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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I actually got halfway through but at the time was dealing with depression and didn’t really want to read a super depressing book. Would try again though
Really good but also triggering so handle with care.
(3.5)
The opening pages of Thin Girls take place in a treatment facility for people with anorexia. The key protagonist, Rose is sharing her thoughts on group therapy and they fairly crackle off the page with intelligence and sharp, incisive humor. She is 23 and has been at the facility for over a year, something she sees as a badge of honor. The only visitor she has is her identical twin sister, Lily. They are preternaturally close, except the one instance where they are opposites. For every food Rose won’t eat, Lily eats for her. This unspoken, unsettling behavior is just one of the many explored in the girls’ lives together and apart.
By the time they enter high school, although Lily and Rose look exactly alike, their personalities are vastly different. Lily is fun and outgoing while Rose is smart, observant and probably somewhere on the spectrum in her awkwardness with social encounters and verbal literality.
Another reason I made people so uncomfortable was because I was not quite Lily. So like her in so many ways, but not quite her. I was her stunt double, her stand-in, her understudy. People looked at me and saw almost Lily…
It’s only when Rose catches the eye of a popular mean girl, Jemima, who was Lily’s friend, that the airtight bond between the sisters begins to leak. Jemima is pretty, thin, and obsessed with all things superficial. When Rose realizes she can attract Jemima’s friendship by adhering to wild diet regimens she begins her descent into destructive weight loss. What is more alarming, though, is that it goes beyond getting attention from another girl. Rose’s identity is warped in a way that makes weight the best conduit to achieve what she wants to be. Gone.
There rest of this review is at The Gilmore Guide to Books: https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2020/08/thin-girls-a-novel/
The opening pages of Thin Girls take place in a treatment facility for people with anorexia. The key protagonist, Rose is sharing her thoughts on group therapy and they fairly crackle off the page with intelligence and sharp, incisive humor. She is 23 and has been at the facility for over a year, something she sees as a badge of honor. The only visitor she has is her identical twin sister, Lily. They are preternaturally close, except the one instance where they are opposites. For every food Rose won’t eat, Lily eats for her. This unspoken, unsettling behavior is just one of the many explored in the girls’ lives together and apart.
By the time they enter high school, although Lily and Rose look exactly alike, their personalities are vastly different. Lily is fun and outgoing while Rose is smart, observant and probably somewhere on the spectrum in her awkwardness with social encounters and verbal literality.
Another reason I made people so uncomfortable was because I was not quite Lily. So like her in so many ways, but not quite her. I was her stunt double, her stand-in, her understudy. People looked at me and saw almost Lily…
It’s only when Rose catches the eye of a popular mean girl, Jemima, who was Lily’s friend, that the airtight bond between the sisters begins to leak. Jemima is pretty, thin, and obsessed with all things superficial. When Rose realizes she can attract Jemima’s friendship by adhering to wild diet regimens she begins her descent into destructive weight loss. What is more alarming, though, is that it goes beyond getting attention from another girl. Rose’s identity is warped in a way that makes weight the best conduit to achieve what she wants to be. Gone.
There rest of this review is at The Gilmore Guide to Books: https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2020/08/thin-girls-a-novel/
Major trigger warnings for eating disorders or really anyone dealing with mental health or an abusive relationship. Tread lightly.
This wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic debut. The prose is quite haunting. I can see the influence her mentor - Roxane Gay had on her.
I struggled a bit to stay engaged at times - it felt quite long but the journey is not a sprint but a marathon. She tackles a lot in this story - eating disorders, sexuality, abusive relationships, etc. Its dark and intense and will get under your skin.
This is a story that will take time to process. Not sure I “enjoyed” the reading experience but it certainly opened my eyes to further understanding. I will however be hesitant to recommending this to anyone as it’s so clearly evident that it’s almost impossible for any woman not to have an unhealthy relationship with food in our day and age. Even while reading it, I felt drawn into some of the theories about how we can control our bodies and what we eat.
