Thank you to NetGalley who approved my request to read this comic and to BOOM! Box who provided a digital copy. I adore the cover because it focuses on Mindy and it has some of my favorite colors!

I really have to get used to comics again and how short they are. The pace of this comic was good. We’re introduced to Mindy at a concert she went to with her friend, Shae. Immediately we get a sense of who Mindy is. She isn’t the sociable type compared to her friend. She tries to have fun, but her insecurities get the best of her. Shae wants her to enjoy the concert, and that’s when she bumps into Elliot, someone she went to high school with. Their interaction is brief. Mindy doesn’t realize how nervous Elliot is. I noticed throughout the book, the people Mindy is around—they love and care for her. They don’t care about her size or what she eats. They care about her personality and must love her shocking blue hair as much as I do! 

That really contrasted with her past. The people she had chosen to surround herself compared to when she was younger. We’re introduced to her past when she buys the chocolate bar. Not going to lie, I want that chocolate bar. To relive my memories or find something in there to love about myself. That’s exactly what Mindy experiences when she’s taken to her home where her parents talk about her weight. Present Mindy is a ‘ghost’ and watches silently. It’s heartbreaking at first to see your own parents and hear them talk about you that way. 

Yet as pieces of the chocolate bar go by, she sees herself the way people in her present life do. She encourages her past self, and that motivates her present self. She sees Elliot once again and gives him a chance. 

It’s a beautiful story with amazing illustrations. I love the colors and contrast from past and present. This was short and sweet. Yet I hope to have a physical copy of my own one day. This comic somehow really hit home. For all its radiating positivity, I had to give it four out of five stars!

This book provides a harrowing look into the distraught mind of a beautiful woman. It lays bare the people, moments, and inner demons that tear her body image down bit by bit. Seeing her make changes and struggle to learn about herself through a magic chocolate bar is sad and fulfilling in how she uses the knowledge. I wish every teen could read it, to see themselves in the girl, or the friend who doesn’t realize her casual tear downs, or anyone else to see hw much s going on I’m the heart and mind of another..

This story follows Mindy as she copes with having an eating disorder and comes to terms with some issues from her past. Whenever she eats a chocolate bar named "Eat and Love Yourself" she is transported back to a moment in her past. Reliving these moments gives her insight into her struggles.
I was able to relate to Mindy. I have struggled with body image and find it difficult not to overeat. However, the story seemed scattered, and the ending was abrupt. I would have liked to see more plot and character development.

Eat, and Love Yourself
by Sweeney Boo
Rating: 4/5 stars
I received an eARC via NetGalley from BOOM! Box in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings: eating disorders; body dysmorphia; mental health concerns - depression and anxiety

Eat, and Love Yourself follows Mindy - a young woman struggling with an eating disorder and how it effects her overall personal identity. The story opens with Mindy spending time at a dance club with her best friend, Shae. Later that night, Mindy goes on a snack run to a local convenience store where a peculiar bar of chocolate catches her eye. It is this bar of chocolate, which promises to be "the chocolate that will change your life", that serves as the catalyst for the rest of Mindy's story. As she eats portions of the chocolate bar, Mindy is encouraged to reflect on her past life experiences which have played roles in how she lives with her eating disorder.

I found Mindy's story to be incredibly personal and thought provoking. The way Mindy's eating disorder, body dysmorphia, and depression are written and illustrated are equally beautiful and painfully raw. The dialogue and artwork complement each other wonderfully. This graphic novel presents one of the most honest takes on eating disorders and accompanying mental health issues I have had the pleasure of encountering in young adult literature. My only issue with this book is that I wanted more - more background story, more commentary on Mindy's relationships with her friends and family, and more about how Mindy intends to confront her demons moving forward.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Eat, and Love Yourself. Mindy's story sends important messages about body image and, of course, learning to love yourself - flaws and all. I recommend this book to anyone in the mood for a heartwarming, contemporary graphic novel.

This Graphic novel is absolutely amazing!
I loved from the beginning to the end. It is so beautiful, I really love the artwork!
In addition, the message of this Graphic novel is so important. Everyone should read it.
I adored this novel for its message, and also for its amazing artwork.
Thank you so much! ♡

German:
Diese Graphic novel ist absolut unglaublich! Ich liebe sie!
Die Zeichnungen sind wunderschön und atemberaubend. Außerdem hat sie eine so wichtige Message, die jeder lesen sollte. Ich finde es einfach nur wunderschön und kann die graphic novel nur empfehlen! Es lässt sich gut lesen und auch mit wenig Englischkenntnissen verstehen.
Ich liebe die Message und die wunderschöne Kunst. Es wurde mit so viel Liebe zum Detail gestaltet. Fantastisch! ♡

Ultimately, a story about self-love but incomplete. Mindy is a complex character with an eating-disorder that stems from her parents but continues into her close friendships.

While Sweeney took the time to help readers understand where Mindy's struggle began and how it was affecting her life, there were a lot of gaps in the plot where more time could be spent explain the dynamic between characters. I wasn't expecting a clean and polished ending, and what we get is a realistic representation of how it takes time to heal.

