Beautifully written, this book was both heart wrenching and hopeful. Anorexia is a deadly disease and it changes the lives of not only the patient, but of family and friends as well. Emotionally packed, this book was a captivating read and once started was very hard to put down. Zgheib does an amazing job of putting the reader right into the day to day lives of The Girls of 17 Swann Street. Sharing their agony at meal times, encouraging them on their journey, crying with them at setbacks and loss and cheering for them at the tiniest of accomplishments. This is a book that will stay with, and perhaps even haunt you as it brings new life to the image of anorexia.

I received an advanced reader's copy of The Girls at 17 Swann Street from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. First, let me say that you should not think for a minute that just because it has "the girls" in the title it is a thriller. It is about anorexia and the devastating effects it has on the body and mind. 17 Swann Street is a residential rehabilitation facility for women who are struggling with eating disorders. Anna, the main character goes to live there to regain weight and learn how to overcome her disease.

The book is very short and uses italicized text instead of quotations for speech. This approach made it seem like you are living inside of Anna's head. It also jumps from the present back to other moments in Anna's life that led her to developing the disease. I have never struggled with an eating disorder, yet I feel like I have a much better understanding of it now that I have read this book.

There are definitely plenty of trigger warnings in this book, especially if you have ever suffered from an eating disorder, but I think it does a very good job at bringing awareness without glamorizing this disease. I strongly recommend this book if you want to learn more about anorexia or disordered eating.

DId not care for this and did not finish the book.................................................................................................................................................................

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It started out confusing and was depressing. I did learn a lot about the disease

A great account, albeit fictional, of life inside a residential treatment facility for women with eating disorders. No sugar coating things, the author delves into the dangers and emotional aspects of life with an eating disorder. I would have liked a little more backstory on some of the secondary characters, but a book can only be so long I guess

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is the story of a treatment facility for women suffering from anorexia or bulimia. We witness the trials and tribulations that must be endured through the eyes of Anna, one of the patients who is a former ballet dancer. The women try to support each other as they face the dietary and exercise regimens necessary for recovery. This is an eye-opening view into diseases that are often hidden and the struggles to overcome the afflictions.

This book really wasn't my cup of tea. The writing style was really good. But I just couldn't relate to the characters. Thank you for the advance copy NetGalley!!

Told through a variety of flashbacks of her life “before” and falling into anorexia, we meet Anna. A girl who seems to have it all, a loving family and most of all a loving husband. But all is not as it seems with our main character, having left the life she knew in Paris to follow her husband who’d gotten a better job in the states, Anna finds herself essentially losing herself. Eating meals alone, being in a strange new country where things are so different from Paris, Anna begins to develop anorexia. This disease that not only affects the body but most of all the brain in its distorted views of the self and world, Anna feels more alone than ever and so close to giving up. After a disastrous Christmas trip to Paris where her family and husband see just what had become of Anna who stopped eating long before any of them had noticed, Anna voluntarily seeks treatment.

Enter 17 Swan Street, a place meant to help those with eating disorders and Anna meets a variety of girls who teach her that though anorexia may be a lonely disease, the girls here watched out for each other. Through relapses and a great amount of strength we read that what is considered by many as something trivial and second nature, to the girls at 17 Swan Street, eating is the equivalent of hiking up a mountain without any form of aid. We read just how difficult it is to eat one meal let alone 6 daily. And though Anna struggles so much to the point that she almost gives up, through the help of the girls and staff at 17 Swan Street, Anna realizes that she wants to live. Live even though the thought of food is so mind numbingly terrifying, Anna wants to live for herself and for the man who loves her above all else.

I honestly thought this book was going to be so difficult to get through due to the heavy subject matter, but what I found this book to be was a show of strength and survival of a woman who was so close to losing it all. This book was.. healing and therapeutic and a must read for anyone who wants to both know more and understand these victims of anorexia.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street was a captivating and powerful novel! I enjoyed the relationships portrayed by the girls at 17 Swann Street and their journeys during their treatment. I could not stop reading this book and finished it in two days. 17 Swann Street is the home where women stay for treatment of different eating disorders. Anna is married to Matthias. She has things in her past that include loss and disappointment. So much has happened over the years and she finds herself struggling with eating, anorexia, and with her life in general. Anna’s family begs her to get treatment at 17 Swann Street. What she goes through during her treatment at 17 Swann Street is moving. I could just feel what Anna was going through during her days of treatment. Anna’s husband Matthias and her family sound wonderful and supportive. The women at 17 Swann Street all have their own touching stories and their own disorders. The women help each other as best they can. The story was not at all what I expected it to be, but ended up being much more and one that will be hard to forget!

Subject matter was intense and I still find myself thinking about this story months later.
Anorexia is difficult to overcome and the backstories of the girls help to keep this story true. This author has been able to tell us more about the emotional struggles of women suffering from anorexia and hopefully is beneficial to some.

Thank you #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a ARC copy of this book

This book deals with a serious subject anorexia. The story follows Anna as she goes to a treatment center. I felt the story was a bit slow and repetitive, however, it did hold my attention.

I was very intrigued by the subject of this book. I don’t often come across fiction that tackles the experience of someone suffering with an eating disorder and I was very interested to see how the story would unfold. I was pleased with the book overall. It gave an insight into life in a residential program for eating disorders and the daily struggles a patient encounters as well as its impact on other family members. I sometimes got confused with the brief intros of the other patients at the residence center, but could see how their arrival/departure impacted Anna, the main character. I would recommend this title to anyone interested in a view from an eating disorders clinic as a patient tries to determine if she can survive her battle with anorexia.

