” 

then she helps lia save herself. lia wants to get better after realizing how much she’s hurt her father and even herself.

“There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn’t matter anymore.
I am thawing.”

chloe rae

This book could be the definition of haunting literature. It's heavy, and deep, and deals with a majority of very intense issues. It has this very unique writing style that even ADDS to the seriousness of this book. The book deals with eating disorders and self harm, but it does so in such a melodic, beautiful way. In fact, that's a great way to describe this book: hauntingly beautiful. It's such a great read, the author is amazing (I've read AND loved some of her previous books). Just beware, it's a dark read and quite gripping. You'll get sucked right in.

The New York Times bestselling story of a friendship frozen between life and death Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all: hope.

Annika Arguemore

This book's depressing the hell out of me so I'm gonna put it down and never pick it back up again.


First of all, let me just say that I'm not very keen on the writing style. The author tries to be poetic but I don't see how it connects to the things. And it's all very descriptive sometimes which may appear realistic but it doesn't really connect to the scene presented either. I also began to notice that the story's not progressing as it should at this point (I'm already halfway). I can't go on with it anymore. The heroine's selfish and insecure and has acquired society's perspective on weight and I don't know if I should empathize with her, pity her or be annoyed with her but right now, I am annoyed with her. She makes food sound bad. She makes herself feel bad for being fat and that's just not the way to live. She looks at people weight-wise and it just infuriates me to the core. It depresses the hell out of me; hence, me giving up on this novel.


I don't know why people are calling this book important because it's probably written the way all the other YAs that revolve around Anorexia/Bulimia/etc are written.

trixie

it’s hard to give such heavy books star ratings bc even if the style is meh the good outweighs the bad?? probably?? idk it was a solid read

Melissa Palmer

Book # 48 Read in 2018
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

This was a re-read for me but still a great book. This will be the first book the students in my YA Literature read for class. Lia and Cassie are best friends....bonded by their desire to be skinny. Lia is anorexic and Cassie is bulimic. Cassie dies at the beginning of the book and Lia may soon follow. Will she be able to get herself help in time? A gripping look at eating disorders in teenagers and how their thought process on their body images work. A must read for every high school girl, parent and teacher.

Lara Engle

Another compelling story by Laurie Halse Anderson. Anderson writes teenagers like real teenagers. Her stories uncover some of the deepest, darkest secrets real teens struggle with every day. As a woman and a mom, I found Lia's life to be distressing and heartbreaking. Cassie's death is tragic, but the bigger tragedy is all the girls walking around hiding this struggle every day.

My only complaint is that the ending seemed sudden and contrived. I don't know if it's realistic or not. It might be. I'm just not sure.

Antonia Marie

** spoiler alert **
           It’s written really poetic and beautiful and gives hope for the good especially in the end. I loved the relationship Cassie and Lia had and I simple adored it. I took incredibly long to finish it because I needed to process the different aspects and chapters of the book.

Jeannette Ordas

I found this book pretty engrossing, but having read it almost over a week ago, it didn't really stick. Sure, it was an emotional ride about a girl teetering on the brink of death via anorexia, cutting and mental illness but no matter how powerful those scenes were, there was also a lot of incidental characters and situations that just didn't add up for me.

Rachel Evans

(3.5/5) 2 hours - I've read Wintergirls so many times I've lost count. It is a book that conflicts me everytime, as it is simultaneously quite poetic yet blunt, and dull yet intriguing. I do like that the main character is never presented as a good person - her disorder has interfered with her relationships significantly, and she has done bad things because of it, but she is increasingly haunted by her actions or lack thereof. However, it does feel a little irresponsible of a book, almost a 'how-to' guide for disordered eating behaviours.

