Ratings5
Average rating4.1
Valerie Chu is quiet, studious, and above all, thin. No one, not even her best friend, Jordan, knows that she has been bingeing and purging for years. But when tragedy strikes, Val finds herself reassessing her priorities, her choices, and her body. The path to happiness may lead her away from her hometown and her mother’s toxic projections—but first she will have to find the strength to seek help. This beautiful and heart-wrenching young adult graphic novel takes a look at eating disorders, family dynamics, and ultimately, a journey to self-love.
Reviews with the most likes.
Exceptional! This is so so good. The colors, the characters, the plot are all great, but the heart of the story is amazing. The heart of the story shows up on every page and just bleeds amazingness and emotion and life lessons. This is a book that everyone can learn from.
A gorgeously illustrated story of a girl struggling with disorder eating and grief. Realistic in the way she starts down recovery but doesn't give any easy answers.
Kept trying to formulate a better review but couldn't do here we go.
I expected this to be more about anorexia than bulimia. Had I known I likely wouldn't have picked up. While I usually take more than a day to finish graphic novels this one took me a while due to certain scenes. Had I read this kind of book two or three years ago I would have likely DNFed this book.
Ying does a good job at portraying complex family relationships. There were moments both in the past as to how Valerie's mother reacted to her eating habits. The change is seen in Valerie's thoughts with how she views herself and the world. As well as how it can change relationships after you start to try and heal.
While I do think the conflict was resolved fast I do think it was ok in this book. I do believe that this is plausible due to the subject matter and her genuinely caring for Valerie.
I would recommend this book to people as long as they're okay with the TWs.
( Honestly feel like I could have worded this better but it is what it is.)