Synopsis: A painful memoir about Marya's eating disorder which began when she was nine years old. From bulimia, to anorexia and even depression, Marya retells the bitter truth about how these illness' really affect you.
My Opinion: Marya describes everything in vivid detail. What I really liked about this book is that it doesn't move too quickly, which I find appropriate for this book as it reminds me of the slow, yet extremely harmful way which an eating disorder will affect you. It finishes brutally as well, with Marya explaining how she will never be fully healed from what was (and is still hugely) a part of her life. ( )

This is the best book on eating disorders ever written.

Marya Hornbacher is a 'Girl, Interrupted', but this time suffering from Anorexia and Bulimia. Hornbacher exposes herself, her story and her suffering without euphemisms or self-pity. She's direct, caustic but incredibly touching. And most importantly: she gives you the truth about two disorders that many people still see as 'not serious' or even 'glamorous'.

Prepare for a reality-check when you read this book.

You'll forget about models their "stylish" thinness. In "Wasted" you'll see the real disease that affects and kills so many girls and boys out there. And there's no Karl Lagerfeld or John Galliano telling them how pretty they look with their bones sticking out, or how gamorous they are for their size 0. No. For them there is only pain and silence.

We are glad that Marya decided to break this silence. ( )

This is a very disturbing account of a young woman's fight with anorexia and bulimia. Hornbacher is honest and forthright about her disease and does not try to make it pretty. What is disturbing is that young women frequently read books like this and use it as a guide for how to become anorexic. Still, this is a horrifying book that will be a reality check for most people. ( )

It's a terrifying read, mostly because Hornbacher paints so vividly the draw behind starving herself. The control, the need, the addiction. It's an ugly book, a hard one, and it doesn't end with the author happily recovered. She's struggling and quite frank about it. ( )

A powerful look at bulimia and anorexia as lived by the author. Using alternatively creative, poetic language and harsh facts, Hornbacher sets out - and succeeds - to demystify the romantic aesthetics of thinness, to communicate just how much she hated herself and her body to go through such lengths to destroy herself and the constant price that she now has to pay for a normal healthy life. A shocking story of a young women who from ages nine to eighteen suffered in solitude from a little understood disease. A must read for all women and especially mothers. ( )