Review: Skinny - Laura L Smith

Review: Skinny - Book #1 False Reflections Series - Laura L. Smith - October 2008

Cast your mind back with me for a moment. Years ago, one of my absolute favourite genres to curl up with was what I fondly called Edgy YA Christian Fiction - stories that tackled the real, messy, complicated parts of teenage life without shying away from faith. Skinny by Laura L. Smith is exactly that kind of book, and it has stayed with me ever since I first read it.

Melissa grows up surrounded by all the good things  a warm, loving Christian family and a tight circle of friends. She's also a dancer, and it's through that world that she begins to see herself as something she isn't: fat. What makes this story particularly compelling is that Melissa doesn't stop eating altogether. Instead, she starts counting calories and restricting, quietly convincing herself that because it isn't that bad, it isn't really a problem. It's that kind of slow, insidious thinking that makes her journey so painfully recognisable.

It takes a frightening moment Melissa fainting  for her dance coach, friends and parents to finally see what's been unfolding right in front of them. From there, the story becomes about love, urgency, and the desperate hope of getting her help before things spiral into something requiring hospitalisation and intensive treatment.

I'll be honest with you, this one hit close to home. As someone who struggled with restrictive eating myself  as young as twelve or thirteen I found Skinny to be not only worth reading but genuinely important. Because here's the truth: so many teenagers, girls and boys, quietly battle some form of disordered eating at some point in their lives. Books like this one give that experience a face and a name, and that matters enormously.

I loved this book so much that I now have the rest of Laura L. Smith's False Reflections series sitting on my Kindle where, if I'm being completely honest, they have been patiently waiting for over ten years. (We've all been there, right?!)

If you were a fan of Melody Carlson's True Colours YA series or the raw, unflinching storytelling of Ellen Hopkins, then the False Reflections series absolutely needs to go on your list.

This one is a quiet gem. Don't sleep on it.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bnvQR7