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sophie42's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Body shaming
Moderate: Vomit, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Rape, Self harm, and Transphobia
demo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is like if Chuck Palahniuk's Damned and Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit had a trans baby. Palpable resonances with many different texts, some which Milks lists as direct influences in the back matter (e.g. Goosebumps books, Nancy Drew, Matilda, the documentary Thin, Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted, and Judith Butler's work), and others unmentioned (like Ghost World and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak).
"If adolescence is a passageway, a twilight zone or liminal space, it's also the time when, like thick blobs of gummy dough, we get poured into shape and rise. It's a plastic time, a time of self-discovery and growth, and in some cases tremendous creativity. Teenagehood is that stage when you get to become who you are, or who you can be. Ah, there's the rub: How can you be who you are when—Margaret doesn't know how to finish this question." (p. 99)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror, Car accident, Death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
seawarrior's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was an interesting and labyrinthine book that twisted in directions I hadn't expected. Margaret isn't exactly the most endearing protagonist, she's self absorbed, judgmental, and obsessed with righteousness. She also is largely in denial of how serious her eating disorder and her tendency to stay locked inside herself really are. Her journey to accepting that she must quit denying herself to model girlhood, and that she may not even be a girl at all, is not straightforward, and honestly somewhat unsatisfying to read. I understood her story and where it was headed, and how it had to end, because I've lived pieces of it myself, but I'm not sure I'd have made sense of what she was going through otherwise.
I also found the paranormal aspects of this book off-putting. They stick out like a sore thumb in what is otherwise a down-to-earth narrative about identity, which left me wondering if these events had really been experienced, or were simply imagined by a younger, unbalanced Margaret who was unable to face reality. The last letter in the book hints that this might be the case, but it's never made explicitly clear. Maybe this element of the story does not or won't bother other readers, but it kinda gets under my skin.
In my opinion, the strongest features of this book are how eating disorders, dissatisfaction with the self and the world it knows, growing up, misogyny, and transgender identity, were all approached and written as the intricate and perplexing experiences that they are. Too often it seems tempting for fiction writers to simplify how people, especially teenagers, endure these uncertainties and move towards healthy adulthood. Margaret's experiences with realizing she is queer and seeking treatment for her eating disorder are anything but simple, even her diagnosis cannot be specified and categorized simply. While at the treatment center she initially begins to self-destruct, but later gets to know other people who disrupt and enlighten her knowledge of how mental illness manifests, and what it means to grow into your own power.
I would recommend this book to others who are alright with reading a narrative that doesn't provide them with easy answers. The majority of the story takes place in a treatment center for adolescents with eating disorders, so we're mostly reading about the perspectives of young people who are very unhappy with themselves, and often self destructive. Please keep this in mind, as some of what they think and say may be triggering if you have an eating disorder or are in recovery from one.
I also found the paranormal aspects of this book off-putting. They stick out like a sore thumb in what is otherwise a down-to-earth narrative about identity, which left me wondering if these events had really been experienced, or were simply imagined by a younger, unbalanced Margaret who was unable to face reality. The last letter in the book hints that this might be the case, but it's never made explicitly clear. Maybe this element of the story does not or won't bother other readers, but it kinda gets under my skin.
In my opinion, the strongest features of this book are how eating disorders, dissatisfaction with the self and the world it knows, growing up, misogyny, and transgender identity, were all approached and written as the intricate and perplexing experiences that they are. Too often it seems tempting for fiction writers to simplify how people, especially teenagers, endure these uncertainties and move towards healthy adulthood. Margaret's experiences with realizing she is queer and seeking treatment for her eating disorder are anything but simple, even her diagnosis cannot be specified and categorized simply. While at the treatment center she initially begins to self-destruct, but later gets to know other people who disrupt and enlighten her knowledge of how mental illness manifests, and what it means to grow into your own power.
I would recommend this book to others who are alright with reading a narrative that doesn't provide them with easy answers. The majority of the story takes place in a treatment center for adolescents with eating disorders, so we're mostly reading about the perspectives of young people who are very unhappy with themselves, and often self destructive. Please keep this in mind, as some of what they think and say may be triggering if you have an eating disorder or are in recovery from one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Rape, Murder, Kidnapping, and Child death
racheloddment's review
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Body horror, and Fatphobia
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