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809 reviews for:
The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
Evanna Lynch
4.53 AVERAGE
809 reviews for:
The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up
Evanna Lynch
4.53 AVERAGE
This book is a heartbreaking story about the throes of anorexia. Evanna Lynch is a beautiful person, inside and out, and I had no idea of her constant struggle with an eating disorder or the fact that we need serious reform in how we handle those that are going through it. Beautiful story with a happy ending.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Such a sad story about the early life of The actress who played Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter! I loved the bits about Harry Potter and getting the role. But tragic how she felt about herself most of her childhood and life, but she is so strong and I think this could help people struggling.
Pfff... this was a tough one to read yet so beautifully written.
I've loved Evy since I first saw her on the big screen. She was the perfect Luna to me. And then I loved her even more when I started following her podcast and all she does to fight for animal rights. I've been lucky enough to meet her briefly and my heart, she's just so sweet ❤
A friend from my old dramaschool passed away last year, lost her fight with anorexia. So in a way this hit home hard and I recognised some things Evy spoke about.
I wish for everyone who reads this, to treat each other but above all as well: treat yourself with kindness.
Thank you Evy for all you do ❤
I've loved Evy since I first saw her on the big screen. She was the perfect Luna to me. And then I loved her even more when I started following her podcast and all she does to fight for animal rights. I've been lucky enough to meet her briefly and my heart, she's just so sweet ❤
A friend from my old dramaschool passed away last year, lost her fight with anorexia. So in a way this hit home hard and I recognised some things Evy spoke about.
I wish for everyone who reads this, to treat each other but above all as well: treat yourself with kindness.
Thank you Evy for all you do ❤
Luna Lovegood and eating disorders. I finished this book a while ago, but I have been putting off the review because of all the emotions. I remember hearing that Evanna had an eating disorder before Harry Potter, so when I discovered my daughter had an eating disorder this summer, I looked up interviews with Evanna to see how she had dealt and found she had written a book.
Some in the midst of dealing with an eating disorder or their loved ones may find this book triggering, so I did not have my daughter read it. But I listened to the book on audible and liked hearing her story with her own voice (and also enjoyed her accent). I also think that, although it was hard for me to read, it did help me understand more of the world that I had just been thrust into. It helped me to see a little of what goes on in an ED brain, to read about her experience with different treatments, to see what it was like in a residential facility, to be warned that it could be just as hard to come home. and to understand that any treatment is not a one-and-done you-are-fixed scenario - that this could be a very long struggle.
The part where her parents had to drop her off at a residential center and walk away while she screamed for them to not leave her there gutted me. I was imagining myself in her poor mother's shoes through the whole book, and grappling with the fact that one day it could be me abandoning my daughter at a residential center and not knowing how I could ever get through it, how I could walk away. But I did. I've been the mother who has to listen to her daughter cry, in so much pain, wanting to come home - and I have to deny her knowing she needs more help than I can give. I think it helped me to read about it beforehand - to know that there are other parents like me who have done these hard things, that I'm not alone.
The book does end rather suddenly, but I think that's kind of the point. Eating disorders are not tied up with a perfect bow - it is something that could continue to pop up throughout life. Evanna also talks a bit about her Harry Potter life, which as a HP fan, was interesting to hear. I also appreciated that she didn't use any weight numbers - never said she was x amount of pounds or lost x amount of weight. The media just wants the sensational, the glamorized anorexic, when the focus should be on understanding what the illness actually is, that it's actually not about being skinny, and how to help.
Content-wise: there is some language and it deals with a lot of very heavy topics - it is not a light read.
* Also, if any of my Goodreads friends are dealing with an eating disorder in themselves or a loved one, we are open about our struggle and you can talk to us!
* Soapbox moment: Eating disorders are the 2nd deadliest of mental health disorders - it was #1 until last year with the opiod crisis. However, deaths attributed to eating disorders are only given to underweight anorexics, which is only about 6% of eating disorder patients - so the numbers are grossly underestimated. As many people die from eating disorders as breast cancer each year, but EDs do not get much in the way of research dollars.
Eating disorders are also not:
- a cheap attempt to get attention
- about vanity
- a diet gone out of control
- a wilfull or chosen illness.
Eating Disorders are:
- a bio-psychosocial illness
- a silent thief stealing life and quality of life
- the illusion of friendship and care
- a biochemical/hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalance
- accompanied by perceptual distortions that can achieve psychotic proportions
- a consolation prize patients settle for in place of full and authentic life
So if you tell me my daughter is just doing it for attention, I might punch you in the face!
