I went in to this thinking it was going to be a quick read (as graphic novels usually are) but this one packs a wallop at 500 pages.

LIGHTER THAN MY SHADOW tells the story of Katie Green's experience with disordered eating that started when she was very young. As she ages and becomes more aware of her body, what was once seen as "picky eating" quickly morphs into a full blown eating disorder. After collapsing at school, her parents put her in a treatment program... with limited results. Desperate for their daughter to get better, Katie's dad takes her to a "spiritual worker". The man, Jake, claims he can unblock bad energies in the body. What seems like the beginning of Katie's healing quickly spirals out of control as Katie realizes that Jake has been molesting her when she's in a meditative state. After Jake tries to assault her during a festival (where he and his wife have given Katie shrooms), Katie's recovery regresses.

This is not a light story. Yes, the end of the book does give us the recovery that Katie deserved but this whole graphic novel is filled with heavy, heavy illustrations and confessions. While I enjoyed reading this, I would not suggest it for anyone who is supremely sensitive to stories about eating disorders, sexual assault, or body image.

Lighter than my shadow is an autobiography by Katie about her life and struggles facing body issues and eating disorders. The story is written through deliberately drawn graphics that not only tell the story through Katie's eyes but brings the emotions and internal struggles of Katie to life. Through the hand-drawn monsters to the black cloud of nothingness, readers can see Katie's monsters as tangible objects, making her struggle seem all the more real. The story takes readers through the her life, noting the people and events that have been affected and have affected her disorder.
What I loved most about the story was the message that recovery does not mean fixed. Society often forgets that a person who was once sick can become sick again. That sickness isn't a one off thing. In Katie's case, her eating disorders have define her for most of her life. Although she showed no signs of it during one period didn't mean that it was gone. "If I smiled, it didn't mean I was no longer depressed." Lighter than my shadows really reminded me that sickness isnt just a phase and that it can be recurring. It showed the complexities of it all and showed how depression or anorexia or any sickness is a simple problem in black and white.

Lighter than my shadow is an incredible autobiography chronicling the life and struggles Katie faced with body issues and eating disorders throughout her life.

This novel is in the top five of any graphic novel I have yet read and after reading a previous publication I have thrust it on many people telling them they need to read it.

The story follows Katie throughout her family life, her school life, and also some personal and very unfortunate events all of which have been affected by this disorder.

The are works perfectly with the story, describing her condition as a black cloud that hangs over her so as she gets worse the cloud gets darker and larger. My favourite point is as she gets so bad that she blacks out, the cloud grows so large that the page is engulfed so all you can see is black, just as she had.

This is a must buy for anyone, you will not regret it!

Katie Green's graphic memoir details her years of abusing disorders, abuse at the hands of the therapist who was supposed to help her, and her recovery and reclamation of self. It's devastating and inspirational; a life that we can all see in ourselves: cruel teasing, parental threats at the dinner table, a career choice you're shoehorned into. Lighter Than My Shadow is a memoir of anxiety and depression, told in shades of grey, black and white. We see the physical manifestation of Green's hunger and depression: a growing mouth in her stomach, a black scribble over her head, threatening to split her open. It's an incredible story, and one that must be shared and discussed.

Bravo! Even when the book ended, I wanted to know more about Katie and how she's doing now. The story is emotional, scary and heart-breaking, authentic and true, and should be part of all YA crowd. Very nice. Animation goes along with text and you can feel / see / relate to every nuance the girl goes through.

Lighter Than My Shadow deals with the messy, complicated journey of Katie Green's relationship with food and self image. It's a raw and unsettling story, not only because of the struggle Green experiences for years trying to understand and control her eating disorder, but because she struggles to trust the right people to support her. It is painfully relatable. How many times have I pushed away well-meaning, trustworthy, reliable help? Katie Green's "help" leads her down a path as dark as her original problem, compounding pain and impeding progress.

The story doesn't have a steady-paced, linear trajectory, one that we often find in fiction - a comforting, predictable path. The journey is slower and circling, and I think ultimately, it lends well to the message. As the reader, I felt uneasy throughout the story. Even at the end of the book, I didn't feel a sense of great hope and relief. I felt the shift that things can get better, but that some stories are difficult to live and to retell, and it's important to be mindful that we are surrounded by others' stories. We do not know the journeys others have taken.

The artwork of the book complements the story - it is both lyrical and jarring.

A brave undertaking, a worthwhile read.

'Lighter Than My Shadow' by Katie Green is a graphic memoir that is over 500 pages long. The story it tells is sad and the pacing is slow and deliberate.

