The book description is what intrigued me enough to pick up this read which is a little out of the ordinary from the usual fare I read. I’m glad I took a chance on it!
This book follows the story of Grace, a seventeen-year-old high schooler that was heavier last year, but after a summer ‘fat’-camp is now finally at her goal weight, and part of the in-crowd at school.
Convinced that she needs to up her game to be more popular, catch the eye of the hot guy in school, and finally get the attention she so craves from her parents, she decides losing more weight is the way to go. The more she loses, the more in control she feels. Sadly, she loses sight of how out of control everything around her is falling.
I must admit that the first couple of chapters I had to push myself to continue. So much was focused on the food and calorie count, almost a droning on of her inner dialogue.
Once I got past that, I got lost in the inner working of her twisted mind, and I could so see how Grace was going through what she was going through. I as a woman, and once a teenage girl, understand the struggle we as females today face to look good, fit in. It seems like at some point or another (maybe for some even a constant) we battle the image we feel we need to achieve to be the best version of ourselves.
This book takes you along on the journey of an anorexic girl, who ultimately believes that starving herself will solve all of the issues in her life. That voice that we all hear sometimes telling us we aren’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, that voice got the upper hand here. And it is painful yet unstoppable to read it. I struggled reading Grace’s story, even shedding a tear somewhere in there, but I felt compelled to power on and see where this book would take me.
On the romance side of this book, very early on in I figured out who the real hero and love interest would be. And he is AMAZING! It just comes to show how important it is to love someone that is your closest friend.
What for me was a little down side to the book, was Grace’s recovery. Having gone on the whole journey with all the characters I felt like when we finally faced the moment of Grace being pieced together again, it could have been more than a lengthy epilogue. But that is just my opinion.
In all, this book was very thought provoking, and left me with a mayor book funk after finishing the last page. I’ll be sure to look out for more by Miss Souders.