We follow twins Rose and Lily. The book is set in the now with flashbacks to the past. Growing up, Rose and Lily were one, they had the same emotions and did everything together. While in High School, Lily made friends with the popular crowd which had a downstream impact to their relationship. Rose began to not eat but Lily starts to eat more. In the present, Rose is in a rehabilitation center and relies on Lily to tether her to her normal life. During Lily’s visits, it becomes clear Lily needs help.

I struggled to get through this in the first part of the book. I very much did not like the celebrity that came to Rose’s rehabilitation center. She was very snooty, privileged, and clearly a bad influence. But the latter half of the book was beautiful. There was great social commentary on diet culture and body image. There are plenty of people out there that associate eating disorders with thin girls but never understand that eating disorders are real for all body sizes. With the twins having very similar struggles but on opposite sides of the spectrum, you get to see both sides. It’s heart breaking yet hopeful.

Please research TW for this book if you are questioning the content.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t even know where to begin with this review.. I was completely blown away by Diane Clarks debut novel and felt like I couldn’t get through it fast enough! This book explores deep and unsettling themes that may not be for everyone. Trigger warnings include: eating disorders and domestic abuse.

This story is about identical twins Lily and Rose Winter who become not so identical after a middle school diet ends up being the beginning of Rose’s anorexia and Lily’s finding comfort in food. Narrated by Rose, we are taken deep into the world of anorexia. The book alternates between the past and present up until the time she was admitted to an inpatient facility to recover. Rose desperately tries not to gain any weight while in the facility, meanwhile Lily meets a new guy who pushes her to lose weight. When Rose realizes her sister is in a controlling and dangerous relationship she fakes her recovery in order to be discharged.

This story was so brilliantly written and is truly not like anything I’ve ever read before. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in mental illnesses and would like to know what it’s like to be inside of the mind of someone with anorexia.

An amazing story of sisters and the bond that connects them. Poignant and heart wrenching at times it's also filled with hope to fix the wrongs in their lives. Can they do it? Read this wonderful book and find out. Happy reading!

THIN GIRLS is an absolutely superb novel that knocked me off my feet. What I thought would be an interesting but perhaps not groundbreaking novel about eating disorders turned out to be a nuanced, enveloping, and heart-wrenching story from an amazing new author. We follow two twin girls back and forth through time as one of them, Rose, develops anorexia and the other, Lily, has her own myriad issues with food and while they are identical as children, due to these disorders, they grow apart both emotionally and physically. Important to say that this book has many trigger warnings related to anorexia, dieting culture, self-image, and eating disorders in general. It's a tough read, one I had to put down numerous times, but it's such a fantastic and important novel.

While the book is devoutly anti diet culture, it still buries the reader deep in the minds of women who are negatively impacted by it, and that is not so easy to shake off after you stop reading. What makes this book so wonderful is the characters - we grow with them, know them inside and out, and feel their successes and failures. Rose, who we meet as she recovers during a year long stint in an anorexia facility, is a character for the ages. Her narration is the heart of the book, and the author's explanation of the disease through her eyes is the most realistic I've ever read. The book is long, and solid, and I almost want to describe it as epic. It's an experience you have to give in to, and the reward will be great.

Wow. This was a very powerful and heavy book. I enjoyed it.
I can’t relate to the eating disorder or bisexuality - but the book was written in such a way that this issues were brought to light in a touching way.
I hope to read more from the author.

This book took me way too long to read - which I think has given me the impression that it's too long. In reflecting on it, I don't think that's the truth, just my skewed perception.

This book reminded me forcefully of The Lightness - in it's portrayal of treatment centers, the young girls who are at those centers, the bonds and friendships that are formed, the lack of parental authority in any form. But with twins, instead of one girl. It also had short paragraph breaks that incorporated random trivia, as The Lightness did, though it did not strike me as effective here as it did there. Thin Girls is at least queer, where The Lightness is at best queer bait.

There were some lines and ideas that hit really well, and others that missed for me entirely. Part of the girls' stories seemed added only to add to their uncanny, their allure, but at the point the allure had already been well established. The see-sawing between the twins, their problems, their relationships, was well-done, and one misdirection in the text was expertly executed, which made for a nice surprise.