When Katie was little, she was a picky eater. This isn't unusual for children, but in Katie's case, events in her life led this into eating disorders. Initially at home, it was anorexia. Later it became binge eating. In the midst of getting help for her disorders, she abused by someone she trusted for therapy.

Throughout the story, the disease, or Katie's thought life, show above her as dark scribbled lines. A few times, there are words in these clouds. They get larger and smaller depending on how Katie is feeling about herself. She also becomes wispier and less distinct as she feels like she is less of a person. I liked this persona of the character. There are also times when the character seems to be tumbling or floating.

It's a very long story, and there are pages where not a lot happens, but this deliberate pacing works for this story. I appreciated Katie's story and honesty and I wish her the best.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Lighter than my Shadow: A quiet and beautiful punch to the heart

Some novels have to be broken into pieces in order to remain emotionally healthy. I remember reading a Henry Rollin's poetry book called 'To see a grown man cry', which tore at me a bit and I could only read a handful of pages at a time before taking a break; it was raw and impacting. Katie Green's graphic novel 'Lighter than my Shadow' held the same impact. It was well drawn and emotionally charged, fairly depressing but honest and real.

As with Rollin's poetry, 'Lighter than my Shadow' was immensely beautiful, worth the pain and effort to consume. They were both a punch to the heart that I had to consume in sections to refrain from being bruised.

Lighter than my Shadow (Katie Green)
516 pages
Lion Forge
ISBN-10: 1941302416
ISBN-13: 978-1941302415

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Pick up a copy and donate it to your local or school library.

The graphic memoir genre has been growing in size over the last few years as very talented people with very interesting histories recognize the value of the presentation. Green's 'Lighter than my Shadow' fits easily into the accepting graphic format and discusses very candidly the topics of Anorexia, Binge eating, and abuse.

As memoir alludes, the point of view in this work is that of a younger Katie Green, starting with her early school years and following her through college. She battles confusing body perceptions, social pressures, and the impact of these things on her personal perception of self. She is frequently told her view of the world is inferior by people who do not try to understand.

The story hurt to read. It was concise and as outsiders looking in, we can see problems removed from emotion. We are able to pick up on the social queues and foreshadowing that time muffles and blurs when someone is experiencing it first hand.

Green's artwork was stunning, keeping several elements simplistic yet emotive (such as facial features), focusing instead on the depth of universe and backgrounds. Katie has a solid representation of her internal struggles in the form of a looming black cloud over her head. The cloud begins to form when she dwells on mean phrases yelled at her by schoolboys. The internal monologue gets louder and more forceful as she gets older and further into troubling habits, splitting her in two in jagged rips. The black cloud gets larger and louder as well, blotting out all other things. Her insatiable compensating Binge hunger is represented by an ever-growing mouth in her stomach which consumes the universe at one point.

The book is not without fault, though to be clear the the faults are NOT with the artwork or the story. There is an element of the written descriptions which were sometimes a bit confusing. Mental thoughts that are unspoken are presented exactly the same as speech bubbles for vocal conversations. The difference is only a slightly dotted line rather than a curved solid. If not precisely viewed, these sometimes are missed or easily read as solid. Because of this, there was a minor amount of re-reading needed to ensure that complex sections were fully understood.

While the subject matter of this book requires some nudity, it should be noted that the story and art might not be appropriate for all age groups.

Highly recommended!

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Disclosure:
This graphic novel was presented for review purposes by the publisher. I can actually see them in my mind's eye sitting in dark rooms with bright futuristic antigravity chairs and legal pads, plotting how to earn extra airline miles by putting office donut purchases on their personal credit cards. The folks in marketing and order fulfillment are surely grateful for the pastries, but they know they are pawns in a 1% gain scheme. I am not influenced by such schemes and can advise that this review was likewise not influenced. I do love free donuts though.

Review copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a graphic novel memoir about sexual assault, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders. I wanted something light and I wasn't expecting something so heavy. However, I really enjoyed this and I think that it's something you would appreciate if you like reading about mental health issues.

Katie is a girl/woman with several problems with her body. She feels as if trapped by some imaginary or real inner voice that makes her feel bad or not properly accepted to those who live around her. Anorexia is unfortunately a common problem in our society and too often we hear of models that are obliged to lose weight or they risk to lose their job. Katie is a teenager who first had an alimentary disorder and then converted this problem into a bigger one. This problem is something that seems to disappear and she hopes for a possible recovery. But, as it happens sometimes, there are very bad people that are guided by some devilish thoughts and that are ready to take advantage of weak people. In fact, she was abused by a phantomatic therapist and only after a few years she discovered what really happened. She tried to go on and change her life, but the past always came forward to her mind. I think that Katie, although everyone can think she had a weak personality, had a great willforce in drawing all this graphic novel because she had the courage to reveal everybody what she felt and how her life was shaped and influenced by an invisible monster that mumbled into her mind. I think that this book can be made a compulsory book to read at school, because it's a great example of how we can overcome our limits and be strong in bad situations and how our search for happiness sometimes can be very complicated.

I really liked this graphic novel and the fact it has 500 pages it wasn't a problem at all. I enjoyed my time reading and I also believe this book would help a lot of people, but at the same time it could work as a trigger warning. I have never struggled with an eating disorder of any kind and I have never met someone who had to, but I could really feel the pain and struggles that Katie went through. I loved her illustration, it's simple yet powerful, I could feel her emotions and experiences as if was my own. Katie did an amazing job with this graphic novel.

Absolutey one of my new favorite graphic novels. Love the representation and writing in this.

I went into this recognising the cover from my extensive list of TBR, and seeing I could just download it from Netgalley made me eager to finally get to this. I also went into this not having read many memoirs and was excited to see how it would work in a graphic novel format, of which I'm happy to say it worked very well.

This was an emotional one. This memoir would most certainly be a heavily triggering book for suffers of eating disorders and abuse. I really wasn't expecting the things I read and my heart goes out to Katie Green who really is strong to have conquered so many struggles in her life.

The art of this was really simple, but of good quality, and the simplicity of it all was very effective in telling a heartfelt story; no flourishes or excessive illustrations were required. I actually prefered reading this on my PC because it made it look like the pictures were moving, particulary when there was a slight change to the next illustration on the following page.

Overall, this was a very important read and I would recomended it to anyone interested in memoirs, focusing on real life problems with a glimpse of hope.

I really enjoyed this book, because it gave me such a clear idea of what it would be like to have an eating disorder. The artwork drew me in too and made me slow down to really take in the ideas being presented.

Occasionally I stumble upon books that are so powerful and moving that they stay with me long after I’ve completed reading them. Lighter Than My Shadow is one such book as I found myself thinking about it for days and days on end before writing this review. The last book that did something like that was Seeds. Whereas Seeds was a great book for anyone that was going through cancer or had a family member, Lighter Than My Shadow is something completely different.

Comics are amazing when you think about them. They can touch people and relate to people in ways that books, movies, TV and video games simply can’t. They are just not the same. If you were to make this story as a movie or show, so much would be lost in the adaptation. Because comics can be art and be great stories at the same time. They don’t have to worry about a killer third act or to develop every character that shows up in the tale.

Lighter Than My Shadow is written and illustrated by Katie Green, and it’s also about her life. What’s particularly interesting is that in a circular way the entire story is what lead her to art, but to simplify that as the point of the story is false and misguided. The story is about so many things that it deserves better than a review to explain it. The story begins with Katie becoming and struggling with anorexia. It is a long story so while getting the gist of the first of many things that Katie deals with in her life, it’s important to understand that it’s not as simple as just saying it’s about anorexia.
Lighter than my Shadow.png
It covers a lot of what was in Katie’s mind, from self-image to bullying, to self-worth. These are just some of the things that go on in her mind. Because it’s a visual medium Green is able to illustrate a visual representation of what her mind felt like, and this comes in the form of squiggly clouds. They are strangely complex clouds and not just a random doodle on the page.

The story follows Katie all the way to college or uni as it's called in the story. There she deals with two new occurrences in her life. Her father takes her to an alternative medicine “doctor” who helps relieve the stress of her mind. Now, usually I wouldn’t spoil a story for you, but I feel that the more information about this story that’s out there the better. Again, that’s what is wonderful about comics, that they can relate in ways other mediums cannot. Katie is molested by the “doctor” who systematically takes apart her relationship with her parents, her friends, and her boyfriend. On top of this, she starts binge eating as a coping mechanism, while still technically dealing with anorexia at the same time. We’re still not even done, but I think these main three things that Katie deals with are the most important to mention for anyone that might relate to them.

The story had to be a difficult one to tell and to illustrate because of how difficult everything was to go through. I’m grateful that Green published it because personally, I think a lot of people will benefit from reading this story, if not for themselves then perhaps someone in their life going through anything remotely similar.

The writing and narration are strong. Green knows just how much dialogue is enough and when to pull back and let the artwork do the talking. All the dialogue has a natural flow to it and is quite believable. The narration is smooth and fades to the background. It becomes your own inner monologue which makes it all the more emotional.

