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A review by bookcheshirecat
Room Empty by Sarah Mussi
2.0
Thanks to Netgallery for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest Review!
Trigger Warning for Anorexia, Suicide, Drug Abuse & Child Abuse!
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
L I K E S
ā¢Ā Daniās anorexia was portrayed very thoroughly! I do not know if this book is ownvoices, but from what I have gathered the anorexia was portrayed in a thorough, accurate way. We see Dani describe her eating disorder as The Thinness and also involved the Alien, another figure she imagined. It was also interesting to see how she developed these strategies to feel good about herself, which involved not eating to become more lovable. In the end, we also saw where her eating disorder came from as she slowly unraveled a childhood trauma, that she had repressed for years. This was done with the concept of the Empty Room, where her past lay and which she visited again and again to remember what had happened back then. It did help her recover, though, as she finally got to know what she had repressed all these years.
ā¢Ā Flechter was a really likable character. I had to say that I really respected him, because he put up with all of Dani's treatment of everybody, even though he did not have to. He truly was a good recovery buddy for her, but I really think that Dani did not appreciate him enough, because she was so self-obsessed. In general, I felt really sad for Flechter, because he had to go through some horrible child abuse at the hands of his emotionally & physically abusive alcoholic mother. Reading about her made me really angry, because sheās the reason he felt worthless and escaped into drugs in the first place. Later he even ends up at a lower place, while of course Dani loses nothing, which also made me feel affronted in his place,. because it was rarely unfair. He certainly deserved better.
ā¢Ā The pacing and writing style made it very easy to get through the book! I have to say that this is one of the most positive aspects of the novel, because I flew through it. The writing style is very easy to get through and the pacing flows really nicely, so I never had trouble getting through the book. I actually also never got bored, because the suspense was build up very nicely and I really wanted to know how things continued with the characters!
D I S L I K E S
ā¢Ā Dani was one of the most unlikable characters that Iāve encountered. I got that she dealt with an eating disorder but that did not give her a free pass to go around being mean to people. The worst thing about her was how horribly self absorbed and selfish she was, because everything always had to be about her. She did not care about the other kids recovering, because Dani was always thinking how sheās the only one allowed to hurt, because she has it worst of all. Dani also thinks sheās the most important one that needs to be saved. It always has to be all about her, which got on my nerves pretty quickly, because she never thought about others, only about herself. Sheās also super unkind and cruel towards the others, always looking down on them, because she is on her high horse. I did not get what her problem with the other kids was. Not to mention how she kept talking about Carmenās suicide in the beginning - uuugh. She was also so dismissive of Flechters story, not wanting to hear it because she wants to talk only about herself and does not care about what everyone else has been through. One time Dani literally says that she wished thing would be like before, when it was all about her. I did not have even a bit of sympathy for her.
ā¢Ā The portrayal of the rehab center & psychologists was inaccurate & not really realistic. Dani constantly mocked their recovering techniques because according to her everything they ever did was useless, which is funny since she did not study Psychology, but always knows best *sarcasm*. InĀ general psychologists were portrayed as arrogant snobs who did not know what they were doing & never helped anyone. (I do know that not every center/psychologist is competent, there are certainly exceptions) No one actually recovered & many techniques like one to one therapy were not even done. Furthermore, the center did not seem to care that nobody was recovering either. Dani was very weak and could barely walk anymore, but no one did anything to help her. She literally skipped meals and did not eat for days - normally she would have to have bed rest & be monitored & if things got rough force fed. I just hated how the entire rehab system was portrayed as flawed and useless, because while it wonāt work for everybody, these people have studied years and gotten their degree, so stop acting like everyone has no idea what they are doing and is just an arrogant snob thinking theyāre better than anyone else.
ā¢Ā Dani and Flechterās relationship was not healthy. There was lots of Co-dependency, between them, which is not really healthy in any case, but especially not with two recovering people. Thereās a reason relationships are forbidden in the rehab center, because as much as support helps, romantic relationships can get really messy and can easily make things worse. I disliked how Flechter thought he could just force Dani to eat again, which surely is not how eating disorders work. I also disliked how Dani was always like āI need you to this and that for me - ugh I want to go back to the times when it was all about meā and got so annoyed when Flechter told his story. In general, the entireĀ āif you donāt recover I wonāt come to circle timeā emotional blackmail bothered me to no ends.
ā¢Ā What the hell was up with this Kerstin?Ā She was the caricature of the dumb neurotypical I got that, but she was getting on my nerves. And where did she even come from? How does she know Dani? No one knows because she just turns up & later disappears again. I really disliked her and had no ides why she even had to be in the book, because she did not bring anything to the story, she was just there to be annoying.
ā¢Ā The ending was kind of very abrupt. It felt like we were in a middle of a scene and then suddenly the book was finished. I would have liked to at least wrap things up a bit more and was startled when I figured out that there was nothing more to read. After all this buildup the ending scene was way too short.
IN CONCLUSION: Room Empty was a very interesting book aboutĀ eating disorders, addiction and trauma, but sadly had a very unlikable main character as well as aĀ not really realistic portrayal of the health system.