In the end - I don't know that this is one I'd recommend, except to someone thinking of reading The Lightness. Read this one instead.

An amazing debut about twin sisters - Rose and Lily. Moving back and forth in time, it's a story of eating disorders, despair, love, twin-ness, sexuality, and love. Rose, in the present, narrates from inside the treatment facility where she's spent more than a year and later, after she leaves, from Lily's apartment and then Grace's house. She's anorexic- a thin girl- while Lily has gained weight even as she lost it. The novel tracks how these two got to this place. Rose was always less accepted by others than Lily until Jemima issued an eating challenge- one apple a day as the only food ingested. As the years pass, you'll see Rose's weight go down while Lily's goes up but you won't understand the full picture until the end. Lily's involvement with Phil, a married and horrid man, is the catalyst for Rose to improve. Jemima seems like the queen of the mean girls but hold judgement. No spoilers for this, which I read in a gulp. I know it will be triggering for some and that some will question Clarke's motives in writing it but it's not exploitative, it does not encourage disorders and it's sensitive on a number of levels. It's also beautifully written. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'm looking forward to more from Clarke, who is a writer to watch.

Synopsis (Goodreads)
Rose and Lily Winters are identical twins. They have struggled with body and image since childhood and high school finds them turning to food - or not - to battle the waves of insecurity and the yearning for popularity. When Rose stops eating, Lily’s response is to start eating for two - consuming everything Rose won’t or can’t.

The book starts with Rose celebrating her one-year anniversary in a rehabilitation facility for anorexics. Lily, her sole visitor, is the only thing tethering her to a normal life. But Lily is struggling, too. A kindergarten teacher, she dates abusive men, including a student’s married father, in search of the close yet complicated companionship she lost when she became separated from Rose.

When Lily joins a cult diet group led by a social media faux feminist, whose eating plan consists of consuming questionable non-caloric foods, Rose senses that Lily needs her help. With her sister’s life in jeopardy, Rose must find a way to rescue her—and perhaps, save herself.

Thoughts
Moving back and forth from present day to the past, the author skillfully explores how Rose and Lily develop their unhealthy relationship with food in an attempt to suppress pain. This book is most definitely not for everyone. It is a dark and haunting read and I felt weighed down by Rose’s narration. At times I struggled to keep reading as it was so painful and agonizing - the ways in which Rose talks about her self and struggles with her sexuality and the ways in which Lily compensates for Rose by overeating and allows herself to be abused by men.

I am glad I read this. It has given me a better understanding of eating disorders and how social media, toxic diet culture and the relationships with our caregivers, family and friends contribute to their development. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring the same.

Severe triggers warnings, this probably goes without saying but: anorexia (it includes tips and tricks), bulimia, physical abuse, abandonment, alcoholism, binge eating

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thin Girls by Diana Clarke is a dark, provocative story of two twins; one who doesn’t eat and one who eats for two. This book explores some pretty deep and intense themes and might not be for everyone. Trigger warnings include: eating disorders, rape, and sexual violence. ⁣
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Lily and Rose Winters are identical other than a mole on Lily’s back. Lily’s personality is warm and bright, while Rose is awkward and finds it hard to make friends. The twins are just trying to fit in with the popular girls, so when queen bee, Jemima, suggest they try the ‘apple a day’ diet, the twins go along. Lily gives up in a day. But Rose sticks with it, and when Jemima praises her for losing weight, Rose keeps going. The chapters alternate between adolescence and the twins’ current life. Fast forward to their early 20s... Rose is admitted to an inpatient facility an is desperately trying not to gain. Lily, who began overeating when Rose stopped eating, is dating a new guy who has pushed her to lose weight. Rose realizes her twin is being controlled, and manages to fake her way to getting discharged. Rose has to help Lily, but save herself at the same time by confronting her sexuality, insecurities, and past family history. ⁣
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Like I said, this is not for everyone. I loved it, because the author presented these topics in an authentic way. They were not romanticized or glamorized. I wouldn’t say this book had a happy ending at all, but the ending was very conclusive and I thought it was a great stopping point. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review!

