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A review by futurama1979
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
4.0
Another book I read to get into the vibe for a YA genre study class.
This book is one of the most acclaimed and canonized pieces of semi-modern YA literature, and several of my friends were surprised I had never read it. I was also surprised I had never read it. I had no reason not to. Having read it, I can say that I should have read it earlier.
It's an incredibly well crafted book. The structure of it was incredible; the pacing was pretty much perfect. The character voice is so strong. To tackle establishing a strong POV character when that character very very rarely has dialogue interactions with others, especially within the YA genre, is a massive feat, and Anderson managed it like it was nothing.
There were a few weak side characters, but Anderson succeeded in taking a topic that is markedly horrific and difficult to discuss and inspected it with a lot of grace and a staggering amount of care. It's rare when I read a book and the author's love for their character is actually visible beyond the narrative but Anderson's love for Melinda was, for me, as driving a force in the book as anything plot-wise was.
This book is one of the most acclaimed and canonized pieces of semi-modern YA literature, and several of my friends were surprised I had never read it. I was also surprised I had never read it. I had no reason not to. Having read it, I can say that I should have read it earlier.
It's an incredibly well crafted book. The structure of it was incredible; the pacing was pretty much perfect. The character voice is so strong. To tackle establishing a strong POV character when that character very very rarely has dialogue interactions with others, especially within the YA genre, is a massive feat, and Anderson managed it like it was nothing.
There were a few weak side characters, but Anderson succeeded in taking a topic that is markedly horrific and difficult to discuss and inspected it with a lot of grace and a staggering amount of care. It's rare when I read a book and the author's love for their character is actually visible beyond the narrative but Anderson's love for Melinda was, for me, as driving a force in the book as anything plot-wise was.