Sunday, April 19, 2009

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson Review and Giveaway



5 stars

Seventeen year old Lia has been struggling with anorexia for years. Her best friend Cassie struggles with bulimia. When Lia is released from her rehabilitation program for the second time, Cassie tells her she's a bad influence and she doesn't want to be her friend anymore. A few months later, Cassie is found dead in a motel room alone. She left thirty three messages for Lia the night before, but Lia wouldn't return her calls. Now, Lia is seeing Cassie's ghost everywhere and while on a mission to find out how Cassie died, Lia begins spiraling out of control.

Wintergirls is told completely from the perspective of Lia. You are in her head from page one. At first, I thought the writing style was a little weird, but I quickly caught on to what the author was doing. There are parts of the book that are crossed out because it shows you what Lia's first thought was and then what she ended up actually saying or doing. Anderson really succeeded in making me feel like I was in this confused, scared teenager's head. This book is very raw and very powerful. I'd definitely recommend it.


Giveaway

Now for the fun part! This will be my first giveaway! The book is a paperback ARC. It has been read twice. Once by me and once by my sister. Now, no one in my household smokes, but my sister does. I don't think the book smells like smoke, but I thought I would warn you just in case. If you would like the chance to win, please leave a comment below. For a second chance to win, let me know what your favorite young adult book of all time is. I will draw a winner on April 30th and ship the book on May 1st. Good luck!

24 comments:

MonieG said...

Great review. I've heard so many great things about this book and have been wanting to read it for a while. Thanks for the chance to win.

Katie said...

I'd love to win this giveaway! Laurie Halse Anderson is a somewhat local author, from a town about 45 minutes away... I've never read her work before, but would love for this to be the first!

Anonymous said...

I've read so many great reviews of this - I'd love to win!

I like a lot of YA books, but one of the ones that always comes to mind when I try to think of my favorite is Pirates! by Celia Rees.

nnjmom at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Please enter me. I've been really wanting to read this book desperately. Thanks!

tiffanyak1986(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

My favorite young adult book of all time would probably be one of the Harry Potter books. Otherwise, the Percy Jackson stories are surprisingly fun and entertaining. Though, my favorite as a kid was probably 'Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher'.

tiffanyak1986(at)hotmail(dot)com

Shannon said...

Love your blog! I'm going to bookmark it and come visit more often!

My favorite YA book is probably Forever by Judy Blume. I just remember loving it back when I was a YA!

Anonymous said...

This book looks great! I love YA books so it's hard to pick one but I love the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

Jenny said...

This sounds very good. I have speak sitting here waiting for me to read it. I'm beginning to really like YA books very much. Thanks

Amanda said...

This sounds wonderful, and I have yet to read anything by Laurie Halse Anderson. Please enter me, too!

My favorite YA book is either Pretties by Scott Westerfeld or The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson.

My email is amandagignac [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I've heard so many great things about this book. Another book i've heard--and said--so many great things about is the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Kayla (Midnight Twilight)
midnighttwilight101[at]yahoo.com

BioPeach said...

Terrific review- I definitely want to read this- sounds like something my sister would like as well.
My favorite young adult book of all time is Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian.
It was the first book that ever made me cry- and laugh and everytime I even look at my new copy of it, I feel happy & nostalgic.

Desert Rose said...

You got an award waiting :) please pick it up here ..

http://desertrosebooklogue.blogspot.com/2009/04/2009-friendly-blogger-award.html

Anonymous said...

My favorite ya book so far is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I kind of feel like kids today are so lucky to be surrounded by the great books published for them.

Vasilly

Anonymous said...

That's a really cool cover :)

My favorite YA book probably has to be...man, I can't decide!! I loved reading all of R.L. Stine's Goosebump books and his Fear Street series, as well as K.A. Applegate's Animorphs series, but I'm probably going to say my favorite is Downsiders by Neal Shusterman. Neal Shusterman is a really great author, and if you have no idea who I'm talking about, you should totally go check him out!!

jaam121388 at yahoo dot com

KR said...

I'd love this.

mj.coward[at]gmail.com

Laina said...

I once brought some books to the library and a librarian thought they smelled like smoke. My mom does smoke, but the librarian had never noticed anything before, so it puzzled me. Later that day, I remembered that my mom had made burgers for supper one day and the house got a bit smoky (that's normal, lol). So it's probably unlikely that the book would smell like smoke and you don't need to worry. :)

If you don't mind Canadian entries, I'd like to enter the contest.

I don't know if I have a favourite YA book, there's just so many I like. Even a top ten is too few for me, lol.

Laina1312@gmail.com

Samantha LeAnne said...

I would love to be entered!
Picking my favorite YA book is seriously hard...I think Speak, Twilight, and The Hunger Games are really up there on my list of favorites though.

Vera said...

Please enter me!

vvperesk@gmail.com

Vera said...

My favorite YA book is "What I Saw, and How I Lied"

vvperesk@gmail.com

Silvia said...

Nice review. I really wanted to read this one but I haven't had a chance yet so I'd love to enter the contest.

My fav YA book, well it will be either Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer or The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.


silvia_pi@hotmail.es

Llehn said...

I'd love to win this book! My favorite book of all time is HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins!

babygirlG said...

Great review! Now I want to read it! My favorite YA book ever is Twilight.

Jennifer said...

I'm stopping the entries now!

Thanks so much to everyone for entering. I'm going to put everyone's name in a hat and draw a winner. Be back shortly with the name. Good luck!

Jennifer said...

Vasilly is the winner! I've left a message for Vasilly. If I haven't received a response by Sunday, I'll draw another name. Thanks so much everyone!