When I ordered Sweeney Boo’s Eat, And Love Yourself graphic novel from my friend Aviva’s Holiday Market, I knew that I wanted it to be the first book I read in 2021. I stuck with that and fell in love.
Big ol’ trigger warning: eating disorders / disordered eating / bingeing.
Now let’s get into it.
Eat, And Love Yourself is a book that sounds exactly like what the title suggests. It’s a book about learning to eat and not regret it. The book begins when our main character Mindy buys a slightly suspicious-looking candy bar.
After eating each piece, Mindy falls into a dream that is much more memory than anything else. In her dreams, she sees her past self at the times when she was judged for her eating habits.
We also see Mindy’s dangerous habits in her daily life. When something happens that isn’t immediately positive, she binges.
Sometimes she purges as well, but we often see her overeating because of emotional distress. This is super common, especially for young adult women. There are a lot of pressures put on us to look certain ways—and it’s not only related to weight.
I was beyond blown away by this book.
I knew it was going to make me have feelings, but not like this. I was definitely crying at the end, and if you read it, you most likely will as well.
As someone who struggles with disordered eating habits, there were parts of this that were tough to read. I’m an emotional eater, and seeing it displayed was uncomfortable, to say the absolute least. But I think the discomfort was good for me (I can speak to no one else’s experience), and I’m hoping that it sticks with me.
This is an important book, but it’s not an easy one to recommend to everyone. If you feel like you are comfortable reading more about the book, I highly suggest you go to your local comic book shop or independent bookstore to ask about it. And if you’re able to, flip through it.
I desperately loved this book.
I’m so glad it was the first of many books I’ll read this year. If you get a chance to read it, please let me know what you think of it! And definitely check out Sweeney Boo’s work on her website.
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