Say What You Will

by Cammie McGovern

• ISBN10: 0062271113
• ISBN13: 9780062271112
• Publish Date: 5 May 2015 (first published 3 June 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[mrs_mander_reads]

Oh, my heart. Great read for older readers who enjoyed Wonder.

[Chelsea]

Thoughts When I Finished:

I’m not gonna lie, this book was a little weird for me. That last half totally threw me off guard and I didn’t really care for it after that. I’m slightly disappointed in the author for doing that.

What I Loved:

I basically loved the first half of this book. I’m finding we’re seeing a lot of books about mental disorders recently and I was happy to see that not only was that included in this book, but a physical disorder as well. It was kind of nice actually and I thought their romance was sweet up until about the half way mark. Amy was really honest but naive and Matthew was shy but sweet. They made a really cute couple and I was excited for a happy ending. Unfortunately I didn’t end up happy at the end of this book.

What I Didn’t Like:

The second half of this book bothered me. I’m trying really hard not to spoil it but this paragraph might not make sense unless you’ve read the book. Something happens with Amy just a little over half way that I was not expecting, which is normally a good thing, but I hate it when this happens in books (or movies or even real life). It feels to me like an easy way out for books and movies and I was really disappointed that this even happened. It wasn’t just that it happened, it was that it happened and then the focus of the book switched to that instead of the relationship between Amy and Matthew. It just felt like a weird sort of ending.

Who I’d recommend To:

I’d recommend this book to fans of cute teenage relationships. That’s the main focus of this book. Contemporary lovers will love this book because it focuses a lot on the not quite perfect characters. The POV’s are different because these characters think in such different ways and you’re always in for a surprise.

Quick Review:

This book started off really great and then slowly slipped into a disappointment. It was doing so well at the beginning being a different ya contemporary and then it picked up a few ya trends and that turned me off a little. I’m not saying don’t read it because it was very well written. I’m just saying don’t expect it to be a completely original YA book because it ends up being the same as a lot of others.

[boghunden]

This book has so much to say about love. It definitely made me think.



Likes:

• Hvad den her bog ikke har at sige om forelskelse og kærlighed… Suk! Den fik virkelig tankerne igang. Vi tænker ikke meget over det til dagligt, men de fysisk handicappede drømmer jo lige så meget om kærligheden som os andre. I Amys tilfælde handler det om, at hun ikke kan snakke uden sin Voicebox. Hun kan ikke altid styre sine bevægelser og sit hoved. Alligevel drømmer hun om kærligheden på præcis samme måde som alle andre gør. Og hvorfor skulle hun ikke også det? Hendes hoved fejler jo ingenting. Det gør hendes hjerte heller ikke. Hun er jo en helt almindelig teenagepige, som bare har nogle ekstra udfordringer. Jeg er vild med, hvordan bogen virkelig fik mig til at tænke over det. For når det kommer til stykket, har vi så i virkeligheden ikke alle lidt fordomme om, at folk som Amy aldrig vil få en kæreste? Men hvorfor egentlig ikke? Fantastisk, hvordan den fik en til at reflektere over tingene.

• Der er sms’er og emails i bogen og det giver et fint afbræk i den ellers normalt opsatte bog, og det kunne jeg godt lide. Er generelt vild med sms og email i mine bøger.

• Der kommer et plottwist i den her bog, som nok er et af de vildeste, jeg nogensinde har oplevet. Det var så vildt! Jeg havde slet, slet ikke set det komme, overhovedet!

• Sarah er en fantastisk biperson. Hun er virkelig en god ven overfor Amy. Så loyal og virkelig i bogstaveligste forstand en ven i nøden. Amy og Matthew groede også på mig; Amy med hendes fysiske udfordringer og en familie, der ikke håndterede alting som de måske burde, og Matthew med hans mentale udfordringer.

• En af de ting, vi hører meget i denne bog er, at “the fear is real, the danger is not.” Det handler om, at Matthew har nogle mentale udfordringer, og Amy lærer ham, at selvom angsten er reel nok, så er faren det ikke. Det synes jeg er værd at tanke over. Det er i hvert fald noget, jeg selv vil tage med mig.

Dislikes:

• Bogen startede utrolig langsomt ud, og jeg følte ikke rigtig noget for hverken Amy eller Matthew. De var der bare og det var ok, men heller ikke mere end det.

• Der er en lille ting ved plottwistet, der irriterede mig. Ville så gerne fortælle hvad det var, men spoilers….

[Bianca]

I've decided that it's possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back.

It's a huge deal to compare a book to THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and ELEANOR AND PARK. Not only are those two of the biggest contemporary YA titles ever, but they happen to be my two all time favorites. To say I was skeptical starting SAY WHAT YOU WILL is putting it mildly.

But, the comparison--to both titles--is a good one.

There are similarities in both characters and story, as well as writing style. That's not to say that SAY WHAT YOU WILL is better than the books it's being compared to (it's not), but it is a good book that fans of TFIOS and E&P should embrace.

As for the book itself, well, if I'm being honest, it made me uncomfortable a lot of the time. Like Green's Hazel and Gus, Amy and Matthew have physical circumstances that are often heartbreaking to read about. Amy's CP is not sugar coated or minimized, nor is Matthew's crippling OCD downplayed. Amy can't talk without a computer, she drools and can't close her mouth or smile. She makes uncontrolled sounds and movements. She uses a walker but needs help dressing and eating. Matthews issues aren't the same as Amy's, but they isolate him nearly as much. He has debilitating panic attacks, compulsions that cause him to wash his hands a dozen times a day, walk on his toes, count the vowels in words, or only touch certain colors. It can be a lot to process as a reader, but McGovern handles the challenges really well. This is a book about harsh realities, but it's not--for the most part--a depressing book.

