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3.0
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Elliot is 13 years old and has suffered from anorexia for a long time. The illness has consumed her so much that she is now a diet coach for other girls at her school. Of course, her dieting techniques are all based on eating disorder thought processes and the girls are getting trained in unhealthy behaviors. Elliot’s best friend, Lisa, who she has very deep feelings for, recently got out of an inpatient hospital program for eating disorders and wants nothing to do with her anymore. On top of that, Elliot’s mom suffers from bulimia, herself. Elliot wants Lisa back, she wants her mom to be happy, and she wants ‘her girls’ to succeed in weight loss.
Eating disorders are not written about very often in literature and, when they are, it’s usually in young adult books. I Must Have You is definitely an adult book, with very adult content, so I was really excited to pick up this book. The way eating disorders were presented was great, so I’m going to start my review with that.
Elliot very clearly has extremely distorted thoughts involving food and body image. She spends her lunch making copies of her dieting magazine, which she hands out as motivation to her ‘clients’. JoAnna Novak’s way of portraying Elliot’s illness is so detailed that she includes a scene where Elliot is looking at photos of emaciated people in the library stacks for inspiration. JoAnna Novak also consistently includes descriptions of the tiny exercises that Elliot performs while doing every day activities, like working her calves as the microwave warms her low calorie meal. Almost everything Elliot says has something to do with food, exercising, dieting tips, or her friend Lisa.
Lisa, on the other hand, is trying so hard to get Elliot’s ‘tips’ out of her brain. She has just gotten out of inpatient hospitalization and is constantly battling with eating disorder behaviors in her brain. Many times, she identifies when she is thinking in an unhealthy thought pattern and switches her brain into recovery mode. Novak did an amazing job researching what happens to adolescents after they are discharged from programs like that. It is common for individuals to be set up with therapists who do exactly that, teach them how to change their unhealthy thoughts into healthy ones.
The way eating disorders were written about in I Must Have You was brilliant, but the writing was lacking. In the first few pages of the book, I had to go back and read passages multiple times because I couldn’t figure out who was who. The book was introducing so many new characters in the same 4 paragraphs and it was really confusing. I actually had to look at some reviews on GoodReads, which explained all the friendships and families, to get all the characters straight. Unfortunately, the writing still continued to jump around all over the place as the book went on. I found myself confused by the erratic sentences more times than I would have liked.
Lastly, I wish the ending wrapped up with a major takeaway. Conclusions are so important in literature, especially when a book is about a stigmatized topic, like mental illness. JoAnna Novak could have blown her readers away with the final pages showing that eating disorders are illnesses that need to be properly treated and recognized as such. Imagine, a book that features 3 main characters with eating disorders, and it wraps up with a message about the severity and validity of their illnesses. I’m not quite sure what my dream ending for this book is, but I know I’m not satisfied with what I read.
I Must Have You was just okay. I usually don’t write full reviews for books that I didn’t really like, but I’m making an exception because the themes of this book are so important. I’m really impressed with the research JoAnna Novak put into the minds and habits of her characters, but I’m disappointed with her writing style and conclusion. I hope to soon see adult books that feature protagonists with mental illnesses, such as eating disorders, make their way to the bestseller list.
Elliot is 13 years old and has suffered from anorexia for a long time. The illness has consumed her so much that she is now a diet coach for other girls at her school. Of course, her dieting techniques are all based on eating disorder thought processes and the girls are getting trained in unhealthy behaviors. Elliot’s best friend, Lisa, who she has very deep feelings for, recently got out of an inpatient hospital program for eating disorders and wants nothing to do with her anymore. On top of that, Elliot’s mom suffers from bulimia, herself. Elliot wants Lisa back, she wants her mom to be happy, and she wants ‘her girls’ to succeed in weight loss.
Eating disorders are not written about very often in literature and, when they are, it’s usually in young adult books. I Must Have You is definitely an adult book, with very adult content, so I was really excited to pick up this book. The way eating disorders were presented was great, so I’m going to start my review with that.
Elliot very clearly has extremely distorted thoughts involving food and body image. She spends her lunch making copies of her dieting magazine, which she hands out as motivation to her ‘clients’. JoAnna Novak’s way of portraying Elliot’s illness is so detailed that she includes a scene where Elliot is looking at photos of emaciated people in the library stacks for inspiration. JoAnna Novak also consistently includes descriptions of the tiny exercises that Elliot performs while doing every day activities, like working her calves as the microwave warms her low calorie meal. Almost everything Elliot says has something to do with food, exercising, dieting tips, or her friend Lisa.
Lisa, on the other hand, is trying so hard to get Elliot’s ‘tips’ out of her brain. She has just gotten out of inpatient hospitalization and is constantly battling with eating disorder behaviors in her brain. Many times, she identifies when she is thinking in an unhealthy thought pattern and switches her brain into recovery mode. Novak did an amazing job researching what happens to adolescents after they are discharged from programs like that. It is common for individuals to be set up with therapists who do exactly that, teach them how to change their unhealthy thoughts into healthy ones.
