Name: Monicap's review of Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
Item: Say What You Will
Rating: 3
Author: Monicap

Cammie McGovern

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them. Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized. When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

Say What You Will

Emily C Peterson

Monicap

While I appreciate the fact that this book is to bring awareness of disabilities, I think it was handled the wrong way.

For one thing, I'm still confused as to what exactly Amy's disability is. I think at one point in the middle to last half of the book someone said CP, but for the first half it just seemed to be some unspecified disability with many debilitating symptoms.

Second, there is NO WAY Matthew's OCD went untreated that long. Someone--his mom, his teachers, guidance councilors, (OTHER students noticed) would have noticed and done something. Even if his mom couldn't pay for treatment, the school would have provided some kind of support. 

Thirdly, I truly detest the stereotype that "Amy has no friends because she always ate lunch in the resources room with no one but her teacher aide". In a school of, maybe, 500 students I could buy that. But Matthew said that the school was 16,000 students and he oughtta know. There would have been other kids with disabilities sitting in the resources with her. 

I'm sorry, but this is just what I think about it.

I have a disability, more on the level of Matthew's than Amy's, but because of my lesser impact disability, I have known several people throughout my life with more serious disabilities, like Amy. And while I did like the characters of Amy and Matthew and how they represented people with disabilities, I still think the author presented them a bit untruthfully.

Hannah Yang

I've decided that it's possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back. It's sad, perhaps, but not tragic, unless you dwell forever in the pursuit of their elusive affections.

... says the back of Say What You Will. And indeed, this book is about the relationship between Amy, who has cerebal palsy, and Matthew, who has OCD. First they are acquaintances, barely friends, but Amy's parents "hire" some of her peers to become her friends, and Matthew is one of them. Matthew becomes her best friend, nearly-boyfriend, and then... I don't even know.

Say What You Will was decently written, and I liked how the two characters alternated in helping each other: first Matthew helps Amy face the reality of her disability, and Amy helps Matthew face the fact that he has a problem. Both characters were alright, but they were plain and I never felt a connection to either of them. More importantly, I didn't really feel a connection between them. Especially considering that everything almost happens with the two characters, but not really.

I didn't like where the plot went after Amy and Matthew have a fight about Amy having sex with Sanjay (and that plot twist was one I didn't really understand either - perhaps I'm just too young for this?). It sort of just spiraled out of control for me - like it was aiming for something but it didn't quite make it.

By the end of the novel, I was really just asking the question my English teacher asks about my poorly written thesis statements: so what? What was the point of Say What You Will?

I had a feeling that the ending, Amy's play, was supposed to deliver some grand message.

  It was about acceptanace, he thought. About realizing no one is perfect and no one can expect to change someone else.
I have to admit that I shared the same thoughts on Amy's play as Matthew.

  Which was a nice message, but also- he had to admit- sort of a confusing one.
What was Amy's point - that she wasted her time trying to "fix" his OCD? Whatever the message was, it didn't really follow the theme that the rest of the book had. Oh, wait, was there a theme that the rest of the book had? I don't know.

The ending was unsatisfying. I'm glad that Amy was finally able to say the dreaded I love you, not that Matthew returned it. I'm glad that they were sort of able to have a clean slate, to just have a nice summer. Yet, I am unsatisfied, because I didn't think Say What You Will conveyed any clear message at all. It was a smooth and relatively quick read, and even entertaining at times, but for the most part I was just wondering - when will it get to the point?

I suppose I'm more disappointed than I would have been if I had no expectations to start with, but I was expecting a different sort of story when I came into Say What You Will (with younger characters, for starters). I do think that this book had a lot of potential to be a great story, but sometimes with novels it's a hit-or-miss. This one missed.

In summary: Say What You Will had a promising plot that went an unconventional route, fairly flat characters we never really get to know apart from their obvious quirks, decent writing but nothing that really stood out, and to me, wasn't really worth finishing. However, I'm sure other (perhaps more mature) readers would enjoy the novel, so give it a go if you'd like.


  "Like, really annoying. I had a soda thrown at me."
Yeah, Matthew, sometimes I did want to throw soda at you. You too, Amy.

Jeannette Ordas

This is a sweetly awkward friendship and romance between two people, one with Cerebral Palsy and the other with OCD. The story really spans time and I found the first part of the book more gripping than the last. Still, whenever I put it down, I wondered what would happen next, so that's always a good sign.

Sarahi Flores

I found this type of topic quite meaningful. I don't know anyone with cerebral palsy nor anyone with OCD and to try to understand in their perspective was like an eye opener. I enjoyed the story it was funny and sad and we'll all.of the above.

Myla Larsen

Say what you will is a great book if you are into a sort of sappy love story. Love stories aren't really my thing but some how I got hooked in.

Sofi Claros

** spoiler alert **
           Let me just say this:
After the pregnancy, i absolutely lost every interest I had in this book, I worked though it, and nothing could save it.
Amy was SO SELFISH!!! It felt like Amy could be a bitch (because she was) just because she had CP and no one could tell her anything because of that! For a girl that can't talk she sure as hell had too much to say
Probably the worst MC I've ever had to read

Amy Grieve

Almost a five star read for me, beautifully written with a heart warming story. Impulsively readable, so much so that it compelled me to read the entire story in less than one day.

b.andherbooks

Amy has Cerebral Palsy and relies on computer to give her a voice. Matthew has undiagnosed OCD and lives in fear that his actions will cause harm to others. When they are paired together at school (Matthew becomes Amy's student aide), they realize their weaknesses complement the others' strengths. A series of events causes hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and revelations as Amy and Matthew also navigate their growing feelings for each other.

Beautifully narrated by voice actor Rebecca Lowman, I enjoyed this tale but found it a big long and over wrought at times. The switches between Matthew and Amy's perspective meant a bit of repetition in the action of the story. I also didn't feel Matthew was very believable at times; he was almost "too perfect," especially for a teenage boy. I loved him, but I often was like, "really?"

But, still charming, sad, and a great story with non-traditional characters. Bravo!

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  kimberlyfaye reads
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I'm at a bit of a loss with this book. I kept putting off reading it because I was afraid it would make me an emotional mess. But really, the opposite was true. It didn't make me feel much of anything, except slightly uncomfortable because of the unflinchingly honest way it addressed everything. Maybe that was the goal, I'm not sure. It made me think and I really believe I'm still processing everything I read, but if I'm honest, it let me down a little. The blurb compares it to John Green and Rainbow Rowell's books, and with all due respect, I have to disagree. Some of the themes might have been similar, but I never fail to FEEL when reading books written by John or Rainbow. I just didn't get that with Say What You Will. 

There's not a whole lot of diversity in YA fiction right now – and if you've seen the social media campaigns, it is being addressed and people are quite vocal. Say What You Will offered diverse characters and that was one of the best things about it. Not only are the characters diverse, they're complicated. Amy has cerebral palsy. Matthew has an anxiety disorder. They were both lovely characters. But because the book was written in third person, I missed the connection to them. I wanted in their heads. Amy was smart and funny and blunt. Matthew was sweet and thoughtful and caring. I feel like I missed out on some of the best part of these characters and their growing friendship (and more) by reading it in third person. 

The pace of Say What You Will was slow, but I don't think that was a bad thing. I enjoyed the way Amy and Matthew's friendship, and the other more complicated feelings, developed. It seemed realistic. It was endearing to watch how they helped each other and how they learned each was more than what they appeared on the outside. I never felt like sitting the book down until the point where the thing happened at the 77% mark that I just couldn't wrap my head around. I'm sorry, it was a little too farfetched for me and it felt really forced. That's the only time the book almost lost me, but I wasn't giving up then. I had to know how the story ended. The ending? A little too vague for my liking, but since I wasn't wholly invested in the characters, I found it difficult to be too mad about it. 

Overall, Say What You Will was a beautifully written, if understated, book. In all honesty, it's more of a 3.5 stars, but I don't give halves and I just can't round it up to 4 stars. The characters were charming and their struggles were believable, but I never fully connected to them because of the third person point of view. I felt more like an observer than someone who was living it with them. I would recommend this book because I think it delivers an important message about looking beyond the outward appearance to find the real person below. I think teens and no-longer teens alike will take something away from this book. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Nadia Leontescu

I enjoyed the overcoming fear and disabilities theme in both characters and the switch between perspectives. As I'm writing this, I don't remember the book all that well, so I guess that will tell you something. But I still really liked it.

Emily C Peterson &
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

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