Eating disorder horror
580657
* spoilers *

Unemployed and depressed Jill is consumed with jealousy towards her cruel roommate Jennifer who is perfectly thin and works as a successful model. Jill eventually simply snaps and chains Jennifer to a wall to punish her. When I heard about this film, the short X is for XXL from the ABC's of Death came to mind. It was an amazing and powerful depiction of an eating disorder through a horror lens. I expected this film to be in the same genre and it was in a different way than I expected. Some moments were incredibly uncomfortable to watch. Any time either girl ate food, some sort of strong emotion accompanied it: lust, rage, jealousy, or self-loathing. A lengthy bit of the film featured Jill eating cups of macaroni and cheese, mostly chewing and spitting it out, sometimes swallowing and hitting herself hard in the face. When the film becomes completely dreamlike, it loses me and becomes to cartoonish. Because of a review I read, I expected absolutely stomach turning scenes involving food and I was let down. The ending was unexpected as the two women are revealed to be one. It's an uncomfortable depiction of the feelings involved in an eating disorder but externalized. I'm glad I watched it, but I wouldn't watch it again.
2232767
I am curious how many of these reviewers are women. I find my girlfriends gushing over books regarding knitting, romance & other such boring subject matter. Personally I prefer a good horror story or historic tale.

I bought this book after reading Mr. Simmons's Terror of Night (highly recommend that book) I was a bit worried that it was 600+ pages, but wanted to give it a go.

My review....I don't care for reviews with a tell, so I will be vague.

I agree with past reviewers. This book was slow at times. I found myself daydreaming. I even flipped a few pages when I thought I would just die of boredom (such as long prayers taking up 3 pages) This occurred midway through the book. It could be a hundred pages shorter, but that is just my taste.

Three quarters through the book I was wishing for boredom! The book became so gruesome & horrific I thought I would not be able to finish it.

I have never been more deeply disturbed by a book. (I have read hundreds of horror books, maybe thousands) I found the carnage so horrific because the chance that men on actual voyages in that time period did experience such terrible ends is very real. It is not Stephen King monsters or pure fiction of the mind that I have read in the past. I am also a nurse, so reading how primitive medicine was & understand pain....I was disturbed.

Mr. Simmon's did not need to put a monster in the book for me. I was terrified for the men without a boogie man in the ice.

I agree the ending was strange. I really don't wish to give more away then that. However, I appreciated that I was not left with the horrible feelings I experienced 3/4 way through the book.

I highly recommend this book. You will not be able to push it from your mind for many days (perhaps months) after reading it.
1614516
I am reading this book with a group that suffers from compulsive food behavior just like Rozanne did for so many years.  The story is funny, sad, and explores all the crazy confusion and pain that goes with being compulsive about food.  It's honest so that means it can make you uncomfortable and yet have you laugh out loud.  Recovery, abstinence, relapse are all explained here in the story of the founding of OA by very brave women and men.

We live in a society that scorns the obese and others who lack the willpower to eat/diet/live lives without the issue of overeating, binge eating and other food related disorders.  People thinks all it takes is willpower, well, it's more than that.

This story will not depress you.  If you are suffering, it you know someone who is suffering and just can't get it together regarding food and life, check this out.  It can help.  Note, its a personal history and some of the the drama can seem to be overstated (the 12 steps, the carb wars) but it really happened and highlights the complex world of food issues.  Hang in there, read it with an open mind.
4672600
This is a really dangerous book for anyone suffering an eating disorder. If you have issues with food, please, as a mental health professional I urge you to seek the help of a qualified psychologist and steer well clear of anything produced by his clearly confused young woman who is very likely still suffering from an ED, but is using a public platform to validate its current manifestation with a slew of nonsensical "positive" thinking cliches. Eating disorders are serious issues requiring serious treatment. Jordan, I highly recommend you seek help from a professional and commit yourself to doing much deeper work in yourself before misguiding others. A very damaging approach by a young girl who has clearly resolved very few of her core issues. Pleas see your GP and talk about getting a referral to a psychologist if you are concerned about your approach to eating. This book will not help at all.
1188593
This book may be appreciated by those who do NOT have eating disorders and eat poorly, don't exercise, and/or are overweight. This book draws strongly on the fields of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, so the reader should be okay with that or not read it. The authors say that looking in a mirror objectively is a good way to tell if you are overweight, that there ARE "good" and "bad" foods, and even disclose how many calories are burned per hour of certain types of exercise. All of these things are not conducive to recovery from an eating disorder. In the last chapter, they come across as basically blaming the family, whether they intended it to be that way or not.

If you have an eating disorder, do not read this book.
2991744
I was given this book as a gift.  A wonderful gift.

Warning:  This book contains extreme horror content.  The brutal and graphic nature of some of the content may not sit well with some people.  Unfortunately, the publisher did not tag this as extreme horror and some people have found themselves reading things they did not want to read.  If you are not an aficionado of Extreme Horror, you may be too shocked by some of the content to fully appreciate the depth and flow of the story.

Of course, I love me some extreme horror fiction!

Onward.

Luckys Girl begins strong with subtle indications of the extreme content to come, good action, and solid character building.  The story builds from there.  The tension builds from there.  The graphic content and description progresses from there.  The story becomes more horrific page after page.  This is not a light read.  It requires attention and thought.  It evokes sympathetic and empathetic emotional response for some characters and revulsion towards others.  It will leave you wanting a shower and a comforting beverage.  Maybe an hour of cartoons to soothe the brain.

The story alternates between perspectives like a good story does.  This does necessitate a certain amount of repetition. It is not flawless, but it is well done.  Some of the shifts are awkward, but the overall tempo of the story is really good.

Without giving away anything, I will say that the story takes some familiar basic concepts and combines them into a unique and horrific tale.  A strong element of psychological horror blends with shocking graphic horror and spirals down into the depraved and the frightening.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

4 stars out of 5 for the few places where the timeline and transition were awkward, but I highly recommend it to Extreme Horror fans.
3813570
Brace yourself. Book deals with heavy topics including sexual abuse, eating disorder and suicide.
4853589
This was an excellent portrayal of anorexia nervosa.  The psychology behind the illness and the treatment of the disease was  correct in its interpretation.  A must read for anyone wanting to understand the illness and how the family dynamics plays a role in the development and maintenance of the illness.  A well written and easy read.
460475
Story followed story with me completely addicted to what would come next. There are so many different types of horror that it seems crazy this all come from the mind of just the one person.

The book has ghost tales, ones about serial killers, vampires, demons, witches, and even my favourite creature the zombie! 'From Midnight to One' (about a woman living out in the middle of nowhere whose home gets invaded) actually caused me real fear, previous to this H.P Lovecraft was the only author able to scare me.  I confess that after reading that particular story I had to get out the house and go visit a friend for company! Another truly scary one is 'It's All True' about a man visiting an abandoned hospital in order to do research on a new book.  Both given me the fear just thinking about them!  At other points Browns work starts to resemble Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho or Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted going really grim and disgusting with 'Live Through This' (an unpleasant story about a homosexual rapist) and final story 'Zoe's Swan Song' (a celebrity seeking perfection).  I really thought I was going to vomit reading it, the descriptions are so detailed and horrific, but I could not stop reading despite feeling faint!

A lot of the time the endings to the stories are heavily signposted (literally in the fantastic 'Two Miles' about a mobster who wakes up in a burning hot desert with no memory of how he got there) but this doesn't stop the enjoyment of finding out how the story gets to that point.

The writings reminded me of spoof horror writer Garth Merenghi; titles such as 'Feast of the Pigs' (about Police who eat their prisoners) had me in stitches as the concept is so ridiculous yet played so straight faced. Brown does dabble in similes far too often, seeming to include them whenever he can, but some are genius and whether intentional or not quite funny (example; 'She appeared similar to a decaying clown from hell').  He goes a bit too graphic for my likings sometimes, sex scenes invariably are too detailed for my innocent mind to like.  On the other end of the scale some of the violence is crazily over the top and looses its impact on occasion.

Regardless of all this I can say with hand on heart that with the exception of H.P Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe this is the very best horror anthology I have ever had the pleasure to read!  Brown's imagination is unrivalled, being able to take so many generic horror ideas and craft them into entertaining, pulpy stories that don't challenge the mind but do just satisfy that particular horror itch we all have. He has a real gift, and is certainly a true Master of Horror.

