A review by gracenevitt
Where the River Flows: A memoir of loss, love & life with an Eating Disorder by Rachel Havekost

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

I don't even know how to put into words how much this book truly struck me. I devoured it in less than 24 hours, starting it in the afternoon, pausing for dinner, reading it into the night until my eyes couldn't stay open any longer, and then reaching for it the second my eyes opened the next day. I related so deeply to so many of the things that were held within these pages, and had experiences that could relate to other parts of it in different ways as well. Certain things were so similar to my experience I actually gasped out loud. I don't think I could have read this book at a more perfect time in my life, and I am certain that I will be returning to its pages with different eyes many more times in my lifetime. 

I have never felt so seen and so stripped bare by a book in my entire life, and I felt the whole time as though the scared and insecure teenager I used to be was being told "You're not broken. You're not bad." Throughout so much of the book I just felt as though a mirror of my own life was being held to my face and it kept repeating "You're not alone." There are so many more things I could say, but I truly don't have the words to do it justice. This book was an experience for me, and I hope it can be for you too. 

If you have had any peripheral or personal experiences in your life with divorce, disordered eating, sexual assault, falling in love, and/or loss of a loved one (whether that be in death or parting ways) I cannot recommend this book more highly. It's an incredible piece of writing. 
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