The message gets across clear but is a slow build. While Mindy is 25, the story could be enjoyed among a wide range of readers.

What is this about?
Mindy is a young barista, who is a binge eater. Her life is stuck/ stopped and when she pics up a chocolate called Eat, and Love Yourself, and takes a bite, she begins to relive parts of her past, and begins to understand exactly why she is the way she is.

What else is this about?
Eat and Love Yourself is a gorgeous coming that takes readers on Mindy’s journey of self-discovery and her start to understanding her past and her body dysmorphia. This is a story that tackles a big topic in a way that is incredibly understandable.

Eat, and Love Yourself is a little gem of a graphic novel.

It’s Mindy’s story; she is an overweight barista, who feels a stuck in a rut, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. Life is a cycle of work, sleep and binge, before she throws up her junk food.

Mindy would call herself fat, given the way she art depicts her pinching the fat on her belly. The first time I saw her, I thought she was gorgeous, and voluptuous, but isn’t that the word people use to avoid calling women fat? I liked Mindy; I can see myself in her. I’ve been doing it this past couple of weeks — snacking incessantly bc I am worried about something or the other, and regretting it later and wondering why on earth I needed that snack when I wasn’t exactly hungry.

Mindy though has deeper issues to deal with; issues that stem from her childhood, and that’s when the Eat and Love Yourself chocolate come in. Set in an innocuous display at her local grocery store, she buys it. But when she eats it, she is transported to memories of her childhood, when her father berated her for being late to everything, or letting her know she could afford to miss a meal here and there. Her mother, while good natured, never really defended her.

Things like that build such insecurities, flip comments that the speaker doesn’t really think about — but the person listening takes in. Comments like that matter like Mindy discovers, recalling too the psychiatrist she talked to and diagnosed her with body dysmorphia.

There’s a romance floating around in the background of this story, but this story is about Mindy acknowledging she has to work on herself before she can do anything else with anyone else.

There’s beauty in this story, in the way that Mindy begins to understand herself better, and begins to stand up for herself. I know there are plenty of moments I would have liked that sort of understanding myself.

Go get Eat, and Love Yourself — go share it with a young woman or man in your life you think might need it. And even if they don’t, give it to them anyway — these are the stories young readers need to see.

Mindy is thick, fluffy, or chubby depending on your culture. But she is definitely not feeling the motto Eat, and Love Yourself. However, when she finds a chocolate bar labeled like that, she hopefully tries it with eye-opening results.

Eating disorders and bad self-esteem are serious and this book handles them responsively. Anyone who wasn’t popular knows that middle school and high school are a challenge just to power through. But once at college or working, everything seems so much better. Still school, and life in general, would be so much better with a chocolate bar that prevents hunger.

While this is an empowering story, I’m not sure how entertaining it is. It feels like a public service announcement. However, if you or someone you know has self-esteem issues over their weight, Eat, and Love Yourself might be the perfect read. For me, it came off as too preachy. 3 stars.

Thanks to BOOM! Studios and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Eat, and Love Yourself ***REVIEW***

Meet Mindy, she’s a young woman who has lived for a long time with an eating disorder and would like to have the ‘perfect body’. She struggles with relationships with food and with her parents to an extent, as a lot of her issues have come from comments from them as she has grown up.
She goes to a convenience store for a late night snack one night and finds a new chocolate range: “Eat, and Love Yourself”, thinking nothing of it she buys one. UEach time she has a bite of it she is thrown back to certain aspects of her life that have influenced her relationship with food. Can she use these to find herself and her self worth?
I am not a big Graphic Novel reader but I fell in love with this. It is beautifully written and the artwork was beautiful too. There will be so many people who relate to Mindy and her story and could open up others eyes to how their comments affect the people around them.
The story would have been better for me if it was longer. I wanted so much more, I really hope there will be a series!
As mentioned Mindy has an eating disorder. It also looks at body dysmorphia and touches on depression and the way eating food makes us think that we feel better.
I felt the story was especially strong in the way it was all portrayed through Mindy and her personal growth. The subject is a hard one to tackle but it was dealt with so well. I especially liked the way it showed the comments made by friends and family that are not meant to be mean,can come across otherwise if you are in a bad place with food and/or have an eating disorder. These comments can send you into a spiral and take actions like making yourself be sick; it definitely made me realise how the things we say even when they come from a place of love or jest can have the biggest affect on someones mental health. I was captivated by the artistic style. It is aesthetic and powerful and I genuinely think that Mindy is a gorgeous person.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I think it will be a story I will come back to again and again. If you are a YA fan or a graphic novel fan or even someone who has lived with an eating disorder, I urge you to read this and know that you are worthy and your body does not define you.
“Body dysmorphia keeps us from seeing ourselves as we actually are...but you do have the power to fight it.”
Thank you NetGalley for a proof of this in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the synopsis of this graphic novel, I just knew I needed to get my hands on it. I was so happy when NetGalley sent it my way and absolutely could not wait to dive into this story.

