Reviews

Alice im Hungerland. Leben mit Bulimie und Magersucht. by Marya Hornbacher

gingreadsbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

i think about this book at least once a month despite having read it over 6 years ago

izzy_ldrversion's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

gtaper's review against another edition

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3.0

An interesting first hand view of life with eating disorders. I felt though their were too many words and the timeline didn’t hold steady which made it confusing

meghanmoloney's review against another edition

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5.0

A raw, intimate portrayal of a young woman struggling to figure out what is wrong with her. It goes far beyond the complications of her eating disorder(s) and delves into her relationship with her parents and her mental illness(es). It's rare to see this kind of honesty without the addition of martyrdom or self-righteousness. Looking forward to reading her other work.

dawndpt's review against another edition

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5.0

Well written, and a good combination of personal experience with academic information. That said, parts of this are incredibly graphic and hard to read. Not for everyone.

sarah_tellesbo's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a painful book. Period. It’s difficult to read and even harder to fully comprehend. Not because it’s poorly written- in fact, it was written strikingly well- but because the topic is incredibly dark and, if you’ve never struggled with an eating disorder yourself, it can be challenging to truly grasp the how’s and the why’s of it all.

Unfortunately, I have struggled with an eating disorder. And I know many others who share the nightmare. Which is why this book was all the more painful to read. It took me months to work my way through it.

The worst part; the most sickening, devastating thing about all of this is the fact that disordered eating is not only acceptable, but actually encouraged on a societal level- especially for women. This is a sickness that has been sanctioned in the name of “beauty” and “health” and “self control” when, in reality, sickness is none of these things. In fact, the consequences of this particular sickness are the exact opposite of these ideals. Eating disorders are unimaginably ugly and painful. And yes, eating disorders are fatal.

As a woman battling disordered eating, I empathize with Marya Hornbacher. As a family member of someone battling disordered eating, I desperately plead with Marya Hornbacher. As a social worker and clinician, I worry and strategize for Marya Hornbacher.

And as a human being, I absolutely mourn for Marya Hornbacher, the millions like her, and the ugly, twisted society that glorifies something so utterly devastating.

kyhmac's review against another edition

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5.0

Goodness. An absolutely amazing and heartbreaking book. The somewhat journalistic approach to her memoir was fascinating and made it very enjoyable to read. I genuinely didn’t want to put it down. I cannot wait to read her other book “Maniac” that is about her life with bipolar disorder.

emosheeran's review against another edition

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challenging informative

4.0

Brutally honest and uncomfortably poetic, I have to say this has been one of the best memoirs I’ve read (listened to). Listening to Hornbacher's narration made this feel a lot more impactful and personal, and I absolutely loved how she read out the book. 

This isn’t my topic to have critiques on, so there will be none. 
Coming from an outside perspective, I found her unflinching way of telling everything admirable, as not everyone has a perfect bow ending to their journey (as she said). 

mar253's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.5

gabbuz's review against another edition

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4.0

Tai šiurpą kelianti autobiografinė istorija apie merginą, kuri nuo pat vaikystės serga progresuojančia bulimija ir vėliau prisijungusią anoreksija. Ši knyga man atvėrė akis, nes mano mintyse šios ligos buvo itin supaprastintos ir nesuprastos. Tai yra savidestrukcinė priklausomybė griaunanti visą gyvenimą. Labai tikėjausi laimingos pabaigos, bet buvau supažindinta su realybe. Rekomenduoju.