A review by scorpstar77
Pretend We Are Lovely by Noley Reid

3.0

A book about a family in crisis, two little girls growing up in a deeply dysfunctional household, where eating disorders and unhealthy relationships with food abound. I thought the family drama bits were good - it felt true in that way a good story can, when you're getting to the heart of why something is broken (in this case, an entire family). That said, I thought there was WAY too much emphasis on the eating disorders. While I was reading, I kept thinking, "This feels like the author is trying really hard to exorcise her own demons about food and eating." Lo and behold, at the end of the book there's a statement that basically says that's how she started writing the book. It's pretty heavy-handed, enough to be distracting to me...and I'm a fat woman who has struggled with eating and weight my whole life and is generally interested in that theme in books, so for me to say it felt heavy-handed and distracting is saying something. The writing is good; the focus just feels one-note.