“Willow”, a book written by Julia Hoban, is about a teenage girl, of the same name dealing with the death of her parents by causing physical pain to herself. It follows the life of a teenaged girl also named Willow after the sudden death of both her parents. The only way Willow knows how to cope is by cutting herself and physical pain she can control.

This is a book that inspires you to want to help those in need. It gives the reader a vulnerability that is hard to be taken away. Julia Hoban expresses the hardships and the unknown demons that are faced by those whom you would not expect. Willow is the epitome of a survivor and her story has spoken to millions who have bought the best-selling book.

Willow cuts her arms so that she can try to feel the pain she caused to others. She was addicted to it and felt like that was the only way that she could deal with the pain of taking her parents away from her and her brother. When Guy comes along she slowly begins to stop her cutting process and make her way toward the path of recovery. The book shows the reality of self-harm and how hard it is to overcome unless you have the right motivation.

Willow grows close to Guy, but she grows closer with herself. With his help, she learns how to deal with the emotional pain instead of bypassing it physically. She takes her depression and turns it into joy by allowing someone she felt confident in to help her. The progress made by Willow throughout the book is remarkable and inspiring to anyone deal with internal struggles such as hers. Her turn around was something I sat and thought about, and it will do the same to the next reader.

Although she does not tell David that she cuts herself, she is able to discuss the accident with him, a discussion that revealed that David still loved Willow as much as he did before the accident. She realized that she would never be a daughter to anyone ever again.

The book is a great example for those who are struggling with self-harm, depression, or the loss of loved ones. It covers many of the hard-hitting topics that are not usually addressed in modern day, young adult literature.

This book was one of the best I’ve read so far. It continues to be one of my favorites because it exemplifies real people and real things. It tells us that everyone doesn’t live the life that you think. People hide behind their demons and they have to deal with them in their own ways.