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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This book was utterly fantastic. For a debut novel to feel so raw and real and full of love … pretty astonishing tbf. I’ve no clue why this isn’t as popular as other, colder books about mentally ill 20-somethings. Perhaps because it’s actually challenging; this author makes statements about society that hit a nerve and make us think, rather than affirming what we’ve already seen a thousand times on Insta captions.
This is a difficult read, sure, and triggering as all hell for those recovering from EDs, but it touches on many subjects in a careful and respectful way. Add onto that a collection of realistic female relationships, accurate, unflinching portrayals of mental illness and actual character growth (gasp! So rare!) and you’ve got something that should’ve been a bestseller. The author’s frustration at the systems contributing to negative body image in women is apparent on every page. As seen through Rose and her dry comments, we can acknowledge that female trauma is often collective, encouraged by everything around us. This is the rare sort of novel that inspires you to reach out to people to *listen* and engage, rather than letting yourself drown in a soup of cynicism and self-hatred.
Female friendships are portrayed as fickle, and there are a few bitchy moments - but the characters aren’t one dimensional enough to grate. As a feminist novel should, this acknowledges that women are never perfect, nor should we aim to be, but we can change and should strive to support one another. I’ve read so many contemporary novels where female protagonists treat their friends horribly, so this felt so fresh and positive. I wish more books like this became popular!!
This is a difficult read, sure, and triggering as all hell for those recovering from EDs, but it touches on many subjects in a careful and respectful way. Add onto that a collection of realistic female relationships, accurate, unflinching portrayals of mental illness and actual character growth (gasp! So rare!) and you’ve got something that should’ve been a bestseller. The author’s frustration at the systems contributing to negative body image in women is apparent on every page. As seen through Rose and her dry comments, we can acknowledge that female trauma is often collective, encouraged by everything around us. This is the rare sort of novel that inspires you to reach out to people to *listen* and engage, rather than letting yourself drown in a soup of cynicism and self-hatred.
Female friendships are portrayed as fickle, and there are a few bitchy moments - but the characters aren’t one dimensional enough to grate. As a feminist novel should, this acknowledges that women are never perfect, nor should we aim to be, but we can change and should strive to support one another. I’ve read so many contemporary novels where female protagonists treat their friends horribly, so this felt so fresh and positive. I wish more books like this became popular!!
I have an eating disorder and I've never felt more seen by a book. This isn't a book meant to trigger, rather to help an audience understand what it's like to have an ED. We follow Rose, an anorexic struggling to exert control over her life in a rehabilitation center. And through this we journey to discover the trigger for Rose's disorder while we grapple with themes of sexuality, abuse, and codependence.
This book touches on the influence of social media and the male gaze on body image, the societal pressure to always be thinner, and how toxic relationships can shape your views. Ultimately this book was so powerful and helped me understand myself better.
This book touches on the influence of social media and the male gaze on body image, the societal pressure to always be thinner, and how toxic relationships can shape your views. Ultimately this book was so powerful and helped me understand myself better.
I don’t know how to rate this book. It’s incredibly well written. It’s disturbing and thought-provoking but could be very triggering for some people. I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time.
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Toxic relationship
Stunning. Devastating. This is a triumph of a novel. Full disclosure that I wept through the final third, and a bit beyond. Looking forward to more work from this author.
Trigger warning: eating disorders, abuse
Lily and Rose are identical twins. Until they’re not. Rose has always been the quieter twin, at home with their oneness, determined they be joined at the hip. They existed, Rose reflects, ‘on our own frequency, a station between channels that sounded like nothing more than raw static to others.’
Up to their early teenage years, the only thing that sets the two apart from each other is a small mole on Lily’s torso. But when they turn fourteen, Rose, desperate to ingratiate herself with the popular clique and win the affection of its ring leader, Jemima, begins to starve herself. And the less Rose consumes, the more Lily fills in the gaps.
‘She fed herself because I wouldn’t. We were an hourglass. Emptying the contents of one side only filled the other.’
There is an almost surreal quality to the next part of Rose’s life: a hazy rawness that emulates her slipping in and out of consciousness as her body hangs on by a thread – in Rose’s case, a tic-tac on the hour, and nothing else. Flitting between the past and the present, chronicling Rose’s teenagerhood with Lily and subsequent anorexia, we witness the collapse of their once-inseparable bond in the 2000s coupled with present-day Rose in an eating disorder facility.
