Eat, and Love Yourself (ARC Review)

Overview

To start I want to point out that I received this book as an ARC (advanced reader copy) from NetGalley in order to provide an honest review.

Author: Sweeney Boo

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Genre: Young-Adult, Graphic Novel

Release date: April 21, 2020

Check it out: Goodreads

You can preorder right now: Amazon

NetGalley Description

“A story about Mindy, a woman living with an eating disorder who has to learn how to love herself again.

In pursuit of the perfect body, Mindy buys the low-fat diet products and the glossy magazines which promise the secret to losing weight. One night, while perusing the aisles of the neighborhood convenience store for a midnight snack, she finds a new product. A chocolate bar called “Eat and Love Yourself”. On a whim, Mindy buys the curious candy, not knowing that with every piece of chocolate she eats, she will be brought back to a specific moment of her past — helping her to look at herself honestly, learn to love her body the way it is, and accepting love. Perhaps, she will even realize that her long lost high school best friend, Elliot, was more than just a friend…

Sweeney Boo (Love Is Love) presents an honest and uncompromising look at how we form our self-image, the eating disorders that haunt our most private moments and what it takes to learn to love ourselves again.”

Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I do not usually read graphic novels, but something about the description here caught my attention. I have always struggled with my weight throughout my life and seeing a story about someone who comes to terms with her body and learns to love herself seemed like something I had to check out, and I sure am glad I did. I thought the novel was well done and the art was amazing. Sweeney Boo did a great job with an art style that really popped off the page and kept me hooked. I read through the entire thing in one sitting and felt like I was right there with Mindy throughout her entire journey.

The story was relatable and pulled on the heartstrings every step of the way. I felt myself thinking back on my own past and my history with food. This story really captured the way it felt to feel like food is the only comfort to turn to in times of crisis and how it can be such a vice for people. The emotional resonance of the novel spoke to me in a way I wasn’t expecting from this and honestly this is one that I would recommend to anyone who has ever dealt with weight and body issues or general self-confidence problems. It was an enjoyable and emotional look at how one could lose sight of the things and people that are important to them and get caught up in negative thoughts.

I feel like problems like this are hard for most of us to talk about, so we ignore them and act like they aren’t real so that we don’t have to face them. The message in this book is so important, if someone is going through anything like this I would urge them to pick this up. If anything it will help you understand you aren’t alone with the problems you face, even if you feel like you are. It is a horrible feeling when you can’t even turn to your family about the problems you are dealing with, so I hope that this story reaches those people and helps them even in a small way. What Sweeney Boo accomplished in this graphic novel is more than I could have anticipated and I am ecstatic I was able to read it. If you are struggling with any issues and don’t feel like you have someone to talk to, please reach out to me. I am always willing to listen or talk, I just don’t want anyone feeling like they have nowhere to turn.

As always, thank you so much for reading. If you liked this review or are interested in the book leave me a comment down below! Check back (at least) every Wednesday and Saturday for new posts and you can sign-up via email to make sure you never miss anything!