Orthorexia by Renée McGregor

Orthorexia is a relatively new not yet official eating disorder but it still impacts many and is as dangerous as Bulimia or Anorexia,the most common eating disorders.

As a sufferer of Anorexia previously I have been recovered for five years but each year can still be a struggle and I see a lot of myself and past traits and actions in this book.

We learn of the combination which results in Orthorexic tendencies as well as OCD factors which come into it as well as forms of stress which can be added pressure on top of all the preexisting things occurring within us.

We learn of how it can start, flourish and manifest the person into believing a clean diet is the only option possible and everything else is bad when its not. We learn of types of strict diets and see through case studies the health side effects which can occur as result.

This is one of the most essentially eye opening books on the newest eating disorder happening around us and this book is educating just when we need it.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon

Bryony recalls her life with her mental health and how it caused so many other issues to coincide and keep her condition a persistent problem to be solved though nothing can completely fix a mental health problem, you can improve your condition.

In the book we learn of how when she was growing up her OCD became a known condition to her by chance as her symptoms and rituals got worser over time until she and her mum first went to the doctors who tried to down play the help she needed immediately not in the future.

Over the years, we see how her parents divorce, finding love and accepting her body all created more problems piling up with bulimia, alcohol, drugs and not just the prescription kind she needed were all a factor in Bryony's health.

This book is useful if you are interested in mental health, if you too suffer with any of the conditions or want a real life read packed with truly humorous or saddening times. This is a gripping read by a brave woman.

Believearexic by J.J. Johnson

Jennifer is a straight A student, with as she calls it bulimarexia.

As the sessions get on, she reveals that issues to do with her parents and brother don't help. Her brother sees her as a burden while her dad is overweight and always on a new diet while her mum uses food for emotional reasons thus impacting her mindset around the issue completely. She also realises alcohol is her prop she uses to deal with how she feels too which her family has a history of alcoholism.

Heather her roommate in the EDU gets taken home by her parents with an overbearing father set on wiring her mouth shut with braces and forcing a liquid diet on her and the unit can't help her. Sophia then moves into the room and is older at twenty one, she is suffering with what we now know as orthorexia, exercising the food out as she puts it in.

The unit involves lots of complex cases and incidents take place due to each girls history. I liked how Chuck bonded with Jennifer as that helped her to keep going and not listen to the other nurses which could be quite harsh on her.

The story is based around the authors real experience in a unit and I feel things over time have gotten better overall but still, not a nice experience to have to go through. The book was detailed but not triggering as numbers weren't a focus to trigger anyone but merely hinted at if at all.

Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot

Pea meets Ben at Jae's sixteenth birthday party and they get texting after Jae, her best friend gives him Pea's number and they arrange to go cinema. They go on a series of dates and he understands her eating disorder as well as his parents being understanding too.

Pea lives with her mum, dad and older brother Todd although the household is strained, her dad is more invested in sport, Todd isn't interested in the family much and her mum drinks too much wine, their house is stressed and uneasy.

Last spring Pea had a boyfriend, Alex, who didn't get her eating disorder and dumped her when she loved him and became severely depressed needing to take medication, Zoloft to be able to function again it wasn't helped that her ARFID causes depression, anxiety and also makes her feel like she's missing out on life.

Her mum makes her attend therapy with a therapist called Shauna who never reveals what she's in recovery for herself but she does better with Pea than the psych ward does, even allowing Pea to try new foods when she can but not pressuring her like her parents had done.

Then she starts to self harm with a safety pin scratching away at her wrists after a rocky patch with Ben. This lands her on a psych ward after a tip off from a later revealed source that surprised me at first but made sense.

Personally, I can and can't relate to Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. I have had EDNOS but on a spectrum alike this since I was around four, and anorexia around age fourteen. Eating disorders are hard to categorize because there's usually an element of cross over and in this book ARFID is a unique one as unlike some eating disorders, you look normal and weight a normal weight and do eat some foods just select ones which often wouldn't sound like a problem but the depression and anxiety with it shows more issues. It was a great book to sahow the role of relationships and how they can help or harm, her parents pushing her didn't help but Ben encouraging her allowed her to relax and challenge herself to try.

I commend Stephanie and her daughter, for raising awareness of this disorder and I hope it helps others to realise they can get better or reach out for help.

Paperweight by Meg Haston

Stevie is our main character in this book, her brother Josh has passed away and now her dad has sent her to a retreat clinic for eating disorders. The distinct first feel is she's having a tough time coming to terms with events and has been drunk too much to cope with her feelings previously as well as impulsively cutting her hair in to an uneven crop thanks to her friend and sort of girlfriend of sorts, Eden.

We follow her on her journey to the retreat where she stays with twenty girls in total admission, four to a cottage each. She meets her therapist who is coincidentally called Anna when Stevie is suffering with what she believes is anorexia, then later her diagnosis is bulimia nervosa. In memory flashbacks, her mum seems to have controlled the household's food choices and is a perfectionist. She has abandoned Stevie and her dad to go live in Paris with her new boyfriend.

She has plans for twenty seven days time from her supposed, sixty day admission as it's the one year anniversary since she believes she killed her brother, Eden was there the night he died but not at the scene of death, she did however cause a scene just before.

Now though, Stevie plans to commit suicide and join her brother as she feels guilty living.

This book dealt with really strong issues, death, suicide, eating disorders, abuse, manipulative behaviour, love and LGBT related issues around that. It was well crafted but I do feel in part, for readers who are sensitive to eating disorder talk and about foods and food types etc, do not read it or be mindful reading it. It again proves how true to eating disorder talk it is though and really shines light on the situations eating disorder sufferer's go through.

I really did enjoy this book and it's already one of my top for the year so far!