The way eating disorders were written about in I Must Have You was brilliant, but the writing was lacking. In the first few pages of the book, I had to go back and read passages multiple times because I couldn’t figure out who was who. The book was introducing so many new characters in the same 4 paragraphs and it was really confusing. I actually had to look at some reviews on GoodReads, which explained all the friendships and families, to get all the characters straight. Unfortunately, the writing still continued to jump around all over the place as the book went on. I found myself confused by the erratic sentences more times than I would have liked.
Lastly, I wish the ending wrapped up with a major takeaway. Conclusions are so important in literature, especially when a book is about a stigmatized topic, like mental illness. JoAnna Novak could have blown her readers away with the final pages showing that eating disorders are illnesses that need to be properly treated and recognized as such. Imagine, a book that features 3 main characters with eating disorders, and it wraps up with a message about the severity and validity of their illnesses. I’m not quite sure what my dream ending for this book is, but I know I’m not satisfied with what I read.
I Must Have You was just okay. I usually don’t write full reviews for books that I didn’t really like, but I’m making an exception because the themes of this book are so important. I’m really impressed with the research JoAnna Novak put into the minds and habits of her characters, but I’m disappointed with her writing style and conclusion. I hope to soon see adult books that feature protagonists with mental illnesses, such as eating disorders, make their way to the bestseller list.
marinacrouse's review
5.0
This book is a must-read for anyone who is obsessed with the 90s, who has a complicated relationship with their mother, or if they love Sarah Dessen's novels but want a little more darkness. JoAnna Novak perfectly captures what it is like to be a teenage girl who is trying to figure out where and how she fits in this world. Elliot is a 13-year-old with a flirtation with an eating disorder which she disguises as her "business" acting as a diet coach to her fellow insecure female friends. Her mother is similarly flawed and therefor no help in the matter, unless you count fueling her obsession to be helpful. There is a rawness to Elliot's grasp of reality and struggle for acceptance that reminded me how awful it was to be 13, especially growing up pre-internet. While the comparison game is cruel now, it somehow seemed crueler then. Novak's use of language is lyrical and devastating, pulling at the soft parts of your emotional flesh. I know, I know, quite a statement, but I really loved this book and you should all read it.
shapkathecat's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
literatihottie's review
2.0
This is one of those books where the author is trying very hard to play with language and it didn't work for me. Instead of interesting turns of phrase, I felt the writing to be somewhat pretentious and I think it muddied the already messy story telling tbh. This book also felt unfinished to me. It didn't feel like there was any point to anything, no redemption, maybe hints at growth and healing but ultimately just super frustrating. I was really disappointed because I expected this to be really compelling, but I just found everyone to be unlikeable and the writing a little ham-fisted.
isabelkitarj's review
3.0
The voice of Anna, the poet, felt overly literary, and all three narrators were erratic in a way that didn't quite feel real to me. I appreciate that Novak is trying to do something different than the typical eating disorder novel, and especially different than the stereotypical portrayal of anorexia – she explores and indulges what her characters want. But neither the characters' choices nor the overall plot held together for me.
I think I'm also a bit too young to fully enjoy the references to coming of age in the late 90s.
The cleverest moment, to me, was – it prompts a reckoning about the types of men with whom these characters surround themselves.
I think I'm also a bit too young to fully enjoy the references to coming of age in the late 90s.
The cleverest moment, to me, was
Spoiler
the decision to have "Rot" and "Junior Carlos" be one and the same, and not to have that ever manifest in some sort of big revealcappuccino_'s review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Adult/minor relationship
jadentyler's review
3.0
tw: eating disorders, grooming, so much more.... this book is one big tw so read with caution
um, really dark? really disturbing? not much else to say....
i dreaded anna’s chapters, so boring for me TBH.
i don’t think i got the ending. that’s all okay bye
um, really dark? really disturbing? not much else to say....
i dreaded anna’s chapters, so boring for me TBH.
i don’t think i got the ending. that’s all okay bye
akaroo's review
3.0
Told from a trio of narratives--Elliot, a teenaged admitted anorexic and self-proclaimed "life coach" mentoring other young girls with dangerous and life-threatening advice; Lisa, Elliot's ex-friend whose illness has landed her in rehab; and Anna, Elliot's college professor mother with a hidden coke habit and proclivity for sleeping with one of her young, male students--Joanna Novack's I Must Have You is a look into the secret world of teenage anorexics, and all the messiness it entails. Its story is filled with rocky relationships, dirty secrets and enough 90s pop-culture references to make any reader who considers the mid-to-late 90s their heyday overflow with nostalgia. While it's nothing groundbreaking, it's a pretty solid debut novel. It's a tale of fraying relationships with all the Kurt Cobain, koosh ball and Trapper Keeper references you could hope for.
emmichaela's review
2.0
This is one of those books where the author is trying very hard to play with language and it didn't work for me. Instead of interesting turns of phrase, I felt the writing to be somewhat pretentious and I think it muddied the already messy story telling tbh. This book also felt unfinished to me. It didn't feel like there was any point to anything, no redemption, maybe hints at growth and healing but ultimately just super frustrating. I was really disappointed because I expected this to be really compelling, but I just found everyone to be unlikeable and the writing a little ham-fisted.