Say What You Will - Cammie McGovern

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction/Romance

Blurb (on back of book): 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.

MY OPINION: *****

It has been so long since I have given a book five stars! I don't know why my book ratings have been dropping so much, but I loved this book!

True, it was slow at times, and at other times very rushed. The beginning and the end were so completely different from each other, and that might be one of the faults.

This book is about a girl with cerebral palsy and she can't walk or talk. She has had aides her whole life, but one day she decides she wants to have peer aides instead, so she can make real friends.

She meets a guy named Matthew who she knows from elementary school, but barely. After a while, they start to fall in love. The problem is, Amy can't voice her love for him, since she speaks with a computer and it would be weird to just come out and say you like someone with a computerized voice that isn't 100% real to life. Matthew has major OCD and he is basically scared of hurting Amy and a lot of other things. He doesn't want to kiss her because of it and it results in some angry scenes.

This book was a whirlwind of a story. It is hard to follow at times, and after a while, you forget some of the details.

I liked how Amy was brave and strong and she literally said what she felt. Matthew was the opposite; he was quiet and shy.

The beginning was mostly about them falling in love and going places together. Matthew and Amy helped each other a lot. Matthew helped her, because that was his job. Amy helped Matthew by trying to help him get over his OCD by giving him challenges. This book was so sweet.

The middle part was about them going through some adventures together when some people are just in love. I just want to say something: I hated Nicole, Amy's mom. I understand how overprotective she felt over her daughter, but that doesn't mean you should prevent her daughter from seeing the guy she so obviously likes just because he has OCD.

So basically the middle was them sneaking in love.

At the end, Amy discovers that she's pregnant, but the father isn't Matthew, it is another one of her peer aides that she made a mistake with. She was using him as "practice" for Matthew, but she went way too far. She became pregnant and Matthew was the only guy who stayed with her for the whole time. The baby was born very prematurely and Amy gives the baby to another pair of parents.

She regrets that decision, but there's nothing she could do.

One thing I disliked about this book was that they were always on and off fighting and on and off in love. Their friendship was never really defined and their fights were everywhere. Matthew always did something to make Amy angry or vice versa. I wish that the author had laid out the story to be a little easier to follow.

At some points this book reminded me of Out of My Mind, especially when Amy's science teacher doesn't allow her to go on because of her disability...hmmmm....

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about tough-to-get-through romances with real and funny characters.

Main Character: Amy, Matthew
Sidekick(s): Sarah, Sanjay, parents, Hannah, Chloe, etc
Villain(s): CP, OCD, disabilities, love, etc
Realistic Fiction/Romance Elements: All of this is real to life and it featured a romantic relationship through and through.