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perilous1's review against another edition
3.0
Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/yanonfiction/24508-imperfect-a-story-of-body-image
A memoir in graphic novel form, offering the personal account of a young Muslim girl’s nearly lifelong battle with perception, body image, and eating disorders.
An offhanded (and honestly, benign seeming) remark from her aunt on how “big” she’s gotten sends a very young Dounya spiraling into full blown body dysmorphia and binge-eating. The book then traces her unhealthy relationship with food all the way up through high school, where she eventually decides to make a change in her lifestyle habits. But the overly positive reaction of her peers causes her mental health pendulum to swing to the opposite extreme, to the point where she nearly dies of bulimia.
One has to applaud the author’s transparency and willingness to share her story through such a public medium. The intention to offer relatability and help others is clearly there (although, I couldn’t find any listing of helplines at the end of this book. There was a website for Zuiker Press and a 5-point takeaway writeup on recognizing body dysmorphic disorder.) One can certainly see youth mental health advocates utilizing this book as a potential tool.
The artwork is neither disappointing nor exceptional. (Though honestly, the subject matter doesn’t easily lend itself to graphic novel depiction.) The color pallet is rich and the style well defined, but with the flashback format and range of age depictions it is sometimes a touch difficult to recognize characters from frame to frame.
While it’s refreshing to see someone’s sincere personal faith integrated into a mainstream work, I would have liked to see more of the author’s organic growth and progression in that area. The author credits Islam in saving her life, but doesn’t really explain how. If she grew up in this faith, as was indicated, then what changed about her understanding of it that so aided her in overcoming her self-destruction? What principals or texts/scripture did she cling to amid her recovery?
Unfortunately, readers aren’t privileged with this information.
Ultimately, the story felt a little too abbreviated. It could have easily been twice as long if more aspects had been fleshed out. For the purposes of school counseling office waiting areas, brevity may be an advantage… but I’d still have liked to see more references to direct readers who may yet be ready or able to seek help from the adults in their lives. I can otherwise see it proving to be a valuable resource—adding more diverse voices to a mental health issue that carries a lot of stereotyping.
A memoir in graphic novel form, offering the personal account of a young Muslim girl’s nearly lifelong battle with perception, body image, and eating disorders.
An offhanded (and honestly, benign seeming) remark from her aunt on how “big” she’s gotten sends a very young Dounya spiraling into full blown body dysmorphia and binge-eating. The book then traces her unhealthy relationship with food all the way up through high school, where she eventually decides to make a change in her lifestyle habits. But the overly positive reaction of her peers causes her mental health pendulum to swing to the opposite extreme, to the point where she nearly dies of bulimia.
One has to applaud the author’s transparency and willingness to share her story through such a public medium. The intention to offer relatability and help others is clearly there (although, I couldn’t find any listing of helplines at the end of this book. There was a website for Zuiker Press and a 5-point takeaway writeup on recognizing body dysmorphic disorder.) One can certainly see youth mental health advocates utilizing this book as a potential tool.
The artwork is neither disappointing nor exceptional. (Though honestly, the subject matter doesn’t easily lend itself to graphic novel depiction.) The color pallet is rich and the style well defined, but with the flashback format and range of age depictions it is sometimes a touch difficult to recognize characters from frame to frame.
While it’s refreshing to see someone’s sincere personal faith integrated into a mainstream work, I would have liked to see more of the author’s organic growth and progression in that area. The author credits Islam in saving her life, but doesn’t really explain how. If she grew up in this faith, as was indicated, then what changed about her understanding of it that so aided her in overcoming her self-destruction? What principals or texts/scripture did she cling to amid her recovery?
Unfortunately, readers aren’t privileged with this information.
Ultimately, the story felt a little too abbreviated. It could have easily been twice as long if more aspects had been fleshed out. For the purposes of school counseling office waiting areas, brevity may be an advantage… but I’d still have liked to see more references to direct readers who may yet be ready or able to seek help from the adults in their lives. I can otherwise see it proving to be a valuable resource—adding more diverse voices to a mental health issue that carries a lot of stereotyping.
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely art, though I'm sorry this wasn't longer. It sort of falls into the common mental-health-book trap of going 'problem problem problem problem oh by the way I got better the end'. There's a lot of material that I would have loved to be explored in more depth: for example, what is it like to grow up in the (shadow of the) glitz of Las Vegas? How, if at all, did religion influence Awada's body image struggles? (I've read plenty of books with a Christian perspective on this, and there's a liiiiiittle bit of 'religion made my life better' here, but I'd be curious about more specifics.) What about being a person of colour with an illness often associated (incorrectly, but still) with rich white girls? The emphasis here is also on body image rather than Awada's very serious eating disorder, and I'm curious about that choice, though I'm guessing it was heavily influenced by the publisher.
So overall interesting, but room for a lot more complexity/analysis.
So overall interesting, but room for a lot more complexity/analysis.
icedcoffeeandbookss's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book, it touched on great topics that need to be heard more. But I would definitely suggest getting a physical copy instead of reading it on Libby or some other app because the font is small and the pages don’t fill the screen.
I didn’t like how abruptly it changed from normal pictures to magical/devil pictures.
Pretty good otherwise though! (:
I didn’t like how abruptly it changed from normal pictures to magical/devil pictures.
Pretty good otherwise though! (:
krissyronan's review against another edition
2.0
Over-simplified and didactic. Love real people sharing their stories to make complex issues real, and putting that into a graphic novel/memoir format could be interesting but this feels overwrought.
booknerd1997's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
ashley_1206's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.75
3.75⭐️
such a wonderful novel to sit and review! i cant wait to read other graphic novels like this one that cover such important topics like suicide, racism, and transitioning. i love how the main character was a muslim girl (the representation of this book collection is amazing)
i love that my school has free resources to books like these because it could help so many students!
such a wonderful novel to sit and review! i cant wait to read other graphic novels like this one that cover such important topics like suicide, racism, and transitioning. i love how the main character was a muslim girl (the representation of this book collection is amazing)
i love that my school has free resources to books like these because it could help so many students!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Vomit
archaeolibraryologist's review against another edition
4.0
A well-written story that is important to share with people, especially those who may be struggling with body dysmorphia.
vinceyface's review against another edition
3.0
Not a fan, it's a good story and worth telling/reading. I know teens and tweens will find this book and find in it courage and strength. Maybe I had my expectations set from the beginning when it opens explaining how the publisher hopes it will be used in classrooms and the teacher section in the back. I just felt like this was middling for what it was, it feels like I'm reading a book that is screaming out, "hey kids like comics let's put real stories in them to educate them". The art is fine, I wasn't a fan but it didn't dislike it, the story is fine but it's so breezy and rushed. This book is meant for someone, but that someone clearly isn't me.