Reviews for Say the Word

The average rating for Say the Word based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-08-15 00:00:00 Mathew Sabin While this book initially seems like it will be the story of the heroine coming to terms with her mother's abandonment of the family for a lesbian lover, it actually winds up as the story of an ugly custody battle and domestic abuse. The plot drags for the first third to half of the book, and the pacing retains a choppy speed-up-slow-down quality throughout. Between narrating the story, having three different inner voices (her Perfect, Pathetic, and Evil selves) and having hallucinations that her deceased mother is speaking to her, protagonist Shawna definitely wins the award for Most Fragmented Personality in a Young Adult Novel. Her self-repression is relentless to the very end; even when she finally stands up for what's right, she compromises with her future as the bargaining chip. While she does plenty of angsty ruminating and even a bit of whining, when she actually makes key decisions, the reader is left out of the thought process. Perhaps the author did that to add some suspense. The two sons of the surviving lesbian partner are interesting and well-developed. I wish the elder brother had gotten more stage time. All in all, this is a girlie teen drama that tries to tackle some tough issues but gets left lying face-down at the 30 yardline. One final gripe: The heroine is still using some sort of email system that would leave messages on her hard drive where her father can find them. Why would she not have Yahoo or Gmail like everyone else? Why isn't she using social networking sites? And why oh why can't she just empty her computer's Recycle Bin? For a 2009 book, this seems awfully 1999. Recommend to: Age 14+ (mature elements including a rape scene), drama fans, possibly Sarah Dessen fans, although this book goes to grittier places than Dessen usually explores

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-14 00:00:00 Jessica Lowrie This book was probably one of my greatest reads of the year. The thing about it is, you are a product of your environment. Whether you embrace it, as Shawna did in the beginning, or tell it to go to hell and forge your own path despite your environment. Either way it influences you. Shawna's mother left her and her father when she was very young. Not only that, but she left both of them for another woman. As if her own mother seemingly abandoning her wasn't enough she had to listen to her father's venomous attitude against homosexuality. It was no wonder that Shawna was not only homophobic, but also bigoted. It was basically what she had known. I have never felt sorry for someone who displayed such blatant ignorance as Shawna. She let her bitterness and anger towards her mother feed into her father's toxic opinions. Shawna's father was a piece of work. I genuinely have never disliked a character in a book more than I disliked this man. He was condescending, rude, overbearing, and cruel. I realize that the divorce probably changed him more than anyone realized other than Shawna. He made me really really thankful for my parents. I think my favorite character came in the form of Shawna's mother's partner Fran's oldest son. He never let Shawna get away with the bull that tended to spew out of her mouth. He made her think, he helped change her mind. I wish there had been more of them than there was, but once again this was not a story of love...at least not the romantic kind. This was a story about family, the ties that really bind, and discovering who you really are along with what you believe. I really applaud Jeannine Grace for getting me so enthralled in this book. Yes, the book offended me a lot with it's many stereotypes and slurs against the LGBT community, BUT watching someone overcome their intolerance to become someone I know many people would be proud to know? that transformation was definitely worth it. There's also a really great twist in the book. It killed me when I found it out and what followed had me in tears. It's great book. Heavy subject matter is included and it is NOT a light read, but on a overcast day when you just want a book to make you think and feel while you're cuddled up in your bed? This is your read.