Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Goodreads Summary:
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.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

Release Date: March 19th, 2009
Series?no
Pages: 278
Publisher: Viking Juvenile


LONG STORY SHORT:

This is a book on a very difficult topic which makes it very difficult for me to write a review for it. I have to say I didn't love Wintergirls. Of course, it's not possible to enjoy a book like that but I also didn't love the way the topic was presented. I would say you can read it and you will probably be satisfied and many people liked it quite a lot, but I hope to find a book that tackles the topic of anorexia a bit better than this one did.

REVIEW:

I won this book in a Giveaway, but I could  choose which one I wanted to receive and I decided it should be Wintergirls because I've heard so much praise for Laurie Halse Anderson and especially this book that I wanted to check it out.

I have to say I was disappointed. I mean I raced through Wintergirls in one setting but that was more because I wanted to know how everything would turn out. You know, like you stay in the hospital to find out if your friend is recovering. I didn't read it in one sitting because of the writing style or the plot or the characters or anything, really.

As far as the characters go - yes, they are realistic. That's what I'm always looking for in characters - usually. But I just didn't warm up to Lia - not one bit. She was a stranger to me until the end. The fact that we got to know about her past in flashbacks did not change that. I mean, it showed me how the eating disorder evolved, how she got into the mess she found herself in. But I didn't know Lia as a person. She always seemed to be driving around with her car, without any reason.

That made the plot a fail for me, too. It was already very slow, not much happening, many thoughts. But then there were the flashbacks thrown in too and while I found some of those very important - some also were completely pointless.

When she started seeing Cassie it was too much for me. I felt like there were too many issues Lia had to face to put into one book and some things were clearly missing for me.

And then there was that guy. One word: weird.

All in all, I think this book was okay but I was hoping for a lot more. I thought I'd cry or maybe at least be so involved in the story, feel sorry for Lia, but  Wintergirls just didn't affect me the way I expected it would.