I found this book to be very dark with practically every ill that affects society icluded in it. The first part about the facility that (didn't) work with anorexics seemed to drag on forever and then once Rose got out of the facility to help Lily who was a victim of abuse from her boyfriend, the story just got heavy. It was not until the end wihen Rose got back together with Mim that there was a little bit of light. I think the book might have been more effective if the author had not tried to pack so much into it. I did finish the book, but it was a slog as I was surrounded by eating disorders, abuse, abandonment, alcoholism, and rape and just wanted to finish the book and be done with it.

A story of twin sisters, both obesssed with their bodies and their food. They grow up enmeshed, each other's best friend. There is a popular girl in school they each vie for, and eventually Rose, the anorexic, wins this girl's affection. Simultaneously, their parents split up. Mom moves away and Dad becomes a depressed drunk. Both girls become obsessed with their bodies and food. Rose becomes emaciated, and obsessed with losing weight and Lily becomes obese and obsessed with men.

Rose lives part time in an eating disorder unit, yet when she notices that Lily is becoming abused by her lover, she decided to break out and 'save' her. The second half of the book focuses on their relationship as they live together and each tries to mother the other, but not her own self.

A lot of eating disorder tricks (warning for those who are susceptible) and stories of abusive boyfriends and misogynistic men. These women live in a very insular world, which is what addiction does to people and the lengths they will go to remain attached to their addiction.

I love stories about twins (such as I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb i read so many years ago and must say Mark Ruffalo did A magnificent job playing). Funny Wally Lamb also wrote "She's Come Undone" about obesity!

Sorry this is Diana Clarke, I'm forgetting myself. I loved this book merely because I love the connection between twins and that's really well depicted here. But as one of them literally starves, the other gorges (sounds like me)! I think this is a very important book for women in any decade in time dealing with issues about our bodies and the psychological way it happens. That's why I love happy overweight people, because they are comfortable in their bodies and I'm jealous in A good way.

Anyway, I loved the connection in this book, the differences and the love they shared. Beautiful story, sad and happy!

A special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for my ARC of this book!

I was not able to finish reading this book for a few reasons. First of all, the subject matter was so heavy that I just could not get engaged with the book. Yes, this is a relevant and current issue, but I just did not think it was compellingly written. Also, the language was so esoteric that I never felt pulled in to the story itself. I just was ultimately not able to relate to the language or content of this story.

While this book is fiction, it reads with the immediacy and intimacy of a mental health memoir. Protagonist Rose chronicles her life alongside her twin sister Lily. In the beginning, Lily is the socially saught after twin, the one that knows how to look and act to gain the attention of the "it" girls at their school. After Rose latches on to an unhealthy apple-a-day diet the ringleader of their clique suggests, she eclipses Lily in their social circle, all the other girls envious of her newfound weight loss and lean physique. Her new social status and problems at home push Lily into a dangerous relationship with food that quickly turns into anorexia. Thin Girls chronicles her highs and lows from her preteen years to 24-- an intervention, inpatient therapy, and a desire to recover that sparks hope time and again but remains elusive through the majority of the book. While Rose grows smaller, Lily continues to gain weight, and both women struggle to define themselves beyond the number they see before them on the scale.

While I connected deeply with the characters and recommend the novel to those that are interested in the subject matter, I'd like to caution that this book could be incredibly triggering for those struggling with disordered eating themselves. There's a particularly difficult stretch of the book that touches on the pro-ana community that made me consider putting it aside. There's also a fair amount of internalized homophobia the main character works through that was hard to read.

