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challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Medical content
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The Weight of Beautiful by Jackie Goldschneider
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
Genre: Memoir
About 220 pages
TW: Eating disorder
Jackie is most known for her time on the Real Housewives of New Jersey, an explosive reality TV show filled with drama. But with this book, that all may change. In The Weight of Beautiful, Jackie opens up about her lifelong struggle with food. She has dealt with binge eating, anorexia, an obsession with exercise, and disordered eating that took over her life for years. Throughout the book, she details what led her into these patterns and what prevented her from stopping even when she knew it was destroying her.
September has been a month full of AMAZING memoirs for me, and this was a great book to end the month on. I first came to know Jackie on RHONJ as I’ve been addicted to that show for years. She stood out to me from her first season because of how authentic she appeared, and I also liked that she had a career before joining the show. I never would have guessed that she struggled with an eating disorder because as she mentions in this book, she put all her energy into covering it up. When they discussed it on the show eventually and showed her taking the steps toward recovery, I was inspired. This book takes that little piece we saw on the show and expands it immensely. I think anyone who has had a tough relationship with food (whether a full-blown eating disorder or mild disordered eating) could benefit from this book. I know I will be taking so much away from this book and I am truly inspired by Jackie’s story.
Favorite Quote: “It took me forty-six years to love myself unconditionally and to understand that true freedom is not caring about what other people think of you. That happiness can’t be added up and measured in a notebook. That you can’t run your way toward acceptance. That skin and bones don’t make you special. It took me a lifetime to realize that beauty has no weight. There is no weight of beautiful. There is just me.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Medical content
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy