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carolineberry12's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
edignan's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Eating disorder
booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Eating disorder
kimveach's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
janienejulia's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
cassrockweiler's review against another edition
3.75
At first glance you would think this would be a memoir about someone who has hated their body, learned to love it and is on the other side. That is what I thought going in. But this book is so much more, it is about unprocessed shame, family dysfunction, not fitting in, standing out, being looked at as unworthy. Roxane is a gifted writer and touches on so many different trials that people of size, and woman, go through.
Roxane does talk about her physical and mental battle with her weight. Her critique on the fat shaming and fat phobia that exists is horrific and daunting. It truly makes you take a step back and acknowledge how cruel we as a society can be. She talks about her body as a woman and how her size has impacted that. As an average looking woman I have never had felt that people were staring at me in a way that is out of disgust. But the way Roxane describes her encounters through life did resonate with me. It made me think of how people have made comments about my body or how people have felt the need/purpose/right to make comments on what I do or don't do with my body. This is the way the female body has been taken advantage of throughout time. Woman are looked at as things. Something that men have the right to judge, critique, and take without asking. Roxane talks openly about her sexual assault and how she used food to shield herself from unwanted attention, and yet still got it.
I also enjoyed her being open and honest about how we look at people who are not "average" or "thin". I never thought about airplane or doctors seats. I never knew that people could sit in desks or chairs and have bruises because they weren't made for someone that is heavier. This must have been a horrible feeling. To go through the world and know that at every turn we are telling you that we don't want you. It has made me think critically about how I interact or my own preconceived notions about someone, whether based on size, race, ethnicity, age, etc.
I applaud you Roxane for writing this book and the many feelings that it must have brought up. Thank you for sharing your experience with the world.
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual assault
rtrroy's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual assault
katieana_210's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Medical trauma
warloujoyce's review against another edition
4.25
“I was swallowing my secrets and making my body expand and explode. I found ways to hide in plain sight, to keep feeding a hunger that could never be satisfied—the hunger to stop hurting. I made myself bigger. I made myself safer.”
It broke my heart to hear about her experiences, and it made me feel guilty about the ways I, too, view a woman’s body, especially the fat body—how society has conditioned me, us, to respond to fatness.
This memoir contains truths—not assurances, solutions, or words of empowerment. With these truths, I was reminded of how we inflict so much damage on each other. And again, I curse all predators and how they can get away with their evil when victims carry all the trauma and how that snowballs until we realize that time can dull it, but it will still linger.
My only gripe is that I found some sections too long and repetitive. Also, I’m trying to deny it but perhaps the way Gay bared her self-conscious behaviours reminded me too much of how I view myself, and that’s uncomfortable. That says a lot more about me than this memoir, but these are my thoughts.
“I buried the girl I had been because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. She is still small and scared and ashamed, and perhaps I am writing my way back to her, trying to tell her everything she needs to hear.”
Graphic: Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
madlyreading's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail