Helpful Score: 2
Phew. This may end up being sort of hard for me to review. I'll try to keep it brief and to the point.
The writing style - the scratched out words and occasional missing spaces didn't bother me. The caloric count after foods didn't bother me. The "weight" (were those weight numbers?) at the beginning of the chapters irked me to no end.
Something I don't like about this book and some other YA (actually, this can include another few genres but it's far more prevalent in YA) is the goofy descriptions. I can't find any specific examples right now but sentences about gauze shadowing brain, things of that nature. And yes, I *get* it. Fear not. I get it. I don't like it. I like more direct writing honestly.
I liked Lia for the most part I think. My two favorite characters, believe it or not, were Elijah and Emma. From the moment they entered the story until the last page they were my favorites and I think they were invaluable to the story even though it could be said they played rather small roles.
I think most, if not all, of the physical parts of Lia's problem were portrayed realistically. The mental parts? I don't know. This type of problem, all of them actually, the cutting, the mental, the depression, the anorexia, is all foreign to me thankfully. But, since it's not something I know much about it's hard for me to swallow the whole seeing ghost thing. I feel like that maybe could have been done differently and therefore, better. Maybe instead of seeing an actual Cassie-ghost Lia's memories could have been her ghosts. As well they were. But without the Cassie-ghost there "in the flesh".
One of my favorite things about Laurie Halse Anderson is that she tackles these hard teen subjects and that she does it well. Speak has stayed with me although I read it two or three years ago.
I also want to mention that her acknowledgments were beautiful. I try to read those when I can and when they're bland I give up but even in this part of things her talent shines through. The author thanks Alexandre Denomay for the cover pic and I must also. The cover depicts Lia perfectly for me and even as a pic alone, not being a cover, it's phenomenal.
The writing style - the scratched out words and occasional missing spaces didn't bother me. The caloric count after foods didn't bother me. The "weight" (were those weight numbers?) at the beginning of the chapters irked me to no end.
Something I don't like about this book and some other YA (actually, this can include another few genres but it's far more prevalent in YA) is the goofy descriptions. I can't find any specific examples right now but sentences about gauze shadowing brain, things of that nature. And yes, I *get* it. Fear not. I get it. I don't like it. I like more direct writing honestly.
I liked Lia for the most part I think. My two favorite characters, believe it or not, were Elijah and Emma. From the moment they entered the story until the last page they were my favorites and I think they were invaluable to the story even though it could be said they played rather small roles.
I think most, if not all, of the physical parts of Lia's problem were portrayed realistically. The mental parts? I don't know. This type of problem, all of them actually, the cutting, the mental, the depression, the anorexia, is all foreign to me thankfully. But, since it's not something I know much about it's hard for me to swallow the whole seeing ghost thing. I feel like that maybe could have been done differently and therefore, better. Maybe instead of seeing an actual Cassie-ghost Lia's memories could have been her ghosts. As well they were. But without the Cassie-ghost there "in the flesh".
One of my favorite things about Laurie Halse Anderson is that she tackles these hard teen subjects and that she does it well. Speak has stayed with me although I read it two or three years ago.
I also want to mention that her acknowledgments were beautiful. I try to read those when I can and when they're bland I give up but even in this part of things her talent shines through. The author thanks Alexandre Denomay for the cover pic and I must also. The cover depicts Lia perfectly for me and even as a pic alone, not being a cover, it's phenomenal.
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