Nicole Dykeman

Laurie Halse Anderson is a really incredible writer. This book was so well written. It honestly feels like you're stepping out of your own life and into Lia's. You feel what she feels and follow her thought process step by step. The content in this book is really heavy. Anorexia, depression, and self-harm are really tough subject matters to write about but Anderson does it with an elegance that doesn't take away from the impact. Powerful read.

assustador o quão relatable algumas coisas foram 

taci

Naomi

good prose. characters felt one dimensional

Eleanor Luhar

Another book based on eating disorders, which I'd definitely not recommend for anyone recovering or struggling with these issues. It also includes a lot of self harm and suicidal references, so just be warned.

This was another amazing book. I personally suffer with both anorexia and self harm, so this was so incredibly relatable to me. One major difference is Lia's relationship with Cassie - her best friend who suffers with bulimia. The two of them encourage each other through their weight loss journeys, giving tips and even challenging each other to become the thinnest. I could not imagine having a relationship like this. I know several other eating disordered people, one of whom is a good friend, and we would never dream of acting like this. It was quite sick, honestly - I hate all the pro-ana stuff. But I suppose some people do it.

A quick observation: they never actually use the terms "anorexia" or "bulimia" which is interesting. There's often a sort of rivalry portrayed between the two disorders, and the diagnosis of anorexia is held as some sort of accomplishment. It was refreshing to read a book that doesn't mention that, and even sees them 'working together'.

At the very start of the book, Cassie dies. Lia eventually learns how exactly that happens, but refuses to let it affect her because her and Cassie had fallen out a while ago. Lia's eating habits seem to be getting worse (again) and her family think it's Cassie's death that's triggered her, but Lia denies it. But when Cassie's ghost starts haunting her and begging her to join her, Lia realises how out of hand it's become.

The little details of the eating disorder were fantastic. The way Lia always quotes calories whenever talking/thinking of food, her estimating every other woman's BMI against her own, even her initial "I want/need food" that she denies. It all felt so much like my own experience.

The ending was definitely one of those "inspiring" types; who ever would've thought Lia would actually work with the unit she'd been admitted to so many times and actually try to recover? I liked how honest this was, though. It wasn't just a simple, clean recovery. There were fears and bad days and also the realisation that she had been avoiding real life, afraid of it. It's hard to confront the underlying issues of a disorder like this.

I really loved this. It was just so accurate and inspiring and actually made me cry a bit. It did trigger me at times, but that;s probably just because I'm in a bit of a wobbly place right now. The ending has definitely provided me with hope, though. (Usually these books are focused on younger girls, but Lia is my age. It makes me feel like maybe I still have time to find my motive to recover.) 5 stars.

Samiha Tasnim

The glasses vibrate with little screams when I touch them. If I pick them up, they’ll shatter. “


For one moment we are not failed tests and broken condoms and cheating on essays; we are crayons and lunch boxes and swinging so high our sneakers punch holes in the clouds. For one breath everything feels better.


She offered herself to the big, bad wolf and didn’t scream when he took the first bite.


Why? You want to know why? Step into a tanning booth and fry yourself for two or three days. After your skin bubbles and peels off, roll in coarse salt, then pull on long underwear woven from spun glass and razor wire. Over that goes your regular clothes, as long as they are tight. Smoke gunpowder and go to school to jump through hoops, sit up and beg, and roll over on command. Listen to the whispers that curl into your head at night, calling you ugly and fat and stupid and bitch and whore and worst of all “a disappointment.” Puke and starve and cut and drink because you don’t want to feel any of this. Puke and starve and cut and drink because you need an anesthetic and it works. For a while. But then the anesthetic turns into poison and by then it’s too late because you are main-lining it now, straight into your soul. It is rotting you and you can’t stop. Look in a mirror and find a ghost. Hear every heartbeat scream that everysinglething is wrong with you.
“Why?” is the wrong question. Ask “Why not?”


The crap we put up with when we’re awake every day—school, house, house, mall, world—is bad enough. Shouldn’t I at least get a break when I’m asleep? Or, if I’m doomed to be haunted by ghosts, shouldn’t they only work at night, and dissolve when hit by sunlight?


In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves, and sometimes we do such a good job, we lose track of reality.