The artwork is clean and detailed. It is and isn’t in black and white. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like grayscale, but not exactly. It’s difficult to describe it because it looks more like the paper stock, but that’s impossible because the characters are lighter than the backgrounds. There were some minor things with the artwork, perspectives and angles were sometimes off, especially towards the start of the story. The characters aren’t quite varied enough to always know which supporting character is which, but it’s nothing detrimental to the story. It’s just things you’re likely to notice.

I dare not say this is an “important” work. I kind of think that undercuts the skill and craft that Green has put into this graphic novel telling her story. Saying it’s important is like saying the subject matter is more important than the story or art and it is not. I have no idea if this is Green’s first graphic novel, but it is incredibly impressive both with the writing and visual storytelling. To think she almost ended up a biologist is crazy. I’m glad she came out on the other side and dared to create something as relatable and thought-provoking as Lighter Than My Shadow. You don’t have to relate to the subject matter, I had nothing from my personal experiences to pull from, but on a basic human level I was able to relate, empathize, sympathize and ultimate root for Katie throughout the entire story.

Wow. It is truly amazing how powerfully a story can be told with so few words. The images in this book are so strong and thought-provoking that it makes for a stunning read. I didn't want to put it down.
This book deals with such a difficult subject, but the way it's handled is honest, sympathetic and pulls the reader in.
Truly an incredible must-read.

I'm not hugely experienced with Graphic Novel type books but I've definitely enjoyed the ones I've read so far. This story is incredibly touching. It follows the journey of the main characters struggle with eating disorders and trying to heal.
The images are beautiful and the minimal use of colour is the thing I remember most. It was used at exactly the right moments and hit my heart like an anvil. The story felt so real and I felt like I could really understand and feel what she went through.
I loved this and its a story that will stay with me and that I will reread in future

*thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

5 stars.

What can I say! This book is AMAZING in every way! I loved it so much that I have actually brought it in paperback, yep all 1.8kgs of it! (Yep, I weighted It on my kitchen scales) Its a HUGE book but I dont care, its an instant favourite.
The way Katie Green details not only her words but her drawings are just beautiful. This is also a very relatable book for me. I was instantly agreeing deeply with how she portrays the 'anorexia' voice and feels as giant scribbles. I took one look at that and just instantly thought, 'YES'. Finally a book that gets it. Its at times, raw, and its also very honest. Definitely a book that is going to be remembered, read and re-read over and over. If your looking for more insight into eating disorders, then this is a great one to help with that.

There is a part of me that thinks a book as important (worthy is the wrong word to use) as this is shooting itself in the foot by being 500pp+. But the other side of me admits it's only 90 minutes in the reading. There are parts of me that says it's too cyclical and repetitive, but it's the nature of this autobiographical tale of no food, too much food, no food, too much... etc ad nauseam, that the story hits such regular highs and lows. While it's the second such book regarding a young woman looking back at her eating disorders with a slight failure to see the over-bearing psychological disorder that was the root cause of it all that I've read this year, it still strikes one as gallingly strong. The heroine here has a fine line in dramatising her demons, if not quite as the monster as she tries at times to make out, then certainly as the shadowing ill-thinking of the title. I have to say I just loved the arty scheme here, where the tint change brought us in and out of flashback, and where folded, torn and otherwise doctored paper stock was drawn in as detail to convey really complex shifts in our character's psyche. Even with an incredibly reduced palette this deserves five stars at least for the visual element. But I still am on the fence as to whether a pithier, briefer and more dramatic read would not have also had more potential to help others - and like it as not, in this horrid world of body issues and mental problems, help IS needed. All power to the girls, women and young men finding themselves with eating and/or body disorders, and all power to this book's creator for the sheer craft she gives us on these pages.

Lighter Than My Shadow chronicles Katie Green's journey with easing disorders. A stark look at what goes on inside a person's head, this book sheds light on many questions hose not effected have. Green walks us through her childhood, teenage years and her experiences in adulthood. We see how she was raised how to think of food, we see how she uses food a a control method and how her depression and anxiety are tied into her eating. But more than just the eating disorder, Katie puts herself out there showing how mental health can help but how you have to be careful what kind of treatments you go through.
While I never had an eating disorder, I have had depression and anxiety and how she chooses to express this is drawings is beautiful and really helps readers understand what life is like. I was able to say to myself, "that drawing is just what I felt."
As a book, I had some issue with repetitive panels and pages. I am not sure it is because I already understood the point she was trying to make because I had been there or if these scenes actually dragged on.
Overall, this is a beautiful graphic novel. It doesn't over complex illustrations or colors putting the issues at hand front and center. The story is moving and resonates with those with mental issues. I think this is a great book for all teen girls.