Willow by Julia Hoban
I give this book 3.7 out of 5 stars.
Book Description:
Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen-year- old Willow’s parents drank too much wine and asked her to drive them home. They never made it. Willow lost control of the car and her parents died in the accident. Now she has left behind her old home, friends, and school, and blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she begins an intense, life-changing relationship that turns her world upside down.
Told in an arresting, fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girl’s struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boy’s refusal to give up on her.
My Review:
First off, this book can be very triggering. One of my closest friends from a few years back who struggled with self injury warned me that it was triggering before I began it. I personally had problems making it through the first ten pages. As the book went on, I got better at coping with the triggers that were presented, and also there were less due to the plot. The book seemed poorly written at the beginning to me, but I’m going to reread it and mull that over. The writing definitely picked up as the book went along. This book was very personal for me, due to my past with self injury. From someone who suffers from it, the book is pretty accurate in its portrayal of the problems and feelings that a person can experience while self injuring or in a self destructive mode. There are parts of this book that are stuck in my head, the scenes come back to me every few months, and so I know it was a good read for me. I don’t know if I would recommend this to someone unless they were interested in something of this nature, but I did enjoy it.
