The Impossible Knife Of Memory.

the impossible knife of memory.

Laurie halse anderson

Publisher:Viking Juvenile

Publication Date:January 7,2014

Genre:YA Contemporary| Psychological.

Format|Pages:Hardcover|391

Source:Goodreads|Library

☆☆☆☆☆

SUMMARY 

 

For the past five years, Hayley Kincain 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. 

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? 

 
I knew there was a reason that I love Laurie Halse Anderson, because she creates realistic stories, the ones that you can’t pull yourself from. There wasn’t a single book of hers I read through years that I didn’t love. The Impossible Knife Of Memory wasn’t any different, another masterpiece by Anderson. Besides Speak , this has become one of my favorite novels of her. Not only does it have a powerful title, cover but the story itself. I knew just by title and the cover that it was going be a hard subject and it was and I found myself unable to pull myself away. It was such heart wrenching story that I didn’t want to pull away from the story, I needed to know what would happen, how it would all end. The Impossible Knife Of Memory is the type of story that you will find yourself thinking about once you finish it. It stays with you. It left me speechless. 


Hayley & Andy : Their story, which most of the book is based one, was a powerful one. Seemed to me that Hayley was the parent, instead of being the other way around, she was always picking up after him after his drinking. Always taking care of him. I felt bad for Hayley, I can’t even imagine how it must be, always wondering if your father was still there, or if he had finally lost it. I know that people with PTSD can be very hard to deal with. Honestly I don’t know how she dealt with it for that long, I would have lost it or broke down a long time ago. Hayley has a lot of courage for dealing with it, with all of his mood swings. In a way, she was the one who saved him in end, who got him to go get help. What Andy was doing to Hayley wasn’t fair to her, but I am glad that she didn’t give up. 


Hayley & Finn: I did not see that coming, at least in the beginning I didn’t. Finn and Hayley were different so I didn’t see how it would work. I noticed that Hayley seemed a bit attracted to him, otherwise why would she care who he went on date with, even if she wouldn’t admit it. I think she tried to deny her attraction at first but I was glad that she finally gave in. I feel like because she was with Finn, it was bit easier for her to deal with everything with her father. It helped that he knew about it too, and tried to help her even if she pushed him away most of the time. Their relationship seemed more realistic then most of novels I read. 

Stunning, Gripping. The Impossible Knife Of Memory is a story you find yourself thinking about while reading, and after. It’s a story that everyone should check out.