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SpineOut : February - March 2018
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Daisy, Year 9 St Columba’s Catholic College Springwood NSW r SBOOK REVIEWS pine Out ear 9 St Columba’s Catholic College Springwood NSW r SBOOK REVIEWS pine Out FEBRUARY FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018 Wintergirls Laurie Halse Anderson Penguin W intergirls is a heart-breakingly tragic but beautiful story which portrays an 18-year old girl’s descent into the life-threatening disease of anorexia. Lia’s ex-best friend, Cassie, is discovered dead in a motel room. Lia suppresses the truth of receiving 33 calls and 33 messages from Cassie the evening she died. She also doesn’t speak of their New Year’s Pact to see who could become the skinniest. Under 100 pounds (approx. 46 kilos), Lia is racing ahead. But Lia isn’t safe, as Cassie’s ghost appears and haunts Lia, forcing her to meddle with things she shouldn’t. Cassie understood. She listened to everything that happened and she told me I was brave. Some readers will love the strength and willpower Lia demonstrates around the challenges she faces. Others will be utterly disappointed as Lia makes the life-threatening decision between the control of anorexia or the food to nourish her rapidly collapsing life. The author also displays an insight into anorexia and the true terror and manipulation of the illness. This is shown through the repetitive language spoken by the main protagonist Lia: The only number that would ever be enough is zero. Zero pounds, zero life, size zero, double zero, zero point. This explains to us that anorexia will never be happy until we are dead, and I highly agree that Anderson has shown this point strongly in Wintergirls. Anderson’s clever use of language has expressed in great detail the character development of Lia. You can sense when Lia is heading down hill, climbing back up or tumbling back down again, towards what seems an endless nightmare. The author creates Lia as a character who dwells on the past and this is proven through many flashbacks shown by Cassie’s ghost and Lia’s own terror. Wintergirls certainly engaged me as it posed a very real perspective on anorexia and other mental issues. I really enjoyed the psychological insight of Lia’s mind as she is going through the aftermath of Cassie’s death and the real presences she encounters while searching for the truth. Wintergirls is a novel for mature readers as it displays some disturbing and distressing scenes which would definitely startle young readers. I would also recommend this book to anyone interested in a better understanding of the eating disorder, anorexia. I rate Wintergirls 5 out of 5 or, if it was possible, I would give it 110%! BOOK REVIEWS Wintergirls, a novel that you must get your hands on.
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