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

Well, this was disappointing.

Mindy is a 27 year-old woman struggling with anorexia and bulimia, after a past full of negative self-image and talk about her body, she finds herself picking up a bar of chocolate one night at the store on a whim. When she gets home and breaks off a piece, it transports her back in time to relive some of her memories through her eating disorder journey.

I don't want to criticize this too much - because I just think it doesn't reflect my own issues with mental health and body image. I do, however, want to point out that the entirety of this graphic novel felt really disjointed with highlighting Mindy's specific ways of food control and restriction, while not really giving any weight to her "realization" at the end that it's all a mindset. I feel like this story could have been far more powerful if she had spent some time in each memory recognizing the issues and then fixing them in her life, instead of continuing her cycle of binging and purging only to eat another piece of magical chocolate. I was genuinely shocked when I realized I had read the last page of the book, because it felt so sudden and out of nowhere. I didn't even see the growth in Mindy as a character to get her to the point of self-acceptance it ends on.

This graphic novel just didn't do it for me. I don't think the representation is at the level it should have been for a 160+ page piece about eating disorders, and it annoyed me how Mindy was drawn the entire time. I genuinely felt like, page to page, she was drawn thinner. Maybe it was just me as I read this, but I feel like her character just wasn't consistent and this completely missed the mark. I waffled back and forth on my rating for this one, but I think this has to get my first one star of the year.

Content warning: negative self-talk, negative body image, eating disorders, purging, binging, fatphobia

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beebeewin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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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