This single-focus anorexia novel includes the contemporary element of "pro-ana" Internet influence. In a clinic, Maddie writes out her memories, from kindergarten through a rocky puberty and to the present, interspersing them with current days in "prison." She finds treatment tedious and irrelevant; she thinks she's fine and her parents have been duped. Her dulled-down diction sounds younger than her age (17). Maddie's an unreliable narrator with severe body dysmorphia, in profound denial. Despite her obvious narrative untrustworthiness, however, librarians and teachers should be aware of some potential "triggers" herein, including calorie counts, purging tips and numbers of pounds lost. By the end, Maddie only begins to acknowledge she might have a problem. Website thinandbeautiful.com, where friends encourage starving and purging, was Maddie's most blatant enabler pre-treatment, but Shaw shows Maddie's points of vulnerability for years before that, making the pro-ana-Internet impact less key than the title implies. The plain narrative voice sounds like it could have been written by any average teen, making this a realistic-feeling read, if not a particularly artistic one. (Fiction. 13-16)
With well developed characters in the mix of family and friends who engage with this young woman, readers have the opportunity to enjoy a strong story while at the same time learning about an illness that may hit close to home. Highly recommended.
Author Liane Shaw presents the all too common problems of anorexia and bulimia in stark detail as she helps Maddie tell her story. The excuses and denial typical of those with eating disorders is made plain for all to see. Anyone suffering with one or both of these disorders, or anyone who knows someone who is, will benefit from reading Maddie's story.
With well-developed characters in the mix of family and friends who engage with this young woman, teenaged readers have the opportunity to enjoy a strong story while at the same time learn about an illness that may hit close to home.
A great read for all preteen and teen girls.
Canadian Living Editor's Pick
I found myself actually quite relating to Maddie in terms of meeting like-minded people online. I think Shaw captured this realistically, and I found myself a bit sad at the end when Maddie gets one of the biggest shocks of her life.
I couldn’t help but ache for Maddie, and for her family and friends who are desperate to help her...author Liane Shaw does a good job of capturing Maddie’s emotion and self-delusion...thinandbeautiful.com is an affecting and accurate depiction of an eating disorder victim. Anyone suffering with an eating disorder, or anyone who knows someone who is, will benefit from reading Maddie’s story.
Realistic in detailing how an individual can travel from wanting to lose a few pounds to becoming quite ill...By the end of the novel, the reader is left with a feeling of hope...Good for teenagers who are trying to recover from an eating disorder, who have had a friend with an eating disorder or who are looking for an interesting story about a common teen issue.
Thinandbeautiful.com is particularly informative and inspirational for teens dealing with low self-esteem and eating disorders. This book would be an excellent addition to a young adult fiction collection. Recommended.
The best thing about this story is the authenticity of the online culture depicted—and it's a sympathetic portrayal, as well. Though we know as readers that all of the GWS girls are deceiving themselves and each other, there is clearly no malice, just as great deal of pathetic self-delusion.
Inspired by her own battle with anorexia, author Liane Shaw paints a darkly desperate and yet hopeful account of one girl’s struggle with her body image... a brave book that succeeds in both being a compelling read and a great tool to spark a dialogue among teens around beauty, media pressure and the effects it has on us all.
I could not put this book down. It left me needing a few deep breaths and a little shaky. It's listed as being semi-biographical, as the author herself has dealt with eating disorders. Okay, this really hit home.
Pencil-Pushers and Ink-Splotches Book Blog
Liane Shaw, who has battled anorexia herself, spins Maddie’s treatment – as she progresses from delusions to tough realizations – into an absorbing psychological drama...through clear and unflinching storytelling, Shaw takes her readers deep into the labyrinthine psyche of a young girl battling an eating disorder.
Shaw's experience shines through to deftly capture the less well-known elements of disordered eating: self-imposed social isolation, the physical sensations of a shrinking and starving body and, above all, the insistence that the anorexia sufferer is normal - everyone else is crazy.
"A book aimed at young adults with a positive message, thinandbeautiful.com will hopefully get through the heads of troubled young women."
"Particularly informative and inspirational for teens dealing with low self-esteem and eating disorders. This book would be an excellent addition to a young adult fiction collection. Recommended."