I felt strongly for Amy and Matthew and rooted for their happiness throughout. Amy's situation, in particular, was a roller coaster up sweet highs and then crushing despair as various events transpired. What helped me as a reader, was Amy herself. She's not a depressed person. She's brilliant and gutsy and naive in many ways that she recognizes.

Going back to the TFIOS and E&P comparisons, there is one aspect of SAY WHAT YOU WILL that for me failed to live up to it's counterparts, and it was the romance. Not because of their physical/mental circumstances, but because of the characters. I remember feeling like a piece of my soul would die if Hazel and Gus, and Eleanor and Park didn't get together. I didn't feel that way about Amy and Matthew. The last third especially failed to create that needed pull at my heart. I felt very strongly that they should be the best of friends, but that they both would be better off with other people.

I did really like SAY WHAT YOU WILL as soon as I finished it. The more time that passed, however, my affection dimmed somewhat, maybe because the romance didn't steal my heart the way I hoped, or that there were somethings about Amy's CP that seemed inconsistent (she needed help at school and with the bathroom, but she was left home alone all day during the summer. She and Matthew go swimming one day, but there is no one to help her get in or out of a swimsuit etc. are we supposed to believe he did?). For me, this is a 3 1/2 star read. Good, but not great. Moving but not unforgettable. I'll be interested in trying more books from McGovern to see if she can fully join the ranks of Green and Rowell in the future.

[Leah]

When I first spotted Say What You Will, I thought it sounded like nothing I’ve ever read before, a romance with a big, big difference in that one of the main characters is disabled, and the other suffers with crippling anxieties. I admit, I’ve never read a novel featuring a character with cerebral palsy, I don’t know if that’s because there aren’t many books about disabled characters around, or if I’m just not finding them, or a mixture of both, and I was interested to see where Amy and Matthew’s story was going to go. But I will honestly admit, I was also a bit worried because, like I said, I’ve never read a book about a disabled person before, and normally when you read books it’s to read something better than what you’re experiencing, to read something about people whose lives are fairly awesome. Though Say What You Will surprised me in all the right ways – it was a super clever, warm, witty read, and Amy’s life was no less awesome just because she suffered with cerebral palsy.

I always think that books like this make me feel like a bad person, because I complain regularly about stuff I don’t like (stuff about work, stuff about my body, stuff about anything, basically) but then when you read a story as inspirational as Say What You Will, you kinda remind yourself that actually, your life isn’t all that bad. Maybe I’m not happy with my weight, but at least I can do something about that – whereas Amy won’t ever walk or talk. I’m sure that wasn’t Cammie McGovern’s intent, but it’s always nice to remember to not be so bloody ungrateful sometimes. Amy is probably one of the most amazing female characters I have ever come across. Instead of spending her life at home, hiding away, and having her life made even easier (because if you suffer as Amy suffers, wouldn’t you just want to hide away all day, every day), instead she attends regular high school, and even goes so far as to hire peer helpers for her final year, rather than the regular adult helpers who have always helped her out. Which introduces her to Matthew, who ends up being one of her peer helpers, after Amy asks him to apply for the job. And so begins one of the most beautiful friendships I will ever have the pleasure of reading.

I loved how Amy and Matthew’s friendship was super awkward at first, as you would expect! We get to see from Matthew’s point of view how he always viewed Amy, and we get a really interesting conversation between the two where Matthew is very honest and forthright with Amy about her never having experienced a true high school experience as she’s always had adult helpers around, which brings about the whole peer helper experience. It was so honest, and I liked that Matthew didn’t hold back on his feelings because Amy was disabled. Matthew and Amy are undoubtedly their high school oddballs – Amy because of her disability, and Matthew because of his anxiety disorder and I thought they complimented each other well, without it being forced because they were the two social outcasts. Their friendship may have not started out as such, but as the novel wore on and as their friendship blossomed, it became a beautiful thing. Even going from something more than friendship. I loved both Amy and Matthew separately – Amy is such a bundle of joy, so bright and cheerful, and willing to go out of her way to help Matthew and I felt Cammie McGovern made Matthew’s anxieties play very real, and I very much felt anxious along side him, any time that voice crept into play.

I was mightily impressed with Say What You Will, I didn’t expect the very serious twist of events the novel takes towards the end, and I’m still not entirely sure it sat squarely right with me, just because it was unexpected and it seemed a bit out of place. So that sort of took the book off in a totally different direction, and I just felt it perhaps needed a bit more time to adequately wrap up that portion, but everything leading up to that was amazing. I adored Amy and Matthew, I loved seeing them face the world together, it filled my heart with hope. Cammie McGovern is a wonderful storyteller and I loved the text messages and emails that are spread sporadically through the book as I felt that allowed us to see more insight into Amy and Matthew’s relationship. I really enjoyed the novel and I was very sad to be leaving Amy and Matthew’s world, because it was such a realistic portrayal of first love, and seeing past people’s disabilities and I really, really loved Amy’s voice box. I know that’s such a silly thing to have loved, but I loved that it seemed to shout everything, and I could just imagine it in my head. A great debut young adult novel, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.