Eat, and Love Yourself was a graphic novel I easily finished in one sitting as it captured my attention the entire time. The artwork was so beautifully done and I loved and appreciated the message the story delivered so incredibly much.

*Many thank yous to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for providing me with an eARC!*

[Full review is also available on my blog, whiterosestories.com]

Read in one sitting. Tastefully done, endearing story about eating disorder and outside influences. I loved Mindy and would love to read more of her story, though I'm guessing this won't be a series. A wonderful graphic novel.

This graphic novel is a love story to anyone who has ever needed help. Mindy is a girl living with an eating disorder that feels like just another part of her life. One day her life changes when she buys a diet chocolate bar that promises if you eat it, you will love yourself. What follows is a journey of acceptance and self love that we can all learn from. This graphic novel tackles a very real and very difficult topic and makes the reader feel and understand the pain and anxiety our heroine goes through. Wonderful and Powerful.

This is a lovely read. If only it were possible- to be able to look back in time, and examine past events in the hope of them being able to fix current problems. Mindy has an eating disorder which affects every part of her life. One evening she buys a chocolate bar, one she'd never previously seen, called Eat and Love Yourself. With each bite that she takes of this sweet treat, she is transported back to an event of her life and she begins to view them in a different, healthier manner, learning to appreciate what she is and what she had, altering her self esteem and self image slowly but for the better. This is an important book, one that young people need to read. I enjoyed it and found it be very meaningful. I give it 4 stars.

A beautiful message of love... of self-love.

The illustrations in this comic are very pretty and the author's line is very lively.

This comic tells the story of Mindy who suffers from an eating disorder and who no longer loves himself at all. Thanks to a strange bar of chocolate allowing her to plunge back into her adolescence (the period when her disorder began), she will gradually accept herself and accept the love of others.

The message is beautiful, the design's superb, in short, it's a great success! ^^

What a quick and great graphic novel! Mindy struggles with her body image and it defines everything she does throughout life. With the "Love Yourself" chocolate bar she purchased at the grocery store, she is able to relive her past when she takes a bite. She sees herself dealing with her family, school and friends and how much her body affected her everyday life. This was such a relatable read and I enjoyed every page - especially the color scheme!!

Mindy has an eating disorder and depression. She struggles with going out with her friends and dealing with family. She discovers a new chocolate bar called “Eat and Love Yourself.” It is supposed to bring back childhood memories of eating chocolate. When Mindy tries it, she has flashbacks to pivotal moments in her life when she developed her negative body image and her eating disorder. Now, Mindy can see how her eating disorder has affected her throughout her life.

This graphic novel shows what it’s like to have an eating disorder. Even though Mindy may not have realized at the time, there were some moments in her childhood that influenced her eating disorder. There were comments by her parents and classmates about her weight that formed her body image.

Mindy was constantly given mixed signals, which also influenced her negative body image. Her parents wanted her to eat with them, but if she ate too much, they would tell her she would get fat. Her friends wanted her to get a boyfriend, but told her to watch what she ate when she started dating a boy. There are so many mixed signals that girls are given, which can contribute to a complicated image of yourself.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel.

Thank you BOOM! Box for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up the graphic novel Eat, And Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo. But as I flipped from page to page, I found that the story resonated with me quite a bit. (It actually resonated with me too much at times.) Since I'm a young woman who has always struggled with confidence and body issues because of society's expectations, Sweeney Boo's graphic novel was a bit difficult to read at times. Despite this, though, I read it all in one sitting.

The story in this graphic novel has a lot to do with introspection. There's definitely an overarching plot, it just didn't really take centre stage for me. Unless you consider Mindy analyzing and overcoming things that have happened to her in the past to be the plot. That works too! I really enjoyed Sweeney Boo's drawing style as well as the colour palette she selected for this graphic novel (the interior definitely matches the cover, which is always something I appreciate). Overall, I did enjoy this comic even though it made me cry!

The cover is what pulled me in at first and then the synopsis made me want to read it even more. I love the colors together on the cover. I loved the little compliments on the chocolate bars. My body is similar to the main character in this graphic novel. I relate so much to the main character in this. This graphic novel means so much to me. This made me feel so much in my soul and body.

I found this comic about a woman's eating disorder a very melancholy read with a slightly abrupt ending. The art and colouring was attractive, but I felt the story was slow to start and I would have liked to see it continue more into her recovery journey, though it was effective at showing her the protagonist's parents' fatphobia had influenced her longstanding difficulties with eating and weight.

This graphic novel, which was a Kickstarter project, digs deep into the narrative of not being "enough," focusing on 27yo Mindy's history of insecurities and journey of regaining self-appreciation. I thought it was thoughtful and careful how the author approached highly sensitive topics such as eating disorder and body dysmorphia, not disregarding the complex factors that contribute to the character's mental state. There are other areas that can come across problematic, but to me, it resonates as something advantageous to the MC's development. Also thankful that it ended on a Hopeful note. Encouraging hope is of 100% importance.