alexiasophii's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

"We’re afraid that if we show these ugly, unpalatable parts of ourselves, it will be too much for others; that nobody will love and accept us, and we’ll be left alone with only the worst parts of ourselves for company."

"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.
"

WOW.
This book is profound, gut-wrenching, and transformative. Evanna's warning at the beginning of the book is true, the book focused about 80 or 90% of it on the eating disorder aspects. It is very graphic what Evanna went through. A good part of the book, and that I enjoyed, is that Evanna does not mention weights or calories or any of those things. As she says, eating disorders feed on the "achievements" and on measuring against other people. Learning how much other people weigh, especially at the lowest point of their battle, is not empathic, it is competitive. And it is not helpful to anyone. I particularly enjoyed how Evanna explains her journey and shows that healing is not linear, but a series of battles and fights, up and downs, wins and losses. 

This book is definitely not good for people who struggle with eating disorders, especially anorexia or bulimia. Be careful of Evanna's first Author's Note, she is being very sincere and direct in her warnings. 

Overall, I loved this book. I truly did. And I think it sparked something transformative in me and I will come back to it several times in the future. 

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ckreads28's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

Although I went into this book blind not knowing the context of Evanna expressing her mental health and eating disorder journey. I was excited to get my "hands" (ears) on learning more on another actor I loves journey. 

She was open and raw in the best way taking what she learned from other books that didn't help in them, and making what she thought would help in hers. It was a bit slow but it was going through her young life to her current(at the time it was published) so it is a bit of a slow read.

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aturb92's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25


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bookswithlauren's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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azebrareads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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cateemma's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

2.0

tldr: beautifully written, far too explicit regarding anorexia, triggering, not a good portrayal of recovery

i think it's brave any time someone chooses to speak out about their experience with mental illness, so i do want to commend Evanna Lynch for that.
however, writing a memoir about your eating disorder is undoubtedly going to attract readers who also have eating disorders, and so i think authors have to be very careful with how they discuss their experience. anorexia especially often involves competitiveness, so anything mentioning behaviours or body size/shape is always going to cause comparison. 
at the very beginning, Evanna says she doesn't want to trigger anyone and won't include any numbers or anything that glamorises her eating disorder in any way. however, less than halfway through the book, one particular eating disorder behaviour is portrayed in quite a lot of detail. then, in the section where Evanna is in an ED specific facility, the other patients' thoughts and behaviours are also portrayed in a lot of detail. the calories of several foods the patients have to eat while in treatment are also stated. even though this isn't in a restrictive context, the calories are still there, and readers (especially those with eating disorders) don't need to know the calories of those foods.
i personally think that aspects of this book are very harmful, and could trigger strong eating disorder thoughts and potentially relapses. by the end of the book, it's clear Evanna hasn't fully recovered from anorexia, as she still has recurring thoughts around food and her body. 
i think this memoir had so much potential, but got bogged down in triggering details about Evanna's experience. the thing is, many people with eating disorders will glamorise any symptom, regardless of someone's intention to not glamorise them. so you just can't include behaviours in detail. this could have been an impactful memoir without being so incredibly triggering.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0


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tinalong's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0


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