Favorite Friday

This is going to be another one of those fun little things like my Top Three Tuesdays that I do. For Favorite Fridays, I will going to talk about one of my favorite things about books, or even related to books. For example, I could talk about my favorite cover, plot, title, relationships, characters, series, movie adaptation, fan fiction, fan art, et cetera. Pretty much anything to do with a book. I'll post one every Friday! 

Today's favorite: writing style from Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

This book is sometimes a really hard read, which doesn't surprise me. It's triggering, honestly. But it definitely has something about this book that makes me always want to reread it, and it's because of the writing style. 

The main character Lia struggles with anorexia, and you can see how bad she is actually struggling with it because of how Halse Anderson writes in it. Here's an excerpt:

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"'Why don't you have one of the muffins? I bought oranges yesterday, or you could have toast or frozen waffles.'

Because I can't let myself want them because I don't need a muffin (410), I don't want an orange (75) or toast (87), and waffles (180) make me gag."

***

I think the way that she strikes through just adds a lot to the story. It's Lia's real thoughts, but she can't be thinking those thoughts as long as she doesn't want to go back to hell on the hill New Seasons, the mental institution she has stayed at twice. She'll add the calorie intake in the parentheses, and the'll right align some text when it talks about how Cassie was found dead, and it'll repeat the news report. When she cuts herself, the text is centered and she calls herself names like stupid, ugly, fat, et cetera. Everything is just so well written, original, and just great, honestly. It brings you through Lia's mind perfectly. It is seriously the best, most well written book I've ever read, which is why it gets the first spot of my Favorite Friday.