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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
this book does not preach about fat acceptance/fatphobia, make up new things to be angry about, leave a deep imprint, hit home for a 25-year purging disorder person
this book does: list weights, use terms like darling, baby, etc too often, lean too heavily on pop culture to make reference to make-believe, have a chaotic narrative that i enjoy.
if you are looking for some beacon of "body positivity" or "fat acceptance" this is not it. i am so glad to have something that isn't infected by those things right now, though. sometimes a dumb ED bitch just wants to feel at home and not preached to.
i mean this book isn't good, by any means. it just good to be seen.
this book does: list weights, use terms like darling, baby, etc too often, lean too heavily on pop culture to make reference to make-believe, have a chaotic narrative that i enjoy.
if you are looking for some beacon of "body positivity" or "fat acceptance" this is not it. i am so glad to have something that isn't infected by those things right now, though. sometimes a dumb ED bitch just wants to feel at home and not preached to.
i mean this book isn't good, by any means. it just good to be seen.
I absolutely devoured this book. Devastating and beautiful, it's an ode to survivors that is darkly funny at the most unexpected times.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse
Minor: Rape
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
2.5 rounded down. this book has too many issues for me to recommend it to anyone else.
eating disorders are at the center of the book, but i felt like there was a lot of harmful representation of ED (disclosure: i struggle with body dysmorphia, but have never had an ED). the title itself implies that all people who have an ED are thin, and that's true for all characters. Rose's case is extreme in a way that made me regularly google if certain facts were physically possible. it seems like Clarke wanted to show Rose and Lily's connection through their weight--as one loses weight, the other gains weight, and the situation is eventually reversed. but i thought that tracking that by giving their respective weights in all flashbacks was an inelegant and honestly triggering way to do that. i almost wished Clarke leaned into the almost supernatural twin dynamics (like Lily and Rose can taste each other's emotions) and threw in some magical realism to communicate how their personal ebbs and flows are connected.
then there are the little issues. "kink is just cover for abuse" is a lazy take. from what we know about Lily, she wouldn't need the cover of BDSM for her to explain staying with Phil. also, the reveal that
the part of the book that i really enjoyed was the portrayal of how language of self love is co-opted by diet culture. all of the emails from Lara Bax were excellent.
update after reading other community reviews: multiple people used the word "exploitative"--as in, the author exploits ED and people with ED for her novel, writes about them without deep understanding and compassion--and i agree.
eating disorders are at the center of the book, but i felt like there was a lot of harmful representation of ED (disclosure: i struggle with body dysmorphia, but have never had an ED). the title itself implies that all people who have an ED are thin, and that's true for all characters
Spoiler
(while Lily is fat in the middle of the novel, she starts to rapidly lose weight once she start dieting)then there are the little issues. "kink is just cover for abuse" is a lazy take. from what we know about Lily, she wouldn't need the cover of BDSM for her to explain staying with Phil. also, the reveal that
Spoiler
Lily was raped at the very end of the book irked me. that's my personal pet peeve--authors throwing in rape as a shorthand for traumatized past without actually exploring its implications.the part of the book that i really enjoyed was the portrayal of how language of self love is co-opted by diet culture. all of the emails from Lara Bax were excellent.
update after reading other community reviews: multiple people used the word "exploitative"--as in, the author exploits ED and people with ED for her novel, writes about them without deep understanding and compassion--and i agree.
dark
emotional
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced