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kalona's review against another edition
4.0
As much as I wanted to enjoy this book and get carried a way with it, it took me a very long time to get into the story. The narrative is very straight forward with little distracting decor and it was supposed to be a touching story. Or, I thought it would be a touching story, instead it was a hard and gritty narrative of a very real battle with mental illness.
The rawness of the narrative and the very relateable additional issues that often tag along with mental illness made this book very hard for me to read. The story convey in a very real and hard way how mental illness can be there even if you are obviously unaware of it for a while.
IT shows how, even when you know you are sick, the biggest challenge of the battle is not the disease itself but recovery part. Mental health issues, like eating disorders, depression, OCD, they become a part of you and who you are. The disease become part of how you see yourself and you identity, and how are you supposed to recover from your identity?
Davis goes all the way out to show how real her struggle was and she is in not painting any rainbows or making any face-saving promises or painting rainbows. Yet her strong narrative still warrants hope and I would recommend the book for anyone who knows someone or themselves struggle with an eating disorder.
Kettner’s gritty artwork throughout the novel aids to the harsh narrative without sugar-coating anything. Nothing in a story like this needs sugar-coating, even if it makes the story harder to read, and both the author and the illustrator knows this.
The rawness of the narrative and the very relateable additional issues that often tag along with mental illness made this book very hard for me to read. The story convey in a very real and hard way how mental illness can be there even if you are obviously unaware of it for a while.
IT shows how, even when you know you are sick, the biggest challenge of the battle is not the disease itself but recovery part. Mental health issues, like eating disorders, depression, OCD, they become a part of you and who you are. The disease become part of how you see yourself and you identity, and how are you supposed to recover from your identity?
Davis goes all the way out to show how real her struggle was and she is in not painting any rainbows or making any face-saving promises or painting rainbows. Yet her strong narrative still warrants hope and I would recommend the book for anyone who knows someone or themselves struggle with an eating disorder.
Kettner’s gritty artwork throughout the novel aids to the harsh narrative without sugar-coating anything. Nothing in a story like this needs sugar-coating, even if it makes the story harder to read, and both the author and the illustrator knows this.
sizrobe's review against another edition
5.0
A graphic autobiography centered around anorexia. Some of this felt familiar, but on the overeating side instead of anorexia, as well as some addiction issues. Sometimes I envied anorexics for having the discipline to control their eating to such an extent, which I understand is a pretty shitty way to feel. Her struggles feel very relatable, and the art is well done.
always_need_more_books's review against another edition
5.0
I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Lacy Davis, and the publisher, New Harbinger for this opportunity.
Ink in Water is a memoir of Lacy Davis’ upsetting struggle with negative body image and eating disorders. and how she rose above her own damaging behaviours and feelings of inadequacy to live a life of strength and empowerment.
Told in the form of a graphic novel, it covers her friendships and how they break down, the beginning of her recovery on an overeaters anonymous course and the relationships she forms. Over the course of the book she suffers from both anorexia and bulimia and also partakes in extreme exercise.
It is heart-breaking in places and I found I was able to totally emphasise with Lacy. I liked her and was cheering on her recovery. The illustrations are amazing and I can’t rate this highly enough. I don’t generally read graphic novels but after having some family experience with eating disorders I wanted to know more about it and the feelings people have.
Ink in Water is a memoir of Lacy Davis’ upsetting struggle with negative body image and eating disorders. and how she rose above her own damaging behaviours and feelings of inadequacy to live a life of strength and empowerment.
Told in the form of a graphic novel, it covers her friendships and how they break down, the beginning of her recovery on an overeaters anonymous course and the relationships she forms. Over the course of the book she suffers from both anorexia and bulimia and also partakes in extreme exercise.
It is heart-breaking in places and I found I was able to totally emphasise with Lacy. I liked her and was cheering on her recovery. The illustrations are amazing and I can’t rate this highly enough. I don’t generally read graphic novels but after having some family experience with eating disorders I wanted to know more about it and the feelings people have.
djcthomas's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this one! Graphic novels always say so much with so few words. The illustrations are wonderful and really add to the darkness felt by the main character. I enjoy graphic memoirs because the combination of words and pictures provide insight more than words alone.
bluenicorn's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really great look at mental illness/obsessive tendencies, and one of the few books about eating disorders that isn't YA fiction (I know that is not true, but it's how it seems). I thought the connection between her eating disorder and the addictions of others was a profound one to make. I liked this book for its honesty, plain and simple. If it were fiction, I would be annoyed that the main character seemed to tie up so much of herself in relationships- but it's real life, and in real life, it happens. It was honest. Personally, I get that the author is punk rock, but I think the subtitle is unnecessary and kind of took away from what I thought was the beautiful imagery of her title.
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, this is the second graphic novel I have read in a week that was about anorexia.
It works though, telling the story that way. And like the other book, Lighter than my shadow, the story is very painful, and the thoughts in each of the women's head are what drove them to do what they did, and to have their relationship with food.
It is so important that these two books, these two graphic novels, are out there, that women are writing about what worked for them, and what did not. It is so sad that anyone has to go through this, and a graphic novel is such an accessable way to tell the story.
Recommend this to those who are curious, those who have gone through this, or have simply wondered what was going on.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
It works though, telling the story that way. And like the other book, Lighter than my shadow, the story is very painful, and the thoughts in each of the women's head are what drove them to do what they did, and to have their relationship with food.
It is so important that these two books, these two graphic novels, are out there, that women are writing about what worked for them, and what did not. It is so sad that anyone has to go through this, and a graphic novel is such an accessable way to tell the story.
Recommend this to those who are curious, those who have gone through this, or have simply wondered what was going on.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
carahamelie's review against another edition
5.0
Not my fave art style.. but I loved the story telling. Everything flowed and was easy to follow... and I felt like I knew Lacy and all of her friends. This is an amazing memoir about her recovery from anorexia. It was amazingly done and one of my favorite graphic novels I have read. Not only that, but it took place in Portland... I sort of felt like I was reading my own story at times. Great read.