Author: Cammie McGovern
Format Acquired: ARC
Publication Date: June 3, 2014
Publishing House: Harper Teen
ISBN: 9780062318114
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher
Summary:
Amy and Matthew didn't know each other, really. They weren't friends. Matthew remembered her, sure, but he remembered a lot of people from elementary school that he wasn't friends with now.
Matthew never planned to tell Amy what he thought of her cheerful facade, but after he does, Amy realizes she needs someone like him in her life.
As they begin to spend more time with each other, Amy learns that Matthew has his own secrets and she decides to try to help him in the same way he's helped her. And when what started out as friendship turns into something neither of them expected, they realize that they tell each other everything - except the one thing that matters most.
Review:
Matthew didn't really plan on becoming one of Amy's peer helpers. It makes him feel a little bit awkward. Because Amy wrote an essay about her disabilities, and about how lucky she is that she is liberated from conventional expectations of her as a teenage girl living in America. While everyone applauded her piece, Matthew saw through her - and it was there when Amy realized that she needs someone like him in her life. And it doesn't take Matthew long to come to the conclusion that he needs someone like her to push him into his life.
Say What You Will puts together a quirky teenage girl who is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, and a boy who has an intense affinity with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - and it works. I must admit that when I see disabled people, I am immediately called to sympathize with them. BUT if there's anything Amy taught me, it's that anyone's pity is definitely not needed, ergo uncalled for, and that while they are fragile on the outside, it doesn't mean that they are fragile on the inside as well. Amy is used to people treating her like a china doll, so the first person who doesn't see her that way will undoubtedly catch her attention. I loved them both in their own way because not once have they felt like characters in a book. Their personalities and identities were very realistic, so it just felt like I was reading a friend's free-for-all diary. (I also loved especially the lyrics to Mr. Careful. Someone turn it into an actual song please.)
Say What You Will will definitely catch readers off-guard at how the storyline progresses. In all honesty, I can count on my hand the number of times that a book has made me feel. I classified this book under my I-never-knew-what-feels-meant-until-this. Every emotion may be spelled out there, given Amy's personality, but there is an underlying subtlety that is pretty much undetected... until McGovern sucker-punches you on the face with it and forces it down your throat.
This book is recommended for people who want their very much solid insides turning into mush and then turning back into solids. It was a very Feels! Feels! FEELS!!! book for me, and I do hope that this book finds a shelter in your bookshelves / eReaders as well.
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher
Summary:
Amy and Matthew didn't know each other, really. They weren't friends. Matthew remembered her, sure, but he remembered a lot of people from elementary school that he wasn't friends with now.
Matthew never planned to tell Amy what he thought of her cheerful facade, but after he does, Amy realizes she needs someone like him in her life.
As they begin to spend more time with each other, Amy learns that Matthew has his own secrets and she decides to try to help him in the same way he's helped her. And when what started out as friendship turns into something neither of them expected, they realize that they tell each other everything - except the one thing that matters most.
(Image, summary and information lifted from ARC)
Review:
Matthew didn't really plan on becoming one of Amy's peer helpers. It makes him feel a little bit awkward. Because Amy wrote an essay about her disabilities, and about how lucky she is that she is liberated from conventional expectations of her as a teenage girl living in America. While everyone applauded her piece, Matthew saw through her - and it was there when Amy realized that she needs someone like him in her life. And it doesn't take Matthew long to come to the conclusion that he needs someone like her to push him into his life.
Say What You Will puts together a quirky teenage girl who is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, and a boy who has an intense affinity with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - and it works. I must admit that when I see disabled people, I am immediately called to sympathize with them. BUT if there's anything Amy taught me, it's that anyone's pity is definitely not needed, ergo uncalled for, and that while they are fragile on the outside, it doesn't mean that they are fragile on the inside as well. Amy is used to people treating her like a china doll, so the first person who doesn't see her that way will undoubtedly catch her attention. I loved them both in their own way because not once have they felt like characters in a book. Their personalities and identities were very realistic, so it just felt like I was reading a friend's free-for-all diary. (I also loved especially the lyrics to Mr. Careful. Someone turn it into an actual song please.)
Say What You Will will definitely catch readers off-guard at how the storyline progresses. In all honesty, I can count on my hand the number of times that a book has made me feel. I classified this book under my I-never-knew-what-feels-meant-until-this. Every emotion may be spelled out there, given Amy's personality, but there is an underlying subtlety that is pretty much undetected... until McGovern sucker-punches you on the face with it and forces it down your throat.
This book is recommended for people who want their very much solid insides turning into mush and then turning back into solids. It was a very Feels! Feels! FEELS!!! book for me, and I do hope that this book finds a shelter in your bookshelves / eReaders as well.
Rating:
This book landed in my hands last week and I can't wait to give it a try. I love all the positive buzz it's getting! P.S. I love love love your layout!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds good, I am a huge fan of books that can make me FEEL!
ReplyDeletep.s Now following via GFC & Bloglovin' :))
Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist