Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Friday, May 16, 2014

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
"For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over?"- summary from Amazon

I've become such an Anderson fan over the years. I came a little late to her and may have read Fever 1793 before her acclaimed debut Speak, but her writing is simply fantastic. I absolutely loved the voice of Hayley in this book and it really pulled me in. Anderson always does a wonderful job with the voices of her characters. The story is one that should be commonplace now but isn't; Anderson writes about the world of PTSD from war and how it affects the person going through it as well as those around him/her extremely well. I hope that it opens up a discussion for the treatment of it and how poorly it's being handled currently.

There is a romance in here but it's handled very delicately throughout the book, and definitely more of a subplot. Finn is a great guy and really helps Hayley with her emotional arc and it's great to see her happier by the end of the book.

Overall, another great novel from Anderson. Before she releases another one, I need to catch up on all her others (only read 3 of like 10 of her MG/YA books)!

FTC: Borrowed book from library. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward contests.

1 comment:

  1. I know very little about PTSD so I look forward to reading more about it in this book. I also like that a lot of the focus wasn't on the romance.

    Great review!

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