Winter Girls: The Full Story

After finishing Winter Girls I now understand the meaning of the title. Lia believes herself to be a winter girl because she is not dead, but not truly alive. She is stuck somewhere in between in a frozen place...

Throughout the rest of the novel Lia struggles with seeing the ghost of her best friend Cassie. She tries not to see her and get her to go away. Lia also struggles with her internal battle between her and food. She struggles with only eating minimal amounts of food, enough to fool the world around her. She believes herself to be stronger than other because she does not eat. She constantly strives for a lower weight. Her 3rd goal is to be 90 pounds. Later she says she doesn't know if she could ever quit wanting to be less weight until she reaches zero.
Her family life feels like a war zone with constant battles going on between all the parental figures in her life. Her sister Emma is the only one who she deeply cares for. Emma is her stepsister that she treats like her own sister. Her relationship is vital to success of Lia's life.
Lia struggles in a motel room towards the end of the book. She recently almost died from cutting herself. Her sister Emma found her on the bathroom floor and was so upset by the sight. Lia was sent to the hospital and her parents kept  a much more watchful eye on her. This caused Lia to want to run away so she goes to a motel room and almost dies. Cassie is trying to pull her into crossing over with her, but Lia finds some inner strength and finally wants to get better for Emma. After that Lia is put into psychiatric care and treated the way she needs to be treated. This time is different because Lia is actually compliant with all the treatments versus fighting them.

...At the end the last line says "I am thawing." This signifies that she is no longer a winter girl and slowly becoming more alive than she was as a winter girl.

This was a great read and I recommend picking it up if you ever get the chance!