August 20, 2012
Despite some predictable elements, this drama about a girl on the road to anorexia offers candid insights into the psychological factors underlying the condition. Seventeen-year-old Sethie Weiss, a student at an elite girls' school in Manhattan, is entangled in a destructive relationship with a boy who treats her callously. Simultaneously, Sethie becomes increasingly obsessed with her weight, wishing she could look more like her new friend, Janey. What follows is an account of Sethie's regimented eating habits, her flirtation with cutting, her experimentation with drugs, and her inevitable breakup with the boy she thinks she loves. As Sethie eats less, she becomes more reclusive, isolating herself from those who care about her: Ben, a big-brother figure who shares her passion for literature; Janey, who continues to call Sethie a friend; and Sethie's mother, who remains silently concerned about her daughter. Sethie's redeeming characteristics are overshadowed by her fixations, with the third-person narration giving her voice an authentic, detached quality. Regardless of Sethie's distance from readers, Sheinmel's depiction of her self-defeating behavior comes across as vivid and painfully truthful. Ages 12âup. Agent: Sarah Burnes, the Gernert Company.
July 15, 2012
Sethie, seriously conflicted by the challenge of navigating the uncertainties of a not-quite-relationship with Shaw, develops anorexia. Previously an excellent, responsible student, Sethie, a senior, tries to live up to indifferent Shaw's expectations for a good-time girl, always available for quick sex and willing to share his abundant pot stash and booze. Never completely addressing these soul-subverting issues--all seemingly in sharp contrast to her previous behavior--Sethie instead begins to associate her self-worth and value to Shaw with her weight. New best friend Janey helpfully offers her bulimia tips but is less than honest about Shaw and his ultimate lack of interest in and respect for Sethie. Third-person, present-tense narration adds an additional level of edginess to this already disturbing tale of self-loathing--and eventually even self-mutilation, as Sethie, spiraling ever downward, dabbles in cutting as well. Adults around her, including her mother, seem nearly unaware of her drinking/drug use/anorexia until a too-easy conclusion brings a hopeful resolution--undermining the potential impact. While Sethie's negative behavior and disturbing mental landscape are vividly depicted, it's less obvious how she became so deeply afflicted, information that might provide readers with a helpful warning. Never an easy read with its unrelenting depiction of Sethie's pain and adult inattentiveness, this effort provides some insight but little assistance with an important and challenging topic. (Fiction. 14 & up)
COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
December 1, 2012
Gr 9 Up-Sethie, a driven, type-A personality who desperately cares what people think about her and is never satisfied with her rapidly shrinking body, is spiraling into a catacomb of eating disorders and cutting. When she finds out that the guy she thought was her boyfriend is only using her for sex and drugs, she goes into further decline. The author's constant referral to her in the third person is rather jarring at times. Sheinmel depicts the common control and textural issues prevalent among many anorexics in a stark and chilling manner; Sethie relishes the feeling of the hard floor underneath her butt and has an exacting ritual of chugging cold water before bedtime. Although Sheinmel indicts the health-care industry and memoirs by anorexics for inadvertently providing tips for anorexics, she explains Sethie's starvation rituals in meticulous detail. However, in an age of "thinspiration" websites, this is probably a moot point, and the details show the ugliness and heartbreaking aspects of anorexia/bulimia. Sethie receives little intervention from her mother or school officials until the end of the novel, for which there is no explanation. The novel is a bit disjointed at times, but it is still a compelling take on a common theme in young adult literature.-Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA
Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2013
For seventeen-year-old Sethie, an Upper East Side high school senior coping with a distant boyfriend, drug use, and an eating disorder, her body is "an endless source of fascination and disappointment." Though parts of the novel send mixed messages and the present-tense narration aims for urgency and misses, the revelation of an element of unreliable narration makes an effective point about body dysmorphia.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)