Book Review; Amy & Matthew by Cammie McGovern

Summary:
Amy loves Matthew and he loves her back. This is their story.

Amy is unflinchingly honest about her limitations. Born with cerebral palsy, she can’t walk or talk without help. But trapped inside this uncooperative body lies a brilliant mind and a luminous spirit – a girl capable of truly loving and worthy of being loved in return.

Matthew has his own set of challenges – a mind consumed by unwanted repeated thoughts, obsessive rituals and a crippling fear that he can’t explain. But underneath all of the anxiety lies a deep seed of hope for someone to come along who believes in him…

This is the story of Amy and Matthew. It may not be a fairy tale romance or set in an imagined world far from our own. But the love they share is real. And yes, there’s magic in it.

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In A World

Admittedly, I wasn’t that interested in Amy and Matthew when I first heard about its release but when the first reviews started arriving, my curiosity piqued. A lot of bloggers whose opinions I respected were telling everyone how much they liked the book. Then, after further investigating into the story, I knew it was a book I now wanted to read. And boy, am I happy that I did come to that decision as I really loved this book. There were a few things that didn’t work for me but essentially this was a book that I truly enjoyed.

Full of Trials

What I really loved about this book is that while it has romance, it does it so realistically. There is no love at first sight or relationships that just work. This book shows how friendships and relationships can be incredibly hard and can be riddled with problems and obstacles to be conquered. Despite this, however, I also felt that some of the things that happened felt very unrealistic and were only there to move the plot along. This was a minor problem for me as I still found the story to be incredible but it did ruin it a little bit for me.

Can We Find

Another reason that I loved this book because of the perfect way that it dealt with diversity. Both of the main characters had reasons to be seen as “not normal” in society and I just loved the way that this book dealt with it. Their disabilities were just there, but it wasn’t what defined them. It is a great way of introducing teens to those that are different, as well as helping those who are in similar situations to feel less alone. This book looks at this topic tastefully, sensitively and creatively and I think it is a brilliant book for teenagers right now.

True Love?

Gathering all my thoughts together I will tell you that I truly loved this story. It was one that sucked me in from the very beginning and kept its reigns on me until the very end. It was emotional, gut-wrenching, awkward, and perfect in so many different ways. This book shows how the world is but also a way of making the world better. It is a really sweet story that I just enjoyed so much. I would highly recommend this one, especially if you’re looking for a highly diverse and entertaining read!