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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Touching. Some parts were triggering to me, but it ended on such a positive note that you couldn't help but feel joy for Portia. An amazing journey and I am so proud of how far she has come.
so good. so, so good. it breaks your heart then lifts you up again at the end.
I was surprised how much this book sucked me in...I read it over only 3 or 4 sittings I think! At first I was a little put-off by Portia's attitude about other people's weight, until I realized that while some of it may be true feelings, some of it was also part of the disease. She seemed to be brutally honest and I am glad I read the book to get a glimpse inside the life and thinking behind a woman with an eating disorder.
A co-worker lent me this book, and I was skeptical that I would like it, as it was "written" by a celebrity. It was really well done! It focused primarily on her disordered eating, and her loneliness and isolation both self-imposed and from the ED.
Very shocking at times. Heartbreaking journey that de Rossi went through. It's so great that she found a way out of her eating disorders and is finally healthy. Once you read her thoughts throughout her whole journey, it really becomes clear that anorexia and bulimia are true diseases. I hope this book helps a lot of people who are going through similar situations.
Usually I stay away from books about eating disorders, but the reviews of this one were really good. I also have enjoyed De Rossi as an actress & look forward to reading her triumphant ending.
A clear & very affecting portrayal of the tunnel vision that is anorexia.
A clear & very affecting portrayal of the tunnel vision that is anorexia.
heartbreaking and brutal, but ultimately full of life and beauty.
This autobiographical account of the development of anorexia was gripping - like I was gripping my kindle so tightly I couldn't let go and spent multiple nights up until 3AM or later because I could not put it down. I have never been anorexic, so I cannot evaluate from that point of view, but the documentation of obsession feels incredibly real and that is what makes the book so compelling. Watching the ordeal unfold for her - you can feel her pain viscerally.
The only frustration with the book is that her recovery, while a powerful chapter in the book and the ray of hope you are waiting for the whole way through, is relegated to a short epilogue at the end. I didn't feel like it was clear enough the connection between her self-hatred as a result of feeling pressure not to be gay and what happens to her health. But despite this she does an amazing job of showing how the insanity seemed sane to her while maintaining the reader's understanding of just how scary and unreal her behavior was.
I highly recommend this book for its deft display of how disordered eating and celebrity culture and being a woman in western society can break one person down.
The only frustration with the book is that her recovery, while a powerful chapter in the book and the ray of hope you are waiting for the whole way through, is relegated to a short epilogue at the end. I didn't feel like it was clear enough the connection between her self-hatred as a result of feeling pressure not to be gay and what happens to her health. But despite this she does an amazing job of showing how the insanity seemed sane to her while maintaining the reader's understanding of just how scary and unreal her behavior was.
I highly recommend this book for its deft display of how disordered eating and celebrity culture and being a woman in western society can break one person down.
Fascinating. Sad. I enjoyed the painful honesty of this memoir.
Ok, ok -- for a celebrity memoir, this isn't half bad. I guess my main criticism is also partial praise: The reader becomes so privy to de Rossi's eating disorder that it's nearly overwhelming. We get all the measurements of her food, the incredible exercise regimen, the constant pressure de Rossi receives from her Hollywood handlers and herself. In a backwards way, this is the perfect how-to manual to start an eating disorder (if one were so inclined). I guess I wanted a little more of her recovery and less of the day-to-day of her illness. However, when the epilogue does come and she becomes a healthier individual, it's a good payoff. I just wish the balance were a little more evident in the overall structure of this memoir -- it's overwhelmingly focused on the illness, less on her recovery.