At first, I thought to myself "These girls have no real problems, they have nothing else to worry about except themselves, they are young, used to be pretty, can afford to quit a job or have someone pay for them to be here, their friends and families are frantically worried about them. Why don't they just snap out of it and think of something other than themselves?" Then as I read further, I realized that they are their own worst enemies.

This is a quote that I think sums up what the protagonist's internal voice is telling her to do:
"...Now, what do I do in real life? I cannot remember, is the honest answer. I have not had a real life in years. This one I have is spent mostly just stopping myself from eating. It takes up a lot of my time. And energy, and concentration. My brain is slow and rarely looks beyond anticipating the next hunger pangs. Or back past the guilt of the last bite. By nighttime, it is exhausted. I sleep. In real life I starve and I sleep".
What a heartbreaking story.
I enjoyed the way this author's poetic writing flowed - the book was over 300 pages, but it was a quick read for me.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a heartbreaking novel by Yara Zgheib about the struggles of eating disorders. The story is told by Anna, a French ballerina who moved to the St. Louis area with her husband Mattias, and ends up at 17 Swann Street after being diagnosed with anorexia. Zgheib breaks down her battle to recovery day by day, with up days and down days. Through Anna, we are also introduced to other occupants of the home: Valerie, a quiet introvert who becomes Anna’s pen pal; Julia, the binger with an outgoing personality; Emm, who has been there for four years. I cannot even begin to relate to the struggles these women face, the food they struggle to eat written in exquisite detail. But this book brings this battle to life and creates an understanding for me of something I really can’t understand. My only challenge sometimes was telling in the ARC digital galley when Anna was reflecting on healthier times with her husband, and when she was under care – otherwise, beautifully done!

While I overall enjoyed reading Anna's story, the format of the book left a little to be desired. The constant flipping back and forth between past and present was at times extremely confusing thus making the book hard to read. I also could have lived without the lengthy Direct Care reports all throughout the book.
That all being said, Anna's story speaks to anyone who has ever had an eating disorder or even an addiction. Her story goes to show that while yes, the task of recovery appears impossible at the start, it can be done with hard work and dedication to becoming better. It definitely paints a realistic picture of what goes through the minds of individuals struggling with eating disorders. At one point she nearly gives up, turns recluse in the house for a few days. That is real life.
Very difficult to write about subject matter but well done.

Well written book from the perspective of what it is like for the person with anorexia as well, to some extent, of what it is like for loved ones. In patient treatment is not a picnic by any means and this book points out how difficult it is to fight what your brain is telling you to do.

If you want to know what anorexia is like, how to try to beat it and how many choose not to beat it, either that or are not capable of beating it, then read this book. Well done.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an very good read on anorexia and eating disorders. It was a disturbing story, because issues like this are difficult to read about. But it was realistic and did a good job helping the reader feel the struggles of the girls. I found the writing style difficult, but found the book to be a good read.

*I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own."

This book reminded me quite a bit of "Girl, Interrupted." I found myself really pulling for the main character, Anna, though at times I wanted to smack her. Overall, this book helps you to see a bit of the eating disorder from tje oerson suffering. Not just the caretakers.

Things that bothered me:
Main character's name is Anna in a story about anorexia...
The format and structure. Then and Now, talking/thinking italics. It was a tedious read because of the authors writing style. I had to put in more effort to figure out if the character was actually talking or thinking.
Never got a whole background on the brother/mother thing. Just fragments that we have to piece together.
How everyone comes to support Anna and root for her, Emm, Valerie, Julia, Direct Care, EVEN THE PIZZA RESTAURANT WAITRESS..

This was a decent read. Not a standout for me. The strawberry scene was my favorite as it had great structure and vivid descriptions.

4 stars. I fell in love with The girls of 17 Swann Street. Quite literally. I found the story raw, yet endearing. A glimpse into the life of a person with an eating disorder was unnerving, yet fascinating. It was thought provoking to learn how the disease impacts not only the person dealing with it, but family and friends alike. This was a real story, dealing with real emotions and it tugged on your hear stings, in a real way. A highly emotional and satisfying read.