Some in the midst of dealing with an eating disorder or their loved ones may find this book triggering, so I did not have my daughter read it. But I listened to the book on audible and liked hearing her story with her own voice (and also enjoyed her accent). I also think that, although it was hard for me to read, it did help me understand more of the world that I had just been thrust into. It helped me to see a little of what goes on in an ED brain, to read about her experience with different treatments, to see what it was like in a residential facility, to be warned that it could be just as hard to come home. and to understand that any treatment is not a one-and-done you-are-fixed scenario - that this could be a very long struggle.
The part where her parents had to drop her off at a residential center and walk away while she screamed for them to not leave her there gutted me. I was imagining myself in her poor mother's shoes through the whole book, and grappling with the fact that one day it could be me abandoning my daughter at a residential center and not knowing how I could ever get through it, how I could walk away. But I did. I've been the mother who has to listen to her daughter cry, in so much pain, wanting to come home - and I have to deny her knowing she needs more help than I can give. I think it helped me to read about it beforehand - to know that there are other parents like me who have done these hard things, that I'm not alone.
The book does end rather suddenly, but I think that's kind of the point. Eating disorders are not tied up with a perfect bow - it is something that could continue to pop up throughout life. Evanna also talks a bit about her Harry Potter life, which as a HP fan, was interesting to hear. I also appreciated that she didn't use any weight numbers - never said she was x amount of pounds or lost x amount of weight. The media just wants the sensational, the glamorized anorexic, when the focus should be on understanding what the illness actually is, that it's actually not about being skinny, and how to help.
Content-wise: there is some language and it deals with a lot of very heavy topics - it is not a light read.
* Also, if any of my Goodreads friends are dealing with an eating disorder in themselves or a loved one, we are open about our struggle and you can talk to us!
* Soapbox moment: Eating disorders are the 2nd deadliest of mental health disorders - it was #1 until last year with the opiod crisis. However, deaths attributed to eating disorders are only given to underweight anorexics, which is only about 6% of eating disorder patients - so the numbers are grossly underestimated. As many people die from eating disorders as breast cancer each year, but EDs do not get much in the way of research dollars.
Eating disorders are also not:
- a cheap attempt to get attention
- about vanity
- a diet gone out of control
- a wilfull or chosen illness.
Eating Disorders are:
- a bio-psychosocial illness
- a silent thief stealing life and quality of life
- the illusion of friendship and care
- a biochemical/hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalance
- accompanied by perceptual distortions that can achieve psychotic proportions
- a consolation prize patients settle for in place of full and authentic life
So if you tell me my daughter is just doing it for attention, I might punch you in the face!
This is genuinely the most beautiful book I have read in my life. I have cried at few books and this one got me in the first few pages and then it kept going and I loved it, I felt consumed by it. Told so simply, honestly, and profoundly, this is the wonderful, horrific, and raw story of a young girl finding who she is to the world and herself. Never mind that she grew up to play Luna Lovegood. The book hardly cares and neither do I. This is a story that I feel like is essential reading and I will probably think of it a few times a day for the rest of my life. I will never know truly the hellish beauty of being a young girl, the trials and futility of trying to force yourself to be the woman a world would need, but with this story I felt like I grew the closest I will ever come. Do yourself a favor and please read it, heartbreaking, hopeful, and undeniably, unapologetically human.
“And I decide, now, in this moment, that I want it; I want this body. I want to inhabit her, enjoy her, care for her, and defend her in this world. And I no longer want to be yet another voice telling her she’s disgusting or embarrassing or inadequate or too much. I want to be one of those arresting voices of love and compassion, to offer her a space where she can go to restore, to feel safe, to grow.”
“And I decide, now, in this moment, that I want it; I want this body. I want to inhabit her, enjoy her, care for her, and defend her in this world. And I no longer want to be yet another voice telling her she’s disgusting or embarrassing or inadequate or too much. I want to be one of those arresting voices of love and compassion, to offer her a space where she can go to restore, to feel safe, to grow.”
A vulnerable love letter, and apology, to her own body, Evanna Lynch shares her story with delicate and caring insight.
I have loved Luna Lovegood forever. I even dressed up as her for Halloween when I was little. That love easily transferred to Evanna Lynch and I have followed her since Harry Potter.
So, for me, this book was a beautiful ode to what has made Evanna into the brilliant activist and kind person she is today.
It can be triggering, but as someone who has struggled like the author, I found this book to be genuinely healing.
I have loved Luna Lovegood forever. I even dressed up as her for Halloween when I was little. That love easily transferred to Evanna Lynch and I have followed her since Harry Potter.
So, for me, this book was a beautiful ode to what has made Evanna into the brilliant activist and kind person she is today.
It can be triggering, but as someone who has struggled like the author, I found this book to be genuinely healing.
reflective
medium-paced