I need to do some research to see if the practices used in the clinic were authentic. It seemed dramatic and very unhelpful.
3.5 rounded up
This wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic debut. The prose is quite haunting. I can see the influence her mentor - Roxane Gay had on her.
I struggled a bit to stay engaged at times - it felt quite long but the journey is not a sprint but a marathon. She tackles a lot in this story - eating disorders, sexuality, abusive relationships, etc. Its dark and intense and will get under your skin.
This is a story that will take time to process. Not sure I “enjoyed” the reading experience but it certainly opened my eyes to further understanding. I will however be hesitant to recommending this to anyone as it’s so clearly evident that it’s almost impossible for any woman not to have an unhealthy relationship with food in our day and age. Even while reading it, I felt drawn into some of the theories about how we can control our bodies and what we eat.
I need to do some research to see if the practices used in the clinic were authentic. It seemed dramatic and very unhelpful.
3.5 rounded up
What is a "thin girl?" A thin girl shrinks herself to nothingness. A thin girl deprives herself of the most basic human needs. A thin girl does not feel whole until she ceases to exist. A thin girl is veritably explored in Diana Clarke's debut novel, Thin Girls. Thin Girls, a literary masterpiece, follows anorexic Rose and her relationship with food, as well as her relationship with her twin sister Lily through their teenage years into young adulthood. This exploitative and harrowing novel takes readers into the devastating depths of disordered eating, and tells the story of twins and how far they will go to save each other.
Lily and Rose are identical ... exactly the same. Except for the mole on Lily's back, there is nary a difference between them, even down to their weight. Exactly the same. The twins are so close, their sameness so entwined in who they are, that they can't even imagine being different. But after a series of defining events starting in high school, Rose's body begins dramatically wilting away while Lily's blossoms and balloons. One twin is now severely underweight, the other over. Fast forward several years, and Rose finds herself in a treatment facility, while Lily begins a relationship with a questionable, married man. With both sisters teetering on the edge of destruction, can they help themselves, and in turn, save each other?
Compelling, haunting, and intense, Diana Clarke's Thin Girls tells a raw, believable story about the all-consuming power of eating disorders. It is no secret that many women are raised to have an unhealthy relationship with food; hating themselves for every "guilty" bite they put into their bodies, and never feeling like they are good enough in their own skin. Clarke's Thin Girls takes this relationship to the extreme, showing how anorexia takes over one young woman's life and strips it to bare nothingness. Clarke writes as if she herself has lived with disordered eating, or else she has studied it closely, making this novel feel true-to-life and all the more excruciating. With that being said, those who have suffered from an eating disorder or an unhealthy relationship with food may find themselves uncomfortable or triggered by the contents of this explicitly descriptive book, and should be advised that this read may not be for everyone.
Interwoven in this story of anorexia is Rose's equally unhealthy relationship with her sister Lily. Although Rose loves Lily more than any person on this Earth, their relationship has always been perilous, dramatic, and extreme. Clarke explores their sisterly bond and shows how the interconnectedness of twins is a most unusual, yet fascinating thing. Rose and Lily can no more separate themselves from each other, than they can live without food or air. Their relationship is intricate and entangled, and adds an interesting, important aspect to this utterly gripping novel.
Thin Girls will be enjoyed by readers of dark, edgy exposés. If you like your fiction raw and your characters deep, melancholic, and slightly dangerous, check this one out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Lily and Rose are identical ... exactly the same. Except for the mole on Lily's back, there is nary a difference between them, even down to their weight. Exactly the same. The twins are so close, their sameness so entwined in who they are, that they can't even imagine being different. But after a series of defining events starting in high school, Rose's body begins dramatically wilting away while Lily's blossoms and balloons. One twin is now severely underweight, the other over. Fast forward several years, and Rose finds herself in a treatment facility, while Lily begins a relationship with a questionable, married man. With both sisters teetering on the edge of destruction, can they help themselves, and in turn, save each other?
