You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Oh, god… I'm kind of at a loss for how to write this review.
And I remember being utterly, utterly pleased with myself.
Why? (p. 129)
I fell for the illusive spell of eating disorders. I have for a long time. I went into this memoir retaining that illusion, and Hornbacher shattered it.
Hornbacher does not hold back. She is honest, straightforward, and brutal. She takes on an attitude that was desperately needed, that I haven't seen elsewhere. She has sympathy for herself, but she also won't take her own (for lack of a better phrase) bullshit. Given the aforementioned illusion which has infected so many, I think it was vital for the reader to hear the story this way.
Hornbacher does not hold back. She is honest, straightforward, and brutal. She takes on an attitude that was desperately needed, that I haven't seen elsewhere. She has sympathy for herself, but she also won't take her own (for lack of a better phrase) bullshit. Given the aforementioned illusion which has infected so many, I think it was vital for the reader to hear the story this way.
For your edification, it's bullshit. (p. 118)
What I especially appreciated this book for were its perfectly articulated insights into culture and eating disorders. I left so many tabs in this book of quotes I found so enlightening, or so painfully relateable. Hornbacher is wise, she's well-read, and she's a remarkable writer.
I'd prefer not to comment on the memoir itself, for that feels somehow immoral — to rate someone's personal story. It was, however, gripping. I did not want to put this book down, and found myself reading it in fifty, seventy page chunks (I'm typically a slow reader, progressing only in bite-sized chunks). Hornbacher's story is a truly shocking and incredible one.
I often hear a caveat when people talk about recovery for themselves: they say, I'm in recovery. But I know this will always be with me, to some extent . . .
Says who? (p. 300)
I found the 2014 Afterword especially incredible, imperative, and the perfect finish to this already incredible book. In it, she discusses the difficult and confusing process of recovery. She talks directly to the reader who feels they are helpless in the face of their disorder. She insists that they must pull themselves up, no matter how difficult it is.
When she leaves you alone, there's a silence and a solitude that will take some getting used to. You will miss her sometimes.
Bear in mind she's trying to kill you. Bear in mind you have a life to live. (p. 286)
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Chilling, reckless, flippant, and irreverent. I loved Marya Hornbacher’s narrative style that is so indicative of what it’s like to struggle when you are ill. She’s brutally honest and bitterly realistic. Overall, it was just amazing.
I bought this book while I was going through my own eating struggles, but I read it after I had most of it resolved. Marya is an incredible writer who knows how to tell her story in such a way that readers will feel each traumatic experience. I didn't really enjoy the pacing and felt that Madness did a better job, but this was still great to read and insight on severe eating disorders.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced