Thursday, April 2, 2009

Review: Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee

Tags: YA, homophobia, anger management, family

Summary

Shawna Gallagher’s mother left her and her father for another woman, Fran, and her two sons, Arye and Schmule, when Shawna was just seven, and now, ten years later, has suddenly died. Shawna doesn’t know how to feel. She can’t be especially mournful about the loss of a mother whom she hardly knew, especially a self-centered mother who abandoned her.

However, things begin to fall apart in everyone’s lives when Shawna’s father, a control freak with anger management issues, insists on staking genetic claim on the son whom he never knew he had, a son whom Shawna’s mother tried to pass off as Fran’s. Shawna’s father is determined to get his way, even if it meets using or hurting a dozen people in the process, including those close to him. Shawna has lived under his control all his life, but now just might be the time for her to take a stance and do what SHE believes is right.

Review

Jeannine Garsee tackles the difficult subjects of homosexuality, homophobia, and family loyalty in SAY THE WORD. In particular, I found the family loyalty issue most striking. It’s incredibly difficult for an author to create a despicable character who we want to beat the crap out of, yet still empathize and understand where he’s coming from. Mr. Gallagher, and, to a lesser extent, Shawna, are two such characters. They’re flawed, sometimes with unadmirable points of view or attitudes, and yet you can’t help but feel for them, can’t help but understand where they’re coming from, even as you wish for them to grow up.

I feel like the issue of homophobia could have been discussed more in-depth, and I certainly wasn’t satisfied with the blasé way in which Shawna’s sex life was treated. The characters of Shawna, her dad, Schmule, and even Shawna’s friend LeeLee were well developed, but something was missing in Shawna’s budding friendship with—and later, romantic attraction to— Arye. That came out of nowhere, and I found myself unable to understand their relationship.

Even with those small complaints, I found SAY THE WORD to be an overall good read, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott.

Similar Authors
Sarah Dessen
Elizabeth Scott

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

7 comments:

  1. I can't wait to read this one. I really love the plot, I hope I love the whole story too.

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  2. I got a copy of this from the author online to read before the ARCs and it hurt my eyes to bad :( I wish I could have finished it.

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  3. i can't imagine what it would be like to be left like that. from your great review, it sounds like the author does a good job of relaying the emotions. i'm interested in picking this one up--thanks!

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  4. Ooh this sounds good. I like ES & SD so I may have to try it!

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  5. I just requested my library buy it and they are. I am disappointed to hear the homophobia wasn't addressed more. I have not read Dessen or Scott so I have no reference for the style here

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  6. Great review! I'm a huge fan of both Dessen and Scott, so I'll definitely have to check this out! Thanks!

    btw, I nominated your blog for the Sisterhood award. Check it out :-D

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  7. Thank you for the review, and to everyone for their comments. :)

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Hello! I'm so excited to read what you have to say. Due to high amounts of spam, I'm forced to disabled anonymous comments for the time being. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and I hope you can understand and still appreciate the content here!

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