Thinandbeautiful.com

Thinandbeautiful.com by Liane Shaw is both a book and a website. However, I of course chose to read the actual book. I have read many works containing Anorexia Nervosa, but when it comes to finding something a little cleaner I would definitely say that this particular book falls into that category. Very realistic in some parts but clearly fiction Thinandbeautiful.com combines "normal" teenage issues with a devastating mental illness.

Very different from the usual books containing eating disorders this one starts in a psych ward specializing in eating disorders. Seventeen-year old Maddie was slammed into one by her worried parents. As part of her treatment plan she must come up with a personal goal to aim for before she will be discharged. As her goal she has decided on writing down her personal memories and feelings leading up to her hospitalization. As she begins to write you can see that she thinks she is perfectly normal. She doesn't believe she has a problem and can't see why she has to be here. But since her thinking is pretty messed up, we as readers, can see that this all started with one young teen's passion to be thin. From crazy diets to constant exercising things are bad but about to get worse. When she stumbles upon a site called thinandbeautiful.com she doesn't realize it's a site for thinsporation. Instead, she believes it's only for people who want to lose a bit of weight. On the site she becomes part of a chat room whose members call themselves the GWS, or Girls Without Shadows. She finds respect and support that she can't seem to find in the real world. But now as she is in a hospital her precious Internet is taken away and she must work on recovering from a disorder she doesn't believe she has.

Although I can see how the author is trying to convey true facts about Anorexia Nervosa the dialogue seemed too forced. I couldn't feel the real personalities of the various characters and the emotion was pretty well, flat. The text just didn't match the plot. I also had very mixed feelings about the characters. More specifically, Maddie herself. I thought she was a little too vocal and not self aware at all. She kept pushing her family and friends away when they wanted to talk or help. I sympathize with her on that but I don't think the author knew how to create a very good protagonist. I mean I get that her refusing to accept that she has a problem was the disorder speaking but I just couldn't like her. However, I do believe that it is much better to have a realistic, honest character instead of an unreal person.

As a former Anorexic I could personally relate to Maddie despite my dislike to her. I know what it feels like to be in a facility where you feel like you're locked up in a prison. In my honest opinion, I don't think these treatment centers help many recover at all. In fact I think they might make you worse. Instead of focusing on recovery many times the patient will be trying his/her hardest to just get out. Nevertheless, many times I could easily place myself in Maddie's shoes. I know what it's like to just want to be thin and lose weight but all around you people think you're insane. They just don't understand that we are our own person and that we as individuals can't control anyone else's thoughts or actions. We can only have control of ourselves.

As I mentioned before, the title doubles as a website, http://thinandbeautiful.com/. After I finished the book I decided to check out the site too. It turns out that Ms. Shaw apparently is very interested in Anorexia Nervosa much like me. In this website she has compiled various news articles as well as her own thoughts to make a point against this mental disorder. It surprised me that she had also had her own battle with Anorexia. Much like me she must have been pretty obsessed with the topic to devote her time to an entire website. I think that because she has written this book and made Anorexia known to people, especially teens; we an image based society can actually realize how much this disorder is taking a toll on the population. I think that both the book could have a major impact if people weren't so ignorant. If we took a look at the problems afflicting our world we could actually make an effort to fight them.

In closing, I feel as if this book could reach out to almost anyone willing to read it. There is not much language, nor is there any sex content. However, there is some underage drinking involved. All in all, I think it's a pretty clean read and I wouldn't be to concerned about anyone else reading it. Considering the many books I have read concerning Anorexia Nervosa, this one was a little higher on my list than others like Massive by Julia Bell. Many people, especially teens are ignorant and self obsorbed. I'm not afraid to admit it because I am myself. Nevertheless, I strongly suggest paying attention to other issues that the media has developed. If we don't learn about them now, when will we?