Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Title: Say What You Will
Author: Cammie McGovern
Hardcover: 352 pages
Pub Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: ++++

Summary from pub:

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

Review:

If I could have asked for any contemporary romance, it would l have been about a teenager with a disability where the book is not about their disability. It would be about all the struggles and triumphs of being a teenager.

Then this book came along and was everything I wanted it to be, for the most part.

Amy is incredibly bright and kind. She has a lot of the insecurities that so many teens have, with more struggles. She was always a character who happened to have cerebral palsy, it did not define her. In the same way, Matthew was a full and complex character, never just his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Together, they challenge and complement each other in wonderful ways.

It is such a hard book to put down because you want to stay in their world. Whenever one has a victory, it is hard not to cheer out loud. Whenever there is a setback in their relationships be it with each other, friends or family, it is hard not to tear up.

There is so much in this book about family and it is interesting because you can see WH YAmy’s mother is the way she is, but then you can see how horrible it is for Amy and how she goes so far over the top.

The only reason this has a five star review is that there is a plot point toward the end of teh book that bothered me. A lot. So it couldn’t just be a glowing review.

Even with that, this is a book worth reading and I hope you read it and love it too. I will read whatever Cammie McGovern writes next and I hope to see more books like this.