Hungry Ghost

Originally I marked this as a four, but I've argued with myself to make it a 4.5

I thought I wanted more from it, but as a YA graphic novel — realistic fiction which I've decided to think of as nearly graphic memoir, it strikes the right balance. There were elements that I wanted more of but if she added in everything it might have been too long (for its intended purpose/audience) and due to its emotionality it works better as a single volume. And if she added in only some of the elements it might have come across as lopsided.

I thought I wanted more characterization of Valerie, but the things that I felt were missing either weren't (or weren't owed to me) or were missing on purpose.
Here's some specifics Valerie wants to go to Sarah Laurence College. When I hear about certain schools I assume certain things, for example I had friend who wanted to go to MIT for astrophysics, or one might want to go to a specific school due to a family connection or to be in a certain location. So if I hear someone wants to go to Sarah Laurence I expect their to be a reason, such as wanting to pursue journalism or becoming an author or because Vera Wang went there. Instead what she says is “in my heart, I've always wanted to go to Sarah Laurence College. Having lived on the West Coast my whole life, I want to see a real fall.” Her best friend Jordan then adds that if she gets into NYU then they can still be close enough to hang out. This feels a little...hollow? Like there's SO many colleges on the East Coast, why this specific —and famous—school to set one's heart on? But I think it also speaks to Valerie's stalled development, she doesn't have a passion to chase because she's too wrapped up in her disordered eating. I thought I also wanted more focus on her Taiwanese identity, but it's there. She talks about being ‘qwai', being a good daughter, Lunar New Year, cooking style, and her house has stone lions in front. Although it would have been nice to know about her parents attitudes about her wanting to go to a liberal arts college.I was surprised that there wasn't more talk about how men don't have to worry about what they eat, but I think it's there in subtle ways and that works too. Her mother doesn't police the brother's eating, but her mother and at least one aunt comment to Valerie to not get fat. What I know about bulimia is that it can have awful, unintended side effects, such as ruining one's teeth, hurting one's throat, and hair loss. So if one is obsessed or concerned about their looks they might do certain things to safeguard their teeth, take supplements, etc. But I don't know how long it takes for those side effects to occur. The story seems to start around Lunar New Year and wraps up around summer, so about 4-5 months, I guess that's not long enough for her to experience the other physical effects besides weight loss and of course the mental effects.

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.)