Review: Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Title:  Say What You Will 

Author: Cammie McGovern

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publishing Date:  June 3rd 2014 

Pages: 343
Genre:  YA Realistic Fiction/Contemporary Romance

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

  

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.

The cover really drew me to this book. At very first glance I was in love... with the cover. Although it was a different cover than I have posted here. Then this cover came out and I loved it even more. So I knew I wanted to read it...well after reading the synopsis. I felt that the book would be good, but was hesitant. I mean there are so many wonderful realistic fiction/romances out there right now.... I didn't know if it would live up to some of my favorites. Well it did. I absolutely adored this book. It had all kinds of emotions, sadness, anger, humor, compassion. I just loved it. 


Amy has cerebral palsy, Amy is going to be a senior. Amy has been happy with her life until a boy she has known practically her entire childhood burst her bubble. He tells her... you don't know what you are missing so how can you be happy... No one really knows you... you haven't experienced the normal teenage life. So Amy decides she will and find out exactly what she is missing. She will find some friends by replacing her adult aids with peer aids. This is where that boy, Matthew comes in. She requests him, he signs up, and a friendship begins which leads to romance which leads to heartbreak,  which leads to hope, which leads to love. 


These books really get to me. The unlikely romances, the real life issues, the anger, the loyalty, the truth behind those that live a difficult life. Amy's life wasn't bad but it was difficult. She was happy but she really didn't have any friends, any experiences, any choices. She was unable to communicate verbally or walk very well. Although she had aids, a computer, and a walker, life was still difficult. She was put to a challenge and she accepted. She accepted many things though out her life. She was a very strong character. Probably one of my favorites. I connected with her right away. She was strong, determined, smart, witty, straight forward, and kind. I loved reading her story,and even though it wasn't first person POV, I felt that I truly knew her and wished at many times through out the book that I knew her in my life. 

Matthew also had a difficult life. He too had a condition that made things very hard and very uncomfortable. Matthew had OCD and though it made him antisocial and very obsessed, he could control his issues if he would would just accept help. That is when Amy came into his life and took charge. She couldn't control or change her condition but Matthew could, so she would help because that is the kind of person Amy was.  She was just who Matthew needed and with Amy in his life, Matthew was able to shine. I fell for him too. Very sweet, considerate, strange but lovable. Yup loved him too.

The romance was sweet. It starts off slow, goes through the awkward stages, the friendship stage, the miscommunication stage, the heartbreak stage, but it was real and I enjoyed that. It wasn't life altering in the way that one could not live without the other, although they did get quite sad without each other. They had lives to continue and they had things to deal with. It wasn't perfect, their relationship had many problems from the beginning, but they made it work in their own way. It was very very sweet. 

The romance was a huge part in this book, but it wasn't the only thing. There were many hard issues and more real than I have seen in a while. It wasn't overly emotional but it was emotional. Amy and Matthew had to go through a bunch of bad with their good. Things that could have ended quite differently if they hadn't face the issues with strength, bravery, and determination. I really loved seeing how Amy didn't let her handicaps get in her way or control her life. I also loved the way she taught Matthew to do the same. The book was full of hard but it was also full of hope. It was well balanced and it was good. It was just the kind of book I was searching for.



I loved it, I recommend it, I hope to read it again, I hope to see more from this author. 

Cammie McGovern was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and received the Nelson Algren Award in short fiction. Her work has been published in Redbook, Seventeen, Glimmer Train, TriQuarterly, and other publications.