See my review on goodreads.com

I'm at a loss for words. The Girls at 17 Swann Street left me speechless. What I can muster up is this. This novel is a solid 5 for me. The author Yara Zgheib didn't try to make anorexia something it is not. This disease is real and rarely ever just goes away with time. It needs hard work. The chance of relapse is high. This book is filled with tons of other hard, cold facts amongst these. holy sh*t. This review doesn't give this novel justice. It's so real and to anyone who's ever dealt with an eating disorder, or loved someone who has suffered from such, it can be very triggering. TW

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's press for an advanced read in exchange for this review. I really liked this book!

Anna follows the love of her life from Paris to the US. As she struggles to figure herself out after a ballet career, she loses herself in anorexia. She is sent to a residential treatment facility and this is her story.

I thought this book did a good job of chronicling the struggles that people face with eating disorders. The author describes Anna's treatment plans, including letting you in on her therapy sessions where you get to hear her inner thoughts. I appreciated that this is told from Anna's POV but also let's you into the struggles of the other people in treatment too. It's sad and heartbreaking, but powerful.I imagine that this book could be triggering for those with their own eating disorder struggles, so please consider that before starting.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET by Yara Zgheib in exchange for my honest review.***

Anna begins residential treatment for anorexia in a setting with six other women. One will die. One will be kicked out. One will be taken away in an ambulance never to return. One may remain forever. Anna must decide whether to engage in treatment and which she wants to be.

I’ve read plenty of YA books with characters who have eating disorders. THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET is the first literary fiction for me. The format of the book confused me, which may in part be due to the egalley not yet finished editing. Both past interactions and dialogue was set in italics and the dialogue didn’t have quotation marks, so that confused me. Yara Zgheib (or editing) switched from present to past to dialogue within the same chapter, necessitating pausing to figure out where the story was. Zgheib’s writing engaged me, at times almost poetic in its beauty.

While Anna has an interesting backstory, I didn’t find her character interesting. Her kindness toward the other residents endeared her to me. I would have liked to know more about the other residents and their points of view.

The biggest drawback to THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET was that the treatment center, set in in St. Louis, bears no resemblance to eating disorder treatment in the United States. Nurses performed surgery at their station. Ambulances frequently carted off residents. The treatment was said to be covered by insurance, including that of a resident who had been in and out of the same facility for 4 years, residents were allowed to stay as long as they needed treatment, insurance just wanted to make sure the patients were taken care of (insert rolling eyes emoticon.) After residential treatment, they could count on 4-9 months of day treatment. If mental illness had that level of treatment, people would be a lot better off. But I digress. Zgheib could have done some research and shown a more realistic setting. The therapeutic activities and case notes were well done and my favorite parts of the story. Most readers probably won’t be as picky as details as I am.

THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET is a unique look at eating disorder treatment and recovery that will interest YA and adult readers.

I was unfamiliar with Yara Zgheib before reading this book, but as I read The Girls at 17 Swann Street, I caught myself thinking several times that the writer knows of what she writes. This is an absolutely believable book filled with characters you find yourself pulling for as they each struggle in their own way. I enjoyed the style of the book, with time jumps from present day to years to months to weeks back because this is how our brains tend to work: we are triggered by a current situation into a memory or repetition of an earlier response to a similar situation.

While I would certainly recommend the book for anyone who has loved a person struggling with disordered eating, the book doesn't limit itself only to that. There are so many thought-provoking moments in the book that bring to the forefront the struggles that so many women have with body image, perfectionism, insecurity. Very few women I know (in fact, I can' think of a single one at the moment) escape being told we're "too" something (loud, fat, tall, short, thin, shy, bold...you get the idea) by people who are well-meaning or pretend to be. Although most of the characters in the book were young enough to be my daughters, as I read the book I very much identified with what they were facing, so this isn't a book that will be of interest to only a certain age group.

I hope Ms. Zgheib will write more novels as, based upon my reading of this book, I believe she has a great deal to say that we need to hear.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I requested this eARC. The premise sounded interesting and the topic- eating disorders - caught my eye. This is not the typical genre of book that I read. If possible, I would rate this 3.5 stars.

I have mixed feelings about the book. While the topic is important and the author did a good job of explainng anorexia and the side effects - from the individual to the family - I wasn't that crazy about the writing style. Several times, I found the transitions between past and present, muddy and unlcear. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written in a diary format. With that said, the overall story was interesting and the trials faced by the main character trying to overcome and get a grip on her disease, felt very real and believable.

I think because of the subject matter, this would make a great book club book that would inspire a heartfelt discussion about eating disorders.

Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the eARC. This is my honest review.