The Impossible Knife Of Memory (Book Review)

The Impossible Knife Of Memory
Laurie Halse Anderson
Published January 7th 2014 by Viking Juvenile

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.






Review:

First of all, this is DEFINITELY NOT a happy-everything is perfect-romance story. Second of all, I haven't read a Laurie Halse Anderson book in years. So I had completely forgotten about her unique writing style. And I went into this read pretty blind.

This is so much more.

Hayley's Dad has PTSD......Which in itself make for a sincerely heartbreaking story. Hayley makes a great main character. In some ways she is just a normal girl trying to get through high school without too much drama. But in other ways she is dealing with a very hard home life, and the many people that have abandoned her over the years. Finn is another great character. He is so sweet to Hayley and for once, he is a guy character that doesn't really know anything about cars (Hayley knows from necessity more than him).
Unfortunately some parts of Hayley I also couldn't stand.

Like this-----
“Everyone is born a freak," notes Hayley. "Every newborn baby, wet and hungry and screaming, is a fresh-hatched freak who wants to have a good time and make the world a better place. . . . Most teenagers wind up in high school. And high school is where the zombification process becomes deadly.”

Which just left me thinking "wait.......what?"

Laurie has her own writing style, in the way of describing and building her characters. There are really no words that I could use to describe the way that she does it. Except that I can't remember a single book being anything like hers.
I personally have no idea how realistically Laurie has described PTSD. So I won't go into that.......But I wasn't crazy about that part. I couldn't get into it. Even though it was heartbreaking....



Overall this book is in a class all of it's own. I wish that I had liked Hayley more......I think that the idea was good. Although a bit too abstract for my taste. But stars to Laurie Halse Anderson for creating a book that didn't really remind me of anything else I have ever read (and I have read a LOT of books).