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“It’s only when we feel safe, not judged, not crazy, that a lot of other people feel some of the exact same things, that we can better identify what we are really feeling, and what we really need. We can better hear our own voice. And not just with food and our bodies. In every part of our lives.”

A deep in the trenches, heartfelt look at our culture – its obsession with female bodies, the very narrow allowance for approved female weight, and the suffocating judgement of “goodness”, or “worthiness” – all jumbled up together, as we learn the intractable rules and burn as we fail, again and again, burdened with the baggage of our own biology. For we are what we eat, literally, in a world that never stops demanding we consume less (ironically, in a culture and economy dominated by consumption), squash out our hunger, support our “health”, and suffer more. And the majority of us, many battling eating disorders, psychological devastation, and overwhelming confusion, do our utmost to comply. Blindly.

This eye-opening treatise, (the author’s decades-long struggle with her own eating disorder) is a reminder, again, (in a world that needs more reminders), that no matter what they all say, we are perfect, we are human, and the path to self acceptance, particularly for females, (but true for us all), is necessarily fraught with landmines. There are no easy answers, and recovery, though just conceivably possible, is a tricky and precarious process.

A fascinating read, and one that is so necessary, – providing analysis, resources and insight in this thoughtful and compassionate exposé – and along the way perhaps, uncovering just enough hope to finally take this topic forward in a new direction.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts provided are my own.