A Review of 'Twisted' by Laurie Halse Anderson

‘Everybody told me to be a man.

No one told me how.’

That’s all it says on the inside cover of the book. You know, where the description normally goes? I don’t know if there’s a scientific term for it… In case that didn’t tell you much about what this is about and you don’t have enough time or just really don’t want to read my review, I went to her website and I found a description for you. Here it is…

“In her latest New York Times bestseller, Anderson tackles a controversial subject—what it means to be a man today—as a string of events and changes has high school senior Tyler Miller questioning his place in school, in his family, and in the world.”

--Indiebound

Okay, now that you kind of know what it’s about, let’s mosey…

I love Laurie Halse Anderson. I’m determined to read all of her books. Well, the young adult books, any way… I think I missed the boat on the children’s… I started out with ‘Speak,’ which I’m sure a lot of you have as well. Because I was impressed by ‘Speak’ and ‘Wintergirls,’ I moved on to ‘Twisted.’

I couldn’t put it down. In the back of my mind, I knew I had to get up at 6:30 and go to summer school, but I still stayed up until eleven almost every night until I had it read in it’s entirety. Even after I reluctantly put it down for the night, my mind was reeling just chewing over what I had just read and I thought about what could possibly happen to Tyler now? I grew so attached to all of the characters (except for Chip… he’s such a wuss... if you read the book, you’ll know why).

I couldn’t stand looking at the page and “watching” as Tyler slipped into a state of depression and he was this close to losing it completely (if you know what I mean). It was painful to read his thought process towards the end. I didn’t want him to do what he planned to do.

This was Laurie Halse Anderson’s first male protagonist (at least that’s my understanding). Now, I’m not a guy, but I thought Tyler’s perspective was well written. Guys, you’ll have to read this and tell me what you thought.

I highly recommend this book! No one is paying me to say/write that, this is my honest opinion.

The only warnings I have to give you before you actually pick up this book are that there is talk of suicide in this book and there is some bad language as well as teen drinking (although I found Tyler to be very admirable in that scene, quite honestly). If any of these things bother you, don’t pick it up because I strongly recommended it to you. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable. Especially if it’s joy reading.

Well, I had better get writing. I still have two poems to write and they have to be postmarked by July 15. The problem is, I want to write, but writer's block has built its wall higher and I've just reached the bottom of that last wall. I'll get better at wall-climbing someday.

Happy reading, everyone!

--Jude