Compelling, haunting, and intense, Diana Clarke's Thin Girls tells a raw, believable story about the all-consuming power of eating disorders. It is no secret that many women are raised to have an unhealthy relationship with food; hating themselves for every "guilty" bite they put into their bodies, and never feeling like they are good enough in their own skin. Clarke's Thin Girls takes this relationship to the extreme, showing how anorexia takes over one young woman's life and strips it to bare nothingness. Clarke writes as if she herself has lived with disordered eating, or else she has studied it closely, making this novel feel true-to-life and all the more excruciating. With that being said, those who have suffered from an eating disorder or an unhealthy relationship with food may find themselves uncomfortable or triggered by the contents of this explicitly descriptive book, and should be advised that this read may not be for everyone.
Interwoven in this story of anorexia is Rose's equally unhealthy relationship with her sister Lily. Although Rose loves Lily more than any person on this Earth, their relationship has always been perilous, dramatic, and extreme. Clarke explores their sisterly bond and shows how the interconnectedness of twins is a most unusual, yet fascinating thing. Rose and Lily can no more separate themselves from each other, than they can live without food or air. Their relationship is intricate and entangled, and adds an interesting, important aspect to this utterly gripping novel.
Thin Girls will be enjoyed by readers of dark, edgy exposés. If you like your fiction raw and your characters deep, melancholic, and slightly dangerous, check this one out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
While the subject matter was hard to read about at times, I thought it read well. A look inside the mind of someone suffering from anorexia. I know Clarke will receive criticism for writing about this topic, but books explore so many dark topics.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every content warning under the sun (alcoholism, sexual assault, eating disorders, physical abuse, etc.) I gave this book 4.5 stars rounded down to 4. I love the way it was written. The past and present were both beautifully developed stories and gave us a better understanding of Lily and Rose such as why they act the way they do and how they interact/understand eachother as twins. This story really hit home for me because even though i am not a twin, my sister and I’s dynamic were very much similar to Lily and Rose growing up. I also loved how there is a queer love story represented in this book but its not the main focus or the moral of the story. It’s subtle but also further develops Rose as a functioning human rather than just a person with an illness. For a first novel, Diana did an amazing job from developing the story to even the little tidbits and facts thrown in by all different types of scientists to connect the human experience to scientific theory/thought. I love things like that!
RATING: 4 STARS
2020; Harper/HarperCollins
I requested Thin Girls because the gorgeous cover just drew me in. I would not have chosen it on my own, as it sounded a bit too like [b:Girl, Interrupted|68783|Girl, Interrupted|Susanna Kaysen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475482930l/68783._SY75_.jpg|926090]. Do not be fooled with the synopsis, as this is a great read. Almost in lyrical prose, Clarke explores eating disorders, body imagery, sexual orientation, mental health, self esteem, family dynamics, loss of parents, etc. This is the book I would have loved as a teenager as it makes you feel seen and not ridiculous. It has realism that at times made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as I have had feelings like that as a teen. I still struggle with body image and mental illness so this still felt prevalent to read. Any person who has to deal with teens, which is everyone, should read this novel. It reminds us to be gentle with ourselves and one another.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
2020; Harper/HarperCollins
I requested Thin Girls because the gorgeous cover just drew me in. I would not have chosen it on my own, as it sounded a bit too like [b:Girl, Interrupted|68783|Girl, Interrupted|Susanna Kaysen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475482930l/68783._SY75_.jpg|926090]. Do not be fooled with the synopsis, as this is a great read. Almost in lyrical prose, Clarke explores eating disorders, body imagery, sexual orientation, mental health, self esteem, family dynamics, loss of parents, etc. This is the book I would have loved as a teenager as it makes you feel seen and not ridiculous. It has realism that at times made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as I have had feelings like that as a teen. I still struggle with body image and mental illness so this still felt prevalent to read. Any person who has to deal with teens, which is everyone, should read this novel. It reminds us to be gentle with ourselves and one another.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***