My Body in Pieces

A graphic memoir about body image, self-esteem, and an eating disorder that I found hard to distinguish from the many similar ones I have read before.

It's lightly hampered by stiff pages that often feel more like a series of portraits rather than sequential art and are awash in dulling gray tones. The story also suffers from some vagueness, especially the arc with the father, whose character role seems unclear at first, whose cruelties are inscrutable, and whose wrap up seems underdeveloped and abrupt.

Despite not working for me, I'm sure this will be easily relatable for others.

This is a graphic nonfiction memoir of a fat girl, tracing her path to self-acceptance. Her weight doesn’t appear to be due to overeating so much as body type. Growing up, she experiences significant shame in her family. Her parents attempt to help her in ways that are not helpful, presenting her with books on weight loss or questioning her about whether she really wants that second helping. At school, she is often bullied. A brief period on a soccer team and as a member of jogging club leads to some slimming, but inevitably the weight and self-loathing return. Dating, of course, is out of the question. “Let’s just be friends,” says a boy she likes. Ultimately, after moving out of the family home, she meets a friend who show more doesn’t abandon her and links her up with a therapist. Things begin to improve.

I wish I could say I liked this book. The mostly black-and-white art is accomplished enough, but seemingly endless pages about self-loathing don’t make for interesting reading. It is possible that some girls may find solace in this, but I am doubtful.

I suspect it was a therapeutic project for the author. Again: I’m not convinced it would be for teenage girl readers who suffer over their own weight.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a free advanced reading copy of the book. I regret that I can’t summon up anything more positive to say about the book than that I’m sorry for the author’s psychological pain.. show less

Exquisite art paired with mundane memories.

Put it in the hands if any young girl who’s being taught to hate her body.