Pages: 352
Published: June 3rd 2014 by HarperTeen
Series: N/A – Stand Alone
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
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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.
The synopsis for Say What You Will immediately grabbed my attention, it sounded unique and unlike any story that I have read in the past so I jumped at the chance to read this one and was itching to get started.
Amy and Matthew were phenomenal main characters, both in their own rights. Amy has cerebral palsy, and I think that aspect of the story peaked my interest the most as I didn’t know a lot about CP prior to reading Say What You Will. Amy was, for the most part, a cheerful girl but of course she had her own internal battles which we experience along with her throughout the story. Matthew immediately called her game on her outwardly always cheerful demeanor and it’s what starts their incredible friendship. Matthew has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it was Amy who really helped him through his struggles and helped him own up to the fact that he needed to have professional help. They were really each others rocks.
Say What You Will is really a story about friendship and love. It’s the perfect love story and exactly what I look for in an ideal romance. Amy and Matthew started out not really knowing each other, then they became best friends and then separately fell in love with each other. It was perfect and imperfect all at the same time.
I love Cammie McGovern’s writing. I felt like I knew her characters personally and I wholeheartedly cared about their decisions. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming, hilarious and serious all within the same paragraphs. I really couldn’t put this one down and it is one I will definitely be buying for my personal collection.
My review does this story zero justice. I can’t put into words how much I loved Amy and Matthew, their story, the romance, the amazing tale of friendship … all of it. I read this well over a month ago and I still can’t explain how amazing this book was. It’s by far one of my favorite reads of 2014. I highly recommend you give this one a try!
I really enjoyed reading this book too! The story is so unique which made it a page-turner for me. I also like how the two main characters helped each other out even though at the beginning Matthew was a meanie to Amy.
It really is unique! Haha, I loved Matthew so much… he totally grew on me <3
This book sounds so amazing!!! I love that you say they become best friends first before falling in love. Sounds like a great read. Definitely adding to my wishlist. Great review!