I thought I could predict where this story was taking me, but I was impressed by the incredibly nuanced and delicate way the narrative is told. Clarke deftly explores the complex psychology behind Rose’s eating disorder, and the extreme psychological and physical harm this illness inflicts on its victims. There is no glamorisation of anorexia here – it is explored in graphic and unflinching detail. At one point, Rose’s teeth deteriorate – she becomes too worried about calories in toothpaste. Her lips are permanently chapped, lest she ingest some of the nutritional content of chapstick. Rose is unwaveringly honest – she knows her emaciated body is not conventionally ‘attractive’ – but that isn’t the point.
‘I wanted to see what wasn’t there anymore. I wanted to see how much of me had been erased. I wanted to see how little of me remained.’
The story is told with startling insight and skill, the narrative flitting between past and present, interspersed with vignettes of information that Rose has burned into her brain. She consumes knowledge in the same way she is unable to consume food.
‘In the 1930s, a dieting trend emerged in the media. Slimming soaps, which professed to wash away extra weight by simply working up a lather in the shower. See all those women, in the midst of the depression, still desperately scouring their skin, scrubbing themselves skinny.’
Even more surprisingly, this is, in its own complex way, a queer love story, and a startling exploration of denying your sexuality and wreaking havoc on your body. ‘We think we can exorcise desire by famine,’ Rose reflects. Reconciling this part of her identity is essential for any chance at recovery.
Not everything works perfectly – the ornate passages Rose reads about her sister Lily’s trauma felt a little jarring in the context of the book, and some of the metaphors were a little overstretched – but this is overall an impressive, intense and gripping portrait of young womanhood, obsession, illness, desire, and hope.
****.25
With thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy. Thin Girls will be published on 30th June 2020.
Lily and Rose are identical twins. Until they’re not. Rose has always been the quieter twin, at home with their oneness, determined they be joined at the hip. They existed, Rose reflects, ‘on our own frequency, a station between channels that sounded like nothing more than raw static to others.’
Up to their early teenage years, the only thing that sets the two apart from each other is a small mole on Lily’s torso. But when they turn fourteen, Rose, desperate to ingratiate herself with the popular clique and win the affection of its ring leader, Jemima, begins to starve herself. And the less Rose consumes, the more Lily fills in the gaps.
‘She fed herself because I wouldn’t. We were an hourglass. Emptying the contents of one side only filled the other.’
There is an almost surreal quality to the next part of Rose’s life: a hazy rawness that emulates her slipping in and out of consciousness as her body hangs on by a thread – in Rose’s case, a tic-tac on the hour, and nothing else. Flitting between the past and the present, chronicling Rose’s teenagerhood with Lily and subsequent anorexia, we witness the collapse of their once-inseparable bond in the 2000s coupled with present-day Rose in an eating disorder facility.
I thought I could predict where this story was taking me, but I was impressed by the incredibly nuanced and delicate way the narrative is told. Clarke deftly explores the complex psychology behind Rose’s eating disorder, and the extreme psychological and physical harm this illness inflicts on its victims. There is no glamorisation of anorexia here – it is explored in graphic and unflinching detail. At one point, Rose’s teeth deteriorate – she becomes too worried about calories in toothpaste. Her lips are permanently chapped, lest she ingest some of the nutritional content of chapstick. Rose is unwaveringly honest – she knows her emaciated body is not conventionally ‘attractive’ – but that isn’t the point.
‘I wanted to see what wasn’t there anymore. I wanted to see how much of me had been erased. I wanted to see how little of me remained.’
The story is told with startling insight and skill, the narrative flitting between past and present, interspersed with vignettes of information that Rose has burned into her brain. She consumes knowledge in the same way she is unable to consume food.
‘In the 1930s, a dieting trend emerged in the media. Slimming soaps, which professed to wash away extra weight by simply working up a lather in the shower. See all those women, in the midst of the depression, still desperately scouring their skin, scrubbing themselves skinny.’
Even more surprisingly, this is, in its own complex way, a queer love story, and a startling exploration of denying your sexuality and wreaking havoc on your body. ‘We think we can exorcise desire by famine,’ Rose reflects. Reconciling this part of her identity is essential for any chance at recovery.
Not everything works perfectly – the ornate passages Rose reads about her sister Lily’s trauma felt a little jarring in the context of the book, and some of the metaphors were a little overstretched – but this is overall an impressive, intense and gripping portrait of young womanhood, obsession, illness, desire, and hope.
****.25
With thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy. Thin Girls will be published on 30th June 2020.
challenging
dark
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
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
Wow. There is a lot to unpack in this book and while I loved it, I can certainly see how it wouldn’t be for everyone. Growing up I loved reading books about twins, and while this is a book about twins it was so much more. This book deals with a range of topics from eating disorders to sexuality to alcoholism and abuse, but does so in a way that doesn’t feel forced. A very raw and emotional read.