Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Eat, and Love Yourself

While I loved the art of this novel, I honestly can't say what the plot was and what growth I was meant to see in our main character. To me it almost felt like it should be a multi-part series instead of a standalone. I appreciate the structure of the story and how it matches the panels, but I almost wish the plot followed the same arc. I want to learn more about Mindy and see her grow further. Don't think I would recommend.

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hexenlibrarian's review against another edition

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4.5

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arirose's review against another edition

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4.0

I've been following Sweeney Boo on Instagram for along time, so I'm glad to finally read this. The art, as expected, is wonderful and the story so relatable for many. The resolution was rather quick, in my opinion. But it sort of felt like the ending was more a beginning to the resolution, Mindy's healing. Which, now that I think about it, might be the best route. Healing from an eating disorder is a journey, it doesn't just "get better" and end there.

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aus10england's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A little too short to get the message across, but I liked the art style and the characters!

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jenmaysiereads's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 out 5

‘Eat and Love Yourself’ is a hard book to rate and review—not to say that it was bad by any means, in actuality I quite enjoyed my time reading this short, well-illustrated gut-punch of a graphic novel.

There are so many people who will read this and have read this that will this will mean a lot to you. ‘Eat and Love Yourself’ is a story about recovering from eating disorders and body dysmorphia—it’s about childhood insecurities blossoming under the ire of snide comments, body-shaming insults in a world that sees beauty as exclusively skinny and white, and becoming something even more monstrous.

The art style in this book is as gorgeous as and as meaningful as the narrative itself. The use of colour, shading and panel designs communicate a haunting and oh so relatable story of internalised self-loathing.

And it’s damn hard to read.

As someone who struggles with body image issues, who has been on the receiving end of body-shaming insults and hateful backhanded compliments (“you look so good—have you lost weight?”) it was very meaningful. I’m happy this book exists and happier still that I read it.

But it was so short. This book could’ve been 100 pages longer and I would’ve loved it; the story flew by so quickly that I was startled when I turned the final page and that was it. I wanted there to be so much more and feel like the story could’ve really benefitted from a bolstered page count and the chance to really sit and take in the messages of the text.

Nevertheless, this wonderful. It’s going to mean so much to a lot of people, just as it did for me. I think it’s the type of book that could genuinely save a life, if found at the right time by the right person.

Highly recommend.

[Content warnings: fat shaming, bulimia, anorexia, body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, unhealthy relationship with food, not eating, body shaming, bullying.]

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readingsofaslinky's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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thereaderfriend's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First, PLEASE LOOK INTO THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!

Secondly, I feel like this could’ve been better if it wasn’t fast paced. It would’ve been better if we got more from the story and if the resolution wasn’t so fast.

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