Review: Lighter than My Shadow

I held on, waiting to be recovered, wondering how long it would last. How would I know when I get there?

–Lighter than My Shadow, Katie Green

AUTHOR: Katie Green

GENRE: Memoir, Graphic Novel

RATING: 5/5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

SUMMARY: In this hand-drawn autobiography/memoir, Katie Green investigates her personal battles in her relationship with food and how her eating disorders triggered other events in her life, including one in which she was abused by someone she trusted. Green starts in the early stages of her childhood and ends at her current state, and details the process of how she became ill, but also details the process of her recovery.  Trigger warnings (because if you have dealt with an eating disorder or are a survivor, then I certainly don’t want you to endanger your mental health): anorexia, binge eating, images of both unhealthy and healthy sexuality.

THOUGHTS: This was the kind of book that I could not put down. I initially picked it up, thinking I’d get through the first hundred pages or so just to start it, but by the time I bothered to look at the clock again, I had gone through all 500 pages and it was way later than when I had hoped to go to sleep.

You remember that kind of feeling you got as a bookish child when you read under the covers with a lightbulb because you had to keep reading even though it was past your bedtime? This book made me feel like that, and that is not a feeling I can say I always get now, even though I remain a very bookish person.

Katie Green does a magnificent job at illustrating her eating disorder, whether it was the literal shadow following around, or the melting of her body “into oblivion”. At times, the imagery was so powerful and stark, and sometimes it was more subtle and suggestive. I have not read many graphic novels, but the images that Green provides played out her story beautifully. I especially admired how she managed to convey metaphors in her illustration.

I also have to commend Green for the kinds of details that she chose to include in her novel focusing on eating disorders. There are so many important aspects included in this book that can really speak to and enlighten those who have not gone through eating disorders, such as myself. Details like the loss of her menstrual cycle, how eating disorders are not simply just a desire to not eat, how her eating disorder ruined her image of her own body and therefore her connection to the healthy aspects of her sexuality, and how progress and recovery is not a straightforward, easy process are all things that I adored about this book.

Additionally, I feel as though many books about eating disorders do not really focus on the process of recovery as Lighter than My Shadow does. Recovery is probably the most important part of this story, which I find so admirable, and while I have a limited perspective on this subject because of my own personal experiences, I believe this book has something important to those who are in recovery or are suffering from eating disorders, as well as to those who have no personal experience with eating disorders.

I cried, I definitely cried. It was that good, y’all. Go pick up this book when it is published on October 3rd!!