Skinny

Skinny

Author: Ibi Kaslik

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Reviewer: Emily

Summary: Holly’s older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her troubled relationship with her late father, Giselle is fighting an all-consuming battle with anorexia. Once a role model and top medical student, her life is spiraling out of control.

As a track star, Holly struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with her sister’s mental and physical deterioration. And together they are holding on for dear life.

Told from both girls’ perspectives as they narrate alternating chapters, Skinny explores love, pain, and the hunger for the acceptance that drives us all.

Review: I must admit that this book is not what I expected it to be. Given the title and synopsis, I thought the primary focus would have been Giselle’s struggle with anorexia, but in that, I was wrong. While it is a big part of the story (how could something like that not be, right?), I would say that there are much more important aspects, which makes the title slightly misleading in my view.

However, that is not to say that the book is bad. I found it refreshing to read about other facets of Giselle’s life in equal, if not greater, details than her eating disorder. One such example is her exploration into the troubled relationship she had with her late father; as well as keeping the reader turning the pages, it adds a very realistic feel to the story. It also helps the reader to understand what would push someone, a medical student, no less, towards an addiction that is so detrimental to their own health.

While on the topic of understanding Giselle, I would like to add that the medical jargon at the top of each of her chapters is brilliant. Though I did find it confusing at times (Science courses will be the death of me), it’s extremely fascinating to see her relate her emotional and psychological problems to physical issues, using a platform that she knows.

In the end, I felt that I had a pretty solid understanding of Giselle’s character. I wish that I could say the same about her sister, Holly. I am happy that the author included the perspective of a family member to someone with anorexia, but there were so many little pieces and issues (perhaps psychologically) with Holly’s character that I would have loved for the author to explore further; alas, it didn’t happen, which was disappointing. Still, it is interesting to see Holly and Giselle side-by-side; they definitely contrast each other well.

All in all, I did like this book and would recommend others to read it, especially if you know someone who is suffering from an eating disorder (or suffer from it yourself) because it gives a nice insight not only to that perspective but to the perspective of the people close to it as well.