A review by chelsloukelly
Paperweight by Meg Haston

4.0

4.5/5: ‘Paperweight’ is a Young Adult, Mental Health Contemporary by Meg Haston; Stephanie ‘Stevie’ Deslisle is trapped in an Eating-Disorder Treatment Centre on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert. With twenty-seven days until the anniversary of brother Josh Deslisle’s death – the death she caused – Stevie intends to end her life too. Haston provides an insightful look into the minds of young people dealing with severe Eating Disorders. Paperweight is a compelling novel that gets inside the head of someone struggling with bulimia and allows the reader to understand some of the psychology and triggers of an eating disorder. While Haston’s novel revolves around Stevie, the surrounding people in her life are just as vital to the novel. Stevie pushes away close family, is dependent on her dangerous friend Eden and seeks the approval of her distant mother. She compares herself to the other girls in her treatment centre and hesitantly connects with those around her. Two of the most significant people in Stevie’s life are her brother, even after their separation, and her psychologist, “Shrink,” who shows Stevie the path to healing. Paperweight is a heavy read; dealing with important issues that are often hidden and/or are personal to the audience. I’ve never read a book that deals with issues such as eating disorders in this way and in this much depth and I was pleased that I read a book like this one because it allowed me to be transported into the mind of someone with an eating disorder to better understand what it must be like for them. The story is also told in flashbacks, which explains how and why Stevie ended up in an eating disorder treatment facility. There was a lot of mystery attached to this and that made Paperweight even more addictive. There was a lot of incentive to finish this book and uncover the mystery of what actually happened to Stevie and her brother. I liked getting to know her brother and her friend Eden. It was great for Stevie to finally realise how toxic some of the people in her life were, and this again added to her character development. The ending of this book was flawless, in my opinion. There was no ‘happily ever after’ or an epilogue that was too perfect to be true. This book ends without you really knowing exactly what Stevie is going to do and what is going to happen next. This book tackles issues of Eating Disorders, Depression, Betrayal, Death and Suicide head on and I really appreciate how these topics were written with such raw and brutal honesty. However, I feel as though this book may be triggering for someone who has an eating disorder or is recovering from one, so I advise you to read this book with caution. It is a phenomenal and vital story – Educational!