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rereader33's review against another edition
3.0
I am technically giving this a 3.5 star rating, though I sincerely wished it was higher. I am not going to lie, I was disappointed with this memoir. I read it because I had read and done analysis essays on some of the poems featured and fell in love with them. Unfortunately, most of the poems are not up to snuff and the non-linear narrative makes it very hard to keep track of events in a timeline sense. I love her writing style and her use of enjambment in her poems to create meaningful pauses or move the poem along just to stop dramatically. Her simple but thoughtful language use makes this an easy read but enjoyable to analyze. I would not say this is a terrible book and her poetry style is well-worth the read, but as someone who fell in love with her work this was pretty disappointing all things considered.
ang_soko31's review against another edition
4.0
Eireann Corrigan has an eating disorder. For three years she's be in and out of treatment facilities.Things are so bad her doctors tell her that if she doesn't change she wont live long enough to graduate. And if things can't get any worse her boyfriend attempts suicide by shooting himself with a gun.In this book formatted as poems, we hear Eireann voice telling us her story. This book was beautiful. I gave it a 4/5 because it was short and I wanted more.
bookishblond's review
5.0
Absolutely beautiful. Some of the poetry was so intimate that I couldn't help blushing while reading it. This book reminded me a bit of me and my boyfriend.
lindsayclaire's review against another edition
4.0
When your best friend tells you this is her favorite book, you drop everything else to read it. This was heartbreaking and so beautifully written. My best friend warned me it would be triggering - I did have to stop at multiple pages to take a break and regroup, but it was worth every word. As someone who has suffered from disordered eating for 9 years, I found this memoir to be honest and powerful. Memoirs or novels on eating disorders are difficult, because you never want them to become how-to's for readers, but for me, I really appreciated having a true, honest look into the life of this author. I think this memoir would do more good than harm, and I think it's important for deep, dark books about eating disorders to exist so the people living with one can feel less alone.
alexblackreads's review
5.0
I read this book as a teenager and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure how I found it or why I picked it up (neither poetry nor memoirs were really my thing when I was young), but I did and I loved it. Somewhere along the way I lost my copy so I haven't been able to reread this book in years, but I've kept thinking about it. I finally got a new copy yesterday and read it all in one sitting, and it was just as wonderful and emotionally powerful as I remember.
"I was my father's littlest girl, his hell on wheels, running away from him each morning, just ahead of his headlights, around and around the block."
The imagery in this book is so evocative. I included that quote because it was the first that stood out to me, the first that I wrote down, but I'm not even sure it was my favorite line. It was just one of many wonderful lines. And those wonderful lines made wonderful poems. Corrigan ties the literal and figurative together so well.
I almost don't want to talk about this because anything I say can't possibly measure up to what her writing does. It hits me so hard that I have to take breaks. It's not always healthy because it's real, and real life isn't always healthy. It's just a stunning look into mental health and the minds of teenagers, and her own struggles when she was young.
I'd highly recommend this if you're interested in a YA book that deals with some very heavy subjects. I've not read many that tackled eating disorders as well (although obviously trigger warnings because this book is incredibly graphic). Now that I have my own copy again, I'll be picking this book up frequently to return to specific poems and read snippets. I loved it, maybe even more than when I was young.
"I was my father's littlest girl, his hell on wheels, running away from him each morning, just ahead of his headlights, around and around the block."
The imagery in this book is so evocative. I included that quote because it was the first that stood out to me, the first that I wrote down, but I'm not even sure it was my favorite line. It was just one of many wonderful lines. And those wonderful lines made wonderful poems. Corrigan ties the literal and figurative together so well.
I almost don't want to talk about this because anything I say can't possibly measure up to what her writing does. It hits me so hard that I have to take breaks. It's not always healthy because it's real, and real life isn't always healthy. It's just a stunning look into mental health and the minds of teenagers, and her own struggles when she was young.
I'd highly recommend this if you're interested in a YA book that deals with some very heavy subjects. I've not read many that tackled eating disorders as well (although obviously trigger warnings because this book is incredibly graphic). Now that I have my own copy again, I'll be picking this book up frequently to return to specific poems and read snippets. I loved it, maybe even more than when I was young.
dee_hzz's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship