Skinny (A Story of Eating Disorders and Sisterly Love)
As someone who has struggled with an eating disorder in the past, I really looked forward to this novel. Unfortunately, I was left rather disappointed...
The novel, Skinny, revolves around two sisters who are navigating through life after the passing of their father; they are 21-year-old Giselle, and 14-year-old Holly.
Upon entering college, Giselle suddenly develops an eating disorder, which progresses into anorexia. This disorder takes the form of an alter ego, a lioness that tries to convince Giselle that she is not worthy of love.
And the reason Giselle does not believe she is worthy of love, is because of her father.
"He started the whole mess with those ice-blue eyes that kept me begging for my right to exist. ... love unreturned eventually transforms into a fierce tangled mess."
The reason Giselle's father held resentment towards her is because he never knew with 100% certainty if Giselle was his. Giselle's parents met while her mother was engaged to another man, and became pregnant while actively having an affair.
The fiance, Misha, was susceptible to seizures; so is Giselle. Because of the genetic makeup of seizures, her father, Thomas, had Giselle tested for epilepsy. The results of all three (count 'em -- THREE) tests are never revealed to the reader, but given the fact that multiple opinions were called upon, obviously Thomas was worried and could not accept their conclusion.
Which already brings up the book's biggest flaw: why didn't they just get a paternity test done? 🥴 Why go through the trouble of multiple opinions when a test is nearly 99% accurate? (And painless, at that).
What else can be said about this novel? Well, the relationship between the sisters was extremely sexualized, for no reason (is there ever a GOOD reason?! 🤮). Like, I understand that eating disorders force the victims to obsessively compare bodies, but calling your baby sister's breasts "full and perky" is a bit odd. I also have a sister; not once have I ever felt the need to comment on her body in such a manner.
The sisters also fantasize about the same guy -- Giselle's 22-year-old boyfriend -- and he even makes a move on young Holly -- a MINOR.
Aside from that, the ending was less than desirable. Giselle was already so insufferable that I didn't care whether she made it or not. Well, she doesn't, and the book just dramatically jumps from what we can infer is Giselle having a heart attack, to inferring that we are suddenly at a funeral, which we eventually discover is Giselle's.