Things I loved
+the voice and energy of the book
+the discussion around what a healthy v. unhealthy relationship looks like (in familial relationships, romantic relationships, and friendship)
+the glimpses into how Rose processes the world around her via the discarded books she finds at her facility and the truths she finds in them. (An example: she finds a book on insects and likens the strange facts she finds about everything from termites to bees to the comparable human behaviors she sees around her)
+the discussion this book provides around the faux feminism pushed by social media influencers and how dangerous it can be when people start pushing "health" advice to sell dangerous products

The thing I didn't love:
+Throughout the book, you get several short stories written by Lily's character. These are actually short stories that the author has published in various literary magazines that are linked on her website. The stories took me out of the narrative. (That said, I realize they were there to emphasize the near-psychic relationship shared by the twins.)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper for the e-arc they provided in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. What a fantastic debut novel for Diana Clarke. I finished this about a week ago, but was at a loss for words (and I still am, to be honest).

I agree with all of the positive reviews on here--it's moving, current, and everyone should read it.
This book is particularly relevant for women. We live in a world where we're constantly pressured to be thinner, prettier, and hyper-sexualized.

“Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”
-Tina Fey, Bossypants

Rose, the main character, is an identical twin to Lily. While they may look alike and share the same DNA, Lily is deemed as "the cool twin" by the most popular girl in school, Jemima.
(*Side note: As a twin, let me just say that this situation happens ALL THE TIME--especially in youth. Labels like "the cool twin", "the evil twin", etc. may feel like you're looking at two people as individuals, but you're still comparing them to each other. It's really detrimental going to bed thinking you're the "unwanted one". Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, lol.)

Naturally, Rose begins to measure her own self-worth by how much affection she receives from Jemima. When Jemima brings up a diet that involves eating one apple a day and nothing else(!!!), Rose decides she is going to follow the diet religiously. As you might imagine, she began losing a lot of weight. It became obsessive for her, because the more weight she lost, the more Jemima welcomed her in. The food Rose didn't eat at dinner was eaten by Lily. As Rose starved, Lily binged. Skinny twin, fat twin.

Diana Clarke wrote a story that, at the surface seems to be about one girl with anorexia, but in reality speaks to the culture in which we, as women, live in. It's impossible not to compare yourself to Rose or Lily (or maybe even Jemima) throughout this book. If you take one thing from this review let it be to add this to your TBR immediately!

Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for this ARC!

The synopsis sounded so intriguing but in the end, this novel about anorexia nervosa left me feeling frustrated. I just couldn't tolerate all the flowery writing. It was nauseating to read. It's like enough with the all the empty, pretentious metaphors! Ugh. For that reason alone, I couldn't connect the twin sisters. Their opinions and feelings felt like an afterthought. Hard pass.

DNF @ 34%

This story of sisters, one in an in-patient facility for anorexia, and one overweight and looking for validation in men, just could not hold my attention. Every character seemed abysmal and I had a feeling it was not going to have a satisfying ending. I most enjoyed the flashbacks to the sisters' childhood but it wasn't enough for me to want to continue.

This book is really something! The twin storyline is really fascinating and so well-done, as is the relationship with Mim. Some portrayals of an eating disorder, I think, work really well; the pro-ana group, for example, as well as the fad diets during middle school. Other aspects didn't work as well; I couldn't believe, for example, someone hiding mashed potatoes in their armpits, or food in a hat. We don't get a lot of sensory or body details in those instances, which creates more distance too. While the ages to separate periods in the narrator's life are fine, I really had a hard time with the weights being listed over and over again. In some ways, this book feels like a textbook on how to have an eating disorder, or at least, how to have a very disordered relationship with your body. It's great to see our narrator begin recovery at the end, and her relationship with Mim and Grace is very heartwarming, but it's a gamble that readers will hang on that long, and that they'll be on the hook to erase all of the disordered eating guidebooks they've just read. Writing about eating disorders is really tricky in that way, so my take is, at least partially, a matter of personal preference; I'm sure some readers would find that revoluntionary. I also had a hard time believing that the mother is so entirely absent, and found it deeply depressing that the father never experiences real joy. I also found it hard to believe that the parents could continue confusing the girls when their weights become so radically different.

This book is heavy in meaning. However it’s a very slow start and hard to get into. I felt like I had to really drag myself to pick up my Kindle but in the end, it was a good book.

“Tʜᴇʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴏ ᴄᴀʟᴏʀɪᴇs, ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs, ɪᴅᴇᴀs, ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ sᴛᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴛᴏᴍᴀᴄʜ.”

