{Synopsis} –Kayla Marlowe is slowly vanishing…
Last year, Kayla’s world imploded. Her beloved father died, leaving her alone with a narcissistic mother who is quick to criticize her daughter’s appearance. During her winter break from college, Kayla’s dangerous obsession with losing weight begins.
Kayla feels like her world changes for the better overnight. Being skinny seems to be the key to the happiness she has desperately been seeking. Her mother and friends shower her with compliments, telling her how fantastic she looks. Kayla is starving, but no one knows it.
Cameron Bennett explodes into Kayla’s life. He’s sexy and kind—he has every quality she has been looking for in a guy. As Cameron grows closer to Kayla and learns of how far she’s willing to go to stay thin, he becomes desperate to save her.
Kayla’s struggles with anorexia and bulimia reach a breaking point and she is forced to confront her body image issues in order to survive. She wonders if Cameron could be the one to help heal her from the pain of her past.
New Adult Contemporary-Ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.
{My Thoughts} – This book centers around a college girl named Kayla and her struggle to find her true identity. When she was younger her father had passed and her mother had dealt with the grief through making Kayla and Lila her younger sister miserable. Her mother was always telling them that they were fat and useless amongst many other naturally rude things. The title of the book really gravitates towards the issues that take place within it’s pages. Kayla lets her mother get into her head and soon starts to head down the terrible path of eating disorders and other issues.
I personally struggle with eating issues on a daily basis. I know what it is like to not feel wanted or good enough. I have never taken it to the extent of what is written in this book, but I do regular skip meals and on some occasion not eat anything for a day. I tell myself it’s because I am to busy or that I’m not really hungry. I know that isn’t the truth, but it seems to be the way that I have lived for so long that I don’t know how to live any differently. I have never made myself throw up though the thought seriously grosses me out. Reading this book made me think of myself in some ways, people always seem to notice how thin I am but they don’t understand the struggle to stay this way. Most of my family is heavyset and it would be my biggest nightmare if I ended up like them.
I do think that this is an excellent book for those with eating disorders to read because it really hits home. It’s well written and covers a topic that is usually ignored in the book world. I will also admit that I cried a lot while reading it. It would be a good idea to have a box of kleenex handy.
Final Conclusion: 5 Star Rating.
