Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lia and Cassie were always the best of friends. They called themselves the Wintergirls, the two were competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But Lia had not spoken to Cassie in months after her trip into the hospital when her weight hit the danger zone.

Now, Lia finds that Cassie has died alone in a motel and all Lia wants is answers to what happened. Lia had ignored Cassie’s numerous phone calls and is now carrying guilt over the loss of her friend which starts a downward spiral of calorie counting and refusal to eat.

To be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of Wintergirls when I first started reading this one. I found the pace a bit slow while Lia was often a bit frantic and wasn’t even sure I wanted to continue to read and finish the whole book. When done though I was glad I did as this one is a look into a territory that I was not at all familiar with and I think it does a good job showing what a girl like Lia is going through.

Lia is an extremely flawed character. Not only is she anorexic but she is also into cutting herself and had never felt comfortable in her own skin. These may be problems that most cannot relate to but this fictional work seemed to give a realistic look into these problems that a lot of young girls do suffer from. If anything give this one a try just to get a look into a world that isn’t easy to understand.

Lia’s story grew on me as it went on and I’d recommend checking this one out to anyone that is the least bit curious about this disease and what someone in Lia’s position could possibly be thinking.