If I had lady-spider legs, I would weave a sky where the stars lined up. Mattresses would be tied down tight to their trucks, bodies would never crash through windshields. The moon would rise above the wine-dark sea and give babies only to maidens and musicians who had prayed long and hard. Lost girls wouldn’t need compasses or maps. They would find gingerbread paths to lead them out of the forest and home again.


When you’re alive, people can hurt you. It’s easier to crawl into a bone cage or a snowdrift of confusion. It’s easier to lock everybody out. But it’s a lie.


I’m learning how to be angry and sad and lonely and joyful and excited and afraid and happy. I am learning how to taste everything.


The tiny elf dancer became a wooden doll whose strings were jerked by people not paying attention.

Emily Ruth Carter

A difficult but strongly written book. Captures the issue and struggle perfectly.

shalee olsen

"Cassie swims through the double doors, shoeless, the blue dress rippling against her body. Her hair streams behind her, tangled and braided with seaweed ribbons. Tiny snails are suckered onto her neck and fingers. She drifts over the first table, scanning the room. I stare deep into my yogurt"...

"Cassie swims faster, circling around the bowl, looking for me. I wonder if the see-glass is still in her belly. She'll have to puke it up if she wants to see her future. But maybe that works different when you're dead."

I have never read a book written like this one. It takes you into the darkest and truest place of someone who is truly going through something terrible. Its honest, and very very dark. But it took me on a journey I haven't experienced in a book before.

The pain that eating disorders and suicide/death is so deeply explored and you really get to understand Emmas sick and toxic mind. I have never felt so much pain for a character before. 
Highly highly recommend.

Ruth Parker 

This book is an acquired taste for sure. You’ll either love or hate the writing style and while I definitely didn’t hate it at all - the writing was amazing in parts - some of the stylistic choices did bother me, like the crossed out words. I get why it was done, totally understand. But it did get on my nerves a bit. 
What made this book special to me was the raw honesty of the main character and the world I felt myself sucked into. 
Trigger warnings for eating disorders and self harm as well as mental health.

3.5

First book finished for Genrethon, April 2016.

I had a hard time rating this book, mostly because I'm having a hard time summing up my thoughts on this book. I really love Laurie Halse Anderson's writing, and that definitely did not change with this book. I find her writing style very unique and something that is easy for me to read. That being said, this particular story didn't really click for me. It wasn't that it was a bad story, or that I didn't like the characters. I didn't understand the purpose of Elijah's character, and I had a hard time connecting with Lia, the main character. Other than that, the story went by quickly. It was a good book, I just personally didn't really connect with it the way that I was expecting to.

I may do a full review of this in the future. Maybe then I can wrap my head around how I feel about this book a little bit better.

Anastaciya

At first I thought the story was somewhat freak-ish. But then I really liked its style. The performance of the audio book narrated by Jeannie Stith was just perfect. The beeps, the voices... May be it can really be helpful for girls with eating disorders, but I never had anything like it, thank God, so it was really hard to imagine that things like this can really happen.

Valentina Di Martino

"La storia di Lia è una stanza buia, una porta senza maniglia, un battito di cuore accelerato.

Una vita intrecciata ad un’altra, quella di Cassie. Due anime legate da un’ossessione e un giuramento a cui tenere fede, un patto di sangue. (...)"


Il resto della recensione -->> http://lunicornoladazelarmadio.it/win...

Michelle Boyea

I got through 60% and then I had to stop. The writing style was awful and was a struggle to understand each page. The story line itself was wonderful but could have been written so much better. It talks about a very hard topic which we do need to address with young girls. Just written poorly in my opinion.

Elad Schulman

Wow. This book was so raw, and that made it so hard for me to read. At times I had to push myself to continue reading. Every scene was so descriptive, and I was so disturbed by some parts that it made me cry. When i started this book, I knew it would be hard, but it was so much more difficult then i thought. This is such an important book, but it had it's flaws. It was so hard for me to connect with Lia, although I knew why that was. I just loved this book so much.

mazzy.

Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Wintergirls

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