** Thank you NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

Despite being a really short read, Eat and Love Yourself evokes so much sentiment and emotion even after the story ends. The story follows Mindy who struggles with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia, which are impacting her mental health and relationship with others. When she stumbles upon a chocolate bar that brings her back to a memory of her past, she learns to confront her younger self and ultimately learns to love herself.

The graphic novel does a beautiful job at showing Mindy’s character development, portraying her inner monologue and tumultuous thoughts as she struggles with her self-perception. Through each bite back into her past, she gains more self-awareness and understanding.

Full of emotion and heartbreak, the graphic novel brings to light a lot of issues around body image and eating disorders, but ultimately ends on an inspirational note.

Sweeney Boo’s illustrations are on point; the color palette and character design are amazing.

This will definitely join as one of my favorite graphic novels. I definitely would recommend a read. It’s a short read, but heart-felt and inspiring.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boom! Box Paperbacks for providing me an e-arc of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

We follow Mindy, who suffers from bulimia and body dysmorphia. One night on a trip to the convenience store, Mindy discovers a chocolate bar where with every bite, she is taken back to a point in her life as part of her journey to loving herself.

This was such an empowering and necessary story. We live in the time of social media where we're constantly comparing the way we look to what we see online. A lot of people experience body insecurities, which is why I am grateful for Mindy's story and appreciate the ending. Sweeney describes Mindy's feelings and episodes so well and the art does a great job portraying her emotions.

Although I enjoyed the story overall, I did wish it was a bit longer to fully explore all of Mindy's feelings, especially with the relationship with her parents. It was obvious her parents were the cause of a lot of her bad feelings about herself, but it wasn't fully addressed. There was a scene where the issues were brought up, but I was hoping for a little more.

Please pick up this graphic novel on April, 21st for a powerful, heart wrenching story!

TW: Eating disorders
This is a fantastic graphic novel. The artwork is so well done and the colors are absolutely gorgeous. This graphic novel is about Mindy who is living with an eating disorder. She gets a chocolate bar called "Eat and Love Yourself" which allows her to see moments in her past as a observer. She sees some of the most difficult moments in her life that have shaped her into who she is. This is a great work of magical realism that tackles a tough topic.

Good things: the artwork is super cute, the protagonist is a curvy dreamboat, and the message embodied by the title is one I can certainly get behind. Bad things: the story isn't as compelling as I hoped, and the protagonist doesn't go on much of a journey. I was hoping to see a big transformation: how she starts in a place of hating her body, goes through various experiences, then comes out accepting herself (as the title suggests). But for 3/4 of the book, she's stagnating – eating, puking, eating, puking, over and over without changing at all. It got quite samey and I don't know what I was meant to be getting from it. It was nice to see her accepting herself at the end, but it felt pretty sudden and unearned.

This was a comic with some heavy topics which were handled very truthfully and with respect. I think the artwork was absolutely stunning and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it in advance.

The comic follows a story of Mindy, our main character, with bautiful blue hair, cute glasses and curvy figure. The story also features her sidekick, adorable cat. It tells a difficult story of how Mindy sees herself, how she treats herself and her body and what lead to the current situation and how she can battle it.

I definitely think that it was written in a respectful way and it shows that probably the author had some experiences with eating disorder or she did her research very well. It shows