Willow
-
-
4.7 • 233 Ratings
-
-
- $8.99
Publisher 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seven months after killing her parents in a car accident, 16-year-old Willow Randall has moved in with her married older brother's family in New York City, where she grapples with her overwhelming emotions, as well as her brother's silent anguish, by cutting herself with razors. When Guy, a fellow student, learns Willow's secret, they develop a tentative intimacy. The stark clarity of the present tense, third-person narration echoes the numbing effect that Willow achieves through cutting "Of course any sharp edge could do in a pinch, and Willow has used them all: nail scissors, a steak knife, a man's razor.... But Willow is a purist." Despite explicit descriptions of Willow's wounds, the narrative steers clear of moralization cutting is characterized as part of Willow's fractured sense of self, rather than part of a larger epidemic. Though Guy mainly serves as a means for Willow to rediscover human connection, and is never as fully realized as she is, his need to understand the girl whose favorite book is Tristes Tropiques but who carries razors in her backpack, is authentically tender. A credible depiction of a grieving girl's struggle toward self-forgiveness. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
Absolutely Amazing!
My all time favorite book. I read it twice. It's so touching and it has great detail. I really could feel what was going on. I cried and laughed. I definitely started to crush on Guy!
Great Book To Get Lost In
I have read this book a few times and every time i’m still just as captivated by it. I love how self harm is presented in it, and it’s treated like an addiction. I couldn’t describe it better myself.
Love it
I love this book. I remember reading it when I was in 8th grade. I was hooked. I remember finishing it in 2 days and that was big for me. This book is what made me fall in love with reading.