Amy and Matthew

Amy & Matthew by Cammie McGovern

Paperback, 322 Pages

Expected Publication 27th March 2014 by Pan Macmillan

Shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, contemporary, cover-appeal, if-i-were-a-boy, medical-conditions, mental-health, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, really-good, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

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.

Just when I thought I was maybe growing 'out' of young adult books, along came Cammie McGovern, and alongside her came Amy and Matthew, reminding me exactly why I fell in love with YA in the first place. 

Amy and Matthew seems like a book that was written for me - it contains everything I love and most importantly, two imperfect protagonists who were easy to admire from the very beginning. Both characters have diagnosable 'disabilities', Amy has Cerebral Palsy and Matthew has OCD. Though both conditions can be very disabling, the characters certainly don't just sit back and let their problems dominate them, which is probably the main reason why I admired them so much. Their lives are undoubtedly affected, as anybody who has (or who has had) an illness will know, and it that's certainly a largely covered issue in the book, but I absolutely loved, and was so relieved, that the personalities of the characters were at the forefront. I enjoyed seeing how the two characters leaned on each other and how their relationship helped improve their wellbeing. 

Amy and Matthew learn a lot about themselves through each other and this creates such a perfect chemistry between the two and it's something very special.   Amy and Matthew are, quite simply, perfect for each other. If I was Amy, I would love a guy like Matthew, and if I was Matthew, I'd love a girl like Amy. I don't think that anybody could deny that. The two characters are really quite different and that is patly why they work so well together. Though Amy is less physically able than Matthew, she's perhaps slightly stronger emotionally, where as Matthew is more physically able but has a harder time with his emotions. I was very interested to see what Amy was really like, what she really thought and felt, as she seemed like, and was, a very complex person. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in her situation, but I think that McGovern portrayed her amazingly well. I liked seeing how both characters changed throughout the book - I was particularly impressed with Matthew's improvements and recovery.

As someone who has both chronic physical pain and mental illnesses, from what I understand of Amy and Matthew's issues, they were described well and I am glad that their issues were portrayed in a very frank, but not hyperbolic way. I sympathised with them, but didn't pity them. It is good to finally be able read a book about real people with real issues, trying to lead a normal lifestyle.

I hope it's clear how much I loved this book! It's difficult to write in a review, as you really do have to 'meet' Amy and Matthew through reading. I can not thank McGovern enough for getting me back into this genre and reminding me of everything I love about contemporary YA. Amy and Matthew is definitely one of the top YA books out there at the moment. Move over, The Fault In Our Stars and make way for Amy and Matthew!