Although I've never battled anorexia, I was able to relate to the characters as this book really gave me insight to the torture that disease inflicts. Told from likable characters who you really feel for, this story follows Anna, a dancer as she tries to start her career in Paris. So much pressure is put on female dancers, so it was astonishing to read of the world she lives in and the challenges she faces just to do her job. I definitely had more empathy for those with this disease after the book, and would encourage anyone to read it!

Thoughtfully rendered look into the lives that are affected by anorexia. I read this courtesy of Netgalley.com and I am glad that I did. It was haunting; one that will resonate for some time.

This book is a must read. The story is about Anna and her disease, Anorexia Nervosa. But it is also a story of love and sadness, hope and happiness.
The author brought me right to the table with this young lady and the other patients in the treatment center. I could actually feel the struggle they went thru to eat the food they had in front of them and how hard it was to relearn how to like, maybe eventually enjoy food again.
The only thing I knew about this disease was that it killed Karen Carpenter. I did not realize how a brain could convince a person that they did not LIKE food anymore.
I am not doing enough justice to this book here. Please read it. If you never meet a person with an eating disorder you will still appreciate this book.

I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Anna is a 26 year old former ballet dancer who has anorexia. Her disease slowly begins when she moves to the Untied States from France with her husband. Her husband fearing that Anna may die, forces her to go to an in patient treatment center at 17 Swann Street. There are several other girls who are all battling their own eating disorder demons.

At times it was hard to read about the girls and the issues they faced, knowing that many girls/young women are probably going through the same thing in real life.

The author did a great job of being real and yet showing grace in her writing.

I loved the setting of this book and the descriptive writing style this author used to make the reader feel like they were experiencing everything the characters experienced. As a teacher, I found this to be very accurate and relatable. I’ve struggled with body image issues as well as the pressure to be the best at everything. This is more common than ever today with colleges being more and more selective with admissions and GPAs. I really liked this book and I would read it again as well as recommend it to others.

Wow! What a truly memorable, enlightening, and important read. The Girls at 17 Swann Street was one of those books for me that once I got into it, I couldn't bring myself to put it down. I had no idea what to expect when I began reading, due to the fact that mental illness/anorexia and any number of other eating disorders is not only a sensitive topic but something that hits close to home for me personally. Yet I was so utterly and pleasantly surprised at the compassion yet honesty with which the author wrote about it all. Overall it was realistic and heartbreaking, and so incredibly well-written. Plus, any book that brings me to tears on multiple occasions ranks high for me.

This story follows Anna, a twenty-six-year-old married gal, who doesn't recognize her illness, and it takes hitting rock bottom as her husband discovers her unwell for the decision to be made for her to go to this home where she would hopefully recover. That's where the story truly begins, and we see in alternating chapters her current situation on the road to recovery, her relationship with her husband, and also her past which got her to this point. I found that this really kept the story moving forward and gives readers a raw and real look at how "normal" life can so easily spiral into you never intended for it be due to any number of circumstances. It was also eye-opening and powerful to read her assessment forms, treatment and meal plans, etc. that were all included throughout the story. Basically, it all hit me so hard as my heart absolutely went out to our main character (and the other girls mentioned as well).

It's almost difficult to bring myself to use the word beautiful to describe this book, because it was so haunting and deep at the same time. Yet that's exactly what it was because of the particular way the author tackles the subject matter with such empathy and love. I highly recommend this book to anybody looking to be moved by a less talked about struggle and mental illness, or simply anybody who has struggled with the person they see looking back at them in the mirror. I'm so impressed that this was a debut novel, and will very much be looking forward to what this author may have up her sleeve next. All the emotional and wonderful stars for this one!

This is a heartbreaking and very insightful look into the world of those suffering from eating disorders. It shows the heart ache and suffering of not only those with the disorder, but to those that surround them. This book had me from the beginning and I could hardly put it down. The author takes you on a breathtaking journey into an understanding of a world that I know very little of.
This is a great read and will pull at all your emotions. I highly recommend this book.
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this novel.

This book offered a depressing yet captivating look at eating disorders. It was depressing because the stories of the young women at 17 Sean Street is so sad, with little hope that any of them will fully recover and live the lives that they dream of. It is captivating because I was drawn into the story of Anna Roux, a dancer who hurt her leg, moved from Paris to the United States with he husband, and finds herself spiraling into loneliness, depression and anorexia. When the book opens, we see Anna entering the treatment house at 17 Swann Street. The other woman who lives there have stories also, but it is Anna’s story that is compelling and told in detail. The reader is introduced to Matthias, Anna’s spouse who sincerely wants her to succeed in her recovery. This was a fiction novel but at times it seemed like an entry from Wikipedia with its detailed description of what the women had to go through in their quest for recovery. A most memorable scene for me was when Ann had to complete a menu for the week, with six meals each day. The foods that she used to enjoy and which she no longer eats become evident as she checks off what she is willing to eat daily. This was a realistic look at a very complex problem. The struggles of the women are real, and the author presents Anna’s story with empathy and authenticity. Readers of contemporary fiction will enjoy this book, as will those who want to know more about eating discorders and how it ravages the bodies of those affected and the lives of their loved ones.