Trigger Warning for Anorexia, Suicide, Drug Abuse & Child Abuse!
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
L I K E S
ā¢Ā Daniās anorexia was portrayed very thoroughly! I do not know if this book is ownvoices, but from what I have gathered the anorexia was portrayed in a thorough, accurate way. We see Dani describe her eating disorder as The Thinness and also involved the Alien, another figure she imagined. It was also interesting to see how she developed these strategies to feel good about herself, which involved not eating to become more lovable. In the end, we also saw where her eating disorder came from as she slowly unraveled a childhood trauma, that she had repressed for years. This was done with the concept of the Empty Room, where her past lay and which she visited again and again to remember what had happened back then. It did help her recover, though, as she finally got to know what she had repressed all these years.
ā¢Ā Flechter was a really likable character. I had to say that I really respected him, because he put up with all of Dani's treatment of everybody, even though he did not have to. He truly was a good recovery buddy for her, but I really think that Dani did not appreciate him enough, because she was so self-obsessed. In general, I felt really sad for Flechter, because he had to go through some horrible child abuse at the hands of his emotionally & physically abusive alcoholic mother. Reading about her made me really angry, because sheās the reason he felt worthless and escaped into drugs in the first place. Later he even ends up at a lower place, while of course Dani loses nothing, which also made me feel affronted in his place,. because it was rarely unfair. He certainly deserved better.
ā¢Ā The pacing and writing style made it very easy to get through the book! I have to say that this is one of the most positive aspects of the novel, because I flew through it. The writing style is very easy to get through and the pacing flows really nicely, so I never had trouble getting through the book. I actually also never got bored, because the suspense was build up very nicely and I really wanted to know how things continued with the characters!
D I S L I K E S
ā¢Ā Dani was one of the most unlikable characters that Iāve encountered. I got that she dealt with an eating disorder but that did not give her a free pass to go around being mean to people. The worst thing about her was how horribly self absorbed and selfish she was, because everything always had to be about her. She did not care about the other kids recovering, because Dani was always thinking how sheās the only one allowed to hurt, because she has it worst of all. Dani also thinks sheās the most important one that needs to be saved. It always has to be all about her, which got on my nerves pretty quickly, because she never thought about others, only about herself. Sheās also super unkind and cruel towards the others, always looking down on them, because she is on her high horse. I did not get what her problem with the other kids was. Not to mention how she kept talking about Carmenās suicide in the beginning - uuugh. She was also so dismissive of Flechters story, not wanting to hear it because she wants to talk only about herself and does not care about what everyone else has been through. One time Dani literally says that she wished thing would be like before, when it was all about her. I did not have even a bit of sympathy for her.
ā¢Ā The portrayal of the rehab center & psychologists was inaccurate & not really realistic. Dani constantly mocked their recovering techniques because according to her everything they ever did was useless, which is funny since she did not study Psychology, but always knows best *sarcasm*. InĀ general psychologists were portrayed as arrogant snobs who did not know what they were doing & never helped anyone. (I do know that not every center/psychologist is competent, there are certainly exceptions) No one actually recovered & many techniques like one to one therapy were not even done. Furthermore, the center did not seem to care that nobody was recovering either. Dani was very weak and could barely walk anymore, but no one did anything to help her. She literally skipped meals and did not eat for days - normally she would have to have bed rest & be monitored & if things got rough force fed. I just hated how the entire rehab system was portrayed as flawed and useless, because while it wonāt work for everybody, these people have studied years and gotten their degree, so stop acting like everyone has no idea what they are doing and is just an arrogant snob thinking theyāre better than anyone else.
ā¢Ā Dani and Flechterās relationship was not healthy. There was lots of Co-dependency, between them, which is not really healthy in any case, but especially not with two recovering people. Thereās a reason relationships are forbidden in the rehab center, because as much as support helps, romantic relationships can get really messy and can easily make things worse. I disliked how Flechter thought he could just force Dani to eat again, which surely is not how eating disorders work. I also disliked how Dani was always like āI need you to this and that for me - ugh I want to go back to the times when it was all about meā and got so annoyed when Flechter told his story. In general, the entireĀ āif you donāt recover I wonāt come to circle timeā emotional blackmail bothered me to no ends.
ā¢Ā What the hell was up with this Kerstin?Ā She was the caricature of the dumb neurotypical I got that, but she was getting on my nerves. And where did she even come from? How does she know Dani? No one knows because she just turns up & later disappears again. I really disliked her and had no ides why she even had to be in the book, because she did not bring anything to the story, she was just there to be annoying.
ā¢Ā The ending was kind of very abrupt. It felt like we were in a middle of a scene and then suddenly the book was finished. I would have liked to at least wrap things up a bit more and was startled when I figured out that there was nothing more to read. After all this buildup the ending scene was way too short.
IN CONCLUSION: Room Empty was a very interesting book aboutĀ eating disorders, addiction and trauma, but sadly had a very unlikable main character as well as aĀ not really realistic portrayal of the health system.