Review | Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern *6/10 stars*
12:41 PM
Say What You Will
by Cammie McGovern
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: I own an eCopy
My Rating: 6/10 Stars
Summary
John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.
Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.
When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.
When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
My verdict
I went into this book with high expectations, after having heard (and read) so many good things about it. I was disappointed.
The first half was basically 'hmm... okay' for me. I ditched it at first but later picked it back up after a friend told me 'no no, there'll be a major twist after the first fifty percent. Keep reading!'. So I read the latter half. There were some 'ahh' and 'awwww' moments, and a lot of 'gaaahhh!' I'm-gonna-fling-my-eReader-across-the-room moments (I got pretty close to breaking my reader. Don't worry, it survived. I can't actually fling it across the room. I love my Kindle.)
Amy, for the most part, seemed a very annoying character. And dense. Yes. I didn't have any problem with the other characters, just Amy. And it was sort of funny how much the Indian guy resembled Rajesh Koothrapalli from The Big Bang Theory. Matthew though, the sweet, lovable guy with OCD, was my favorite character in this book. He actually seemed like someone I can be friends with. No, I'm not being sarcastic.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this one. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad. But it's not that kind of good either, which one would expect after reading the book blurb stating -
"John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel."
I'm a couple of chapters into Eleanor and Park. Let me mention, that book got me hooked after ONE page. Seriously. I'm diving back into it as soon as I finish typing out this review. And as for The Fault in Our Stars, man it's one hell of a tear jerk-er! No book has ever made me laugh/smile/cry as much as TFIOS did. I had to take mini breaks to properly finish laughing at some paragraphs, and got puffy red shut-swollen eyes after crying so much at others. The only other times I cried when reading a book were -
1. When Sirius Black died in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and
2. When Fred Weasley (OMG whyyyyyy *sobs*) died in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, closely followed by Remus and Tonks (why why why *sniffs* Damn, my heart broke at that ending).
So no. Say What You Will doesn't compare to these two books. I did not get any feels. I did not laugh, smile or cry. I just found it to be a quick, 'okay' read. The ending did not have any impact at all on me either. I won't say don't read it, but I can't say 'OMG you have to read it!' either. So, I guess, you can give it a try. Maybe you'll find some hidden spark, that I couldn't. Let me know what you think about it. Happy reading!
The first half was basically 'hmm... okay' for me. I ditched it at first but later picked it back up after a friend told me 'no no, there'll be a major twist after the first fifty percent. Keep reading!'. So I read the latter half. There were some 'ahh' and 'awwww' moments, and a lot of 'gaaahhh!' I'm-gonna-fling-my-eReader-across-the-room moments (I got pretty close to breaking my reader. Don't worry, it survived. I can't actually fling it across the room. I love my Kindle.)
Amy, for the most part, seemed a very annoying character. And dense. Yes. I didn't have any problem with the other characters, just Amy. And it was sort of funny how much the Indian guy resembled Rajesh Koothrapalli from The Big Bang Theory. Matthew though, the sweet, lovable guy with OCD, was my favorite character in this book. He actually seemed like someone I can be friends with. No, I'm not being sarcastic.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this one. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad. But it's not that kind of good either, which one would expect after reading the book blurb stating -
"John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel."
I'm a couple of chapters into Eleanor and Park. Let me mention, that book got me hooked after ONE page. Seriously. I'm diving back into it as soon as I finish typing out this review. And as for The Fault in Our Stars, man it's one hell of a tear jerk-er! No book has ever made me laugh/smile/cry as much as TFIOS did. I had to take mini breaks to properly finish laughing at some paragraphs, and got puffy red shut-swollen eyes after crying so much at others. The only other times I cried when reading a book were -
1. When Sirius Black died in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and
2. When Fred Weasley (OMG whyyyyyy *sobs*) died in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, closely followed by Remus and Tonks (why why why *sniffs* Damn, my heart broke at that ending).
So no. Say What You Will doesn't compare to these two books. I did not get any feels. I did not laugh, smile or cry. I just found it to be a quick, 'okay' read. The ending did not have any impact at all on me either. I won't say don't read it, but I can't say 'OMG you have to read it!' either. So, I guess, you can give it a try. Maybe you'll find some hidden spark, that I couldn't. Let me know what you think about it. Happy reading!
0 comments