Cassie calls Lia's cell phone 33 times. After not talking for months, Lia assumes she's drunk and refuses to answer. By Monday morning, Lia finds out that Cassie is dead, her body found dead and alone is a sleezy motel room. So, where does that leave Lia? Alone and with a mountain of guilt.
Only months out of her second stint at New Seasons Rehab facility for Anorexia Nervosa, Lia is back to her old habits. She tricks the stepmom who is given the task of weighing her every Tuesday to make sure she's on track. She helps her dad believe that she is doing OK and eating like she should be. She almost never speaks to her mom. She loves the (step)sister she would do anything (but get better) for.
She sees the ghost of Cassie every day.
Her doctor and parents warn her that the services and funeral for Cassie might be too emotional and triggering for her. Lia does not listen. Even after discovering exactly how Cassie died, she does not listen. She continues to not eat, barely drink anything and work out for hours. They are the only things that help keep Cassie at bay. She's there cheering Lia on to continue down the path she's on. Soon, she will no longer be a wintergirl, she'll be dead just like Cassie.
This book was honestly horrifying. I love and appreciate food just a bit too much to ever develop an eating disorder, so this was a bit eye-opening. I have read plenty of depressing books, plenty of scary and eerie books, but this one was just...horrifying. It was a constant internal battle between "oh my god, I need to eat!" to "she's RIGHT, I don't need to eat until tomorrow." Be forewarned, passages are incredibly graphic. I'll totally admit that after having read the majority of this in a sitting, I shot straight up at 6:40 AM from a nightmare. It's raw and it's honest and it's real. I would not have read this had it not been assigned for class, but it was still a really great read.
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