Rose and Lily Winters are twins, once inseparable, sharing a frequency ‘that sounded like nothing more than static to others’ until Lily begins to reach for a sun that doesn’t include Rose, longing to be her own person. Rose, no longer a child, is living in a rehabilitation facility for anorexia and managing to still keep Lily tethered to her with her all consuming need. Lily fills herself up with food, nourishment her twin refuses, serving as a distorted mirror. One sister stopped eating, the other started. Both sisters have disorderly eating, but how did they get here? It begins with Rose’s awkwardness and the treason of Lily’s popularity, her quest to refuse the fusion (complete twinship) that Rose needs to feel real. For Lily walks in the light- the smarter, cooler, more outspoken, friendlier twin and Rose is happy to be a creature living in her shadow, so long as she is always along for the ride. Lily loves Rose, but she longs to be different, she hungers to be more than a twin, to have something that is hers alone. When Jemima “Mim” Gates befriends Lily in their youth she is a threat and Rose won’t let her come between them with her popular clique, until Rose learns the fashion of being thin and changes everything.

Through the years, Rose buries secrets she won’t confront within herself by denying her body vital sustenance, a form of self-punishment, though she won’t understand that for a long time to come. Her parent’s marriage crumbles, full of self-denials, and both have tuned out. As the girls come of age, their unhealthy twinship sends them spinning in adulthood. Lily teaches kindergarten when she isn’t fretting over her sister’s health, trying to eat for the two of them, helpless to do anything more. When she falls in love with a married man named Phil, who urges her to put distance between she and Rose, pointing out how disturbingly tangled (co-dependent) they are, Rose is terrified of losing Lily. Worse, he is controlling her- how dare he think he can come between them? Lily is the only family she really has, since their father has fallen apart and their mother has a whole new life. Phil cannot ‘guide’ Lily with Rose’s voice always in her head. It’s for Lily’s own good that he drive a wedge between them.

Lily is done with over-eating, she is yet again abruptly changing her direction in life, throwing Rose’s world into chaos. Phil thinks she looks good now that she is losing weight, and according to Lily, he is just the motivation she needs. Then there is the terror of Lara Bax and YourWeigh that definitely isn’t a diet! It’s a ‘holistic health guide’, one that includes diet bars with zero calories that fill you up! Now it’s Rose’s turn to see her sister unraveling, her flesh disappearing. It gives her a purpose to get out of the facility, but will she be too late to save Lily when she can’t be bothered to rescue herself? What is self-love to someone feasting on indifference? They are both victims and manipulators, expired products of their parents rotten marriage, twins who don’t seem to have enough spiritual nourishment for both to thrive.

This is one of the saddest novels I’ve read, though it’s about the distortion of female bodies, and all the eating disorders that devour women of all ages, it also exposes the darker side of relationships between friends, family and lovers. The imbalance, the way we manipulate loved ones or allow ourselves to be used, abused and don’t know how to let go or change, is disturbing. Rose hurts herself, but in doing so keeps Lily on a leash, always proving her love through worry. It’s destroying them both. Often, we shuck one unhealthy dependency for another and call it something new. Love can be suffocating, bonds can give us roots but they can also keep us in a place that is slowly killing us. Must love be brutal, painful and punishing? It seems so for Lily, and for Rose too.

Things are shaken up when a celebrity enters rehab and forces Rose to remember uncomfortable things about her sexuality. Can a vanishing body still feel desire? Rose is very much a body, it’s been her entire focus and means of control for so long but where has the rest of her gone? The past isn’t done with her, and the very person who started it all (Mim) may well be a part of the end.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would as it takes some dark turns and not everyone finds their salvation. We really do get in the way of the ones we love and can be shamefully selfish. What we do to ourselves, we do to each other. It’s provocative, intense, and engaging. I went away with the thought, “even those of us who think we don’t have an issue with food, likely do”, as I already know it’s an impossibility to be alive without complicated relationships that cost us, or someone else something heavy. Yes, read it!

Publication Date: June 30th 2020

HarperCollins Publishers

Harper