Despite a false start the book is a highly entertaining read, Brown is a talented writer able to conjure up fear, disgust, and humour as well as live up to the standards of pulpy horror . I look forward to what he does next!
4355913
Well written, yes. However, THIS IS NOT A RECOVERY READ. If you are struggling with an eating disorder or purchasing this for someone who is, it is the wrong book. Reason being, it could be used as more of a "how to" be a better anorexic than how to get better and live a fulfilling almost normal life. This novel is a fictional depiction of two friends in huge trouble with themselves. While it is very mind-grabbing, most of the narrative is about Lia's journey to eliminate her own life. The recovery, "I want to live!", part of the story doesn't kick in until the last few pages. It is unrealistic and without closure.
1857467
This book is easy to understand and puts eating disorders in a different perspective enabling women and men to better understand how to view the disorder as an individual separate from themselves. It has helped me continue on my road to recovery. I recommend this book to anyone that suffers from an eating disorder or knows someone else who does. I will continue to use this book as a reference.
2340612
Marya Hornbacher does the most amazing thing, and puts into words, just what it is like to be totally engulfed by an eating disorder.  She is not here to hold anyones hand or to justify herself, she just writes with  brutal honesty and it's about time that someone has.  Eating disorders are  ugly and so hard to recover from, sometimes there is no happy ending.  If  you want to know the harsh, terrifying world of what it is like to live  with an eating disorder, then this is the book.  If you want a book that is  neat and tidy, then don't bother.  This book is real in every way.  Thank  you Marya, for giving voice to this disease.
1254320
This documentary was a powerful, sad and frightening look at eating disorders and attempts to help those with these disorders.  It is a sobering look at the problem that does not make for easy viewing but is, nonetheless, compelling and informative.
1881667
Healing the Hungry heart is an exceptional book that anyone who knows some or someone who has suffered an eating disorder should read.  This is a book that I couldn't put down. It is a book that can help free you from the bondage of the eating disorder. It talks about starting recovery which no doubt is very hard, warning signs of eating disorders, changing your behaviors, and learning how to eat well again. I would recommend this book to anyone suffering from an eating disorder to be able to find freedom from your eating disorder.  Recovery is possible.
937389
I love horror but this was just too demented for me. I turned it off half way through episode 3 and wanted to take a shower. Horror should be done with some taste.
1501066
Because I struggled with an eating disorder in high school and college (I'm now in my mid-20s), I've read a lot of memoirs on this subject with particular interest.  A friend who also recovered from anorexia recommended STICK FIGURE to me, saying, "You'll see yourself in this girl.  And you'll LOVE her as much as you want to help her."  What she meant wasn't just the very realistic depiction of obsession and distorted thinking that occurs with an eating disorder, but the fact that because these are real diaries, we see the whole girl, not someone looking back and talking only about how many hours it took to eat an apple.  In other words, we see a girl who's funny and smart and as impossible as your average adolescent, who just HAPPENS to also be falling into a devastating illness. (I wonder what the author is like now -- she was HILARIOUS as a kid.)
Most books about anorexics depict them as being incredibly controlling, compulsive, and monomanical about dieting - which they ARE - but that's usually ALL you see.  Here, as in another great memoir, WASTED, you realize how complicated this illness can be.  At times, Lori seems so "normal" -- even MORE "normal" than her friends and their dieting mothers.  And you can really see how she's influenced by the attitudes around her, even though they don't "cause" her anorexia, they definitely contribute and add wry commentary on our media-driven culture.
Most people gave this book five stars, and if I could give it six stars, I would!  I TOTALLY disagree with the two people who thought the book didn't depict Lori's recovery realistically -- I LIVED her recovery and really related to the book's ending -- it isn't all neat and tidy.  If they thought she saw herself in the mirror and suddenly ate again, then they clearly missed what was going on in Lori's mind.  What's so compelling about this book is how subtle the messages are -- you're in the mind of an adolescent, you're reading her journals, and every line seems to have some significance without hitting you over the head with a profound "epiphany."
Even for people who have no experience with eating disorders, I highly recommend this book.  All the people in her life-- her parents, her brother, her friends, her teachers, her doctors -- actually make this a FUN book to read (tragic, too, obviously,  but you'll laugh even as it's sad and frightening).  The people in the book are "out there" yet so real at the same time (I think we had the same teachers!). It's not quite the Addams Family, but the Los Angeles family Lori grew up in isn't quite the Cleavers either.
If you loved "Wasted," you'll love "Stick Figure."  And you might even learn something -- about yourself, about eating disorders, about the confusion of being a female teenager, and about the ridiculous pressures of our society -- along the way.  But mostly, you'll just want to read it over and over again.
549863
Loved it. It was disturbing and sick, had me flinching and tense up. What a treat. I highly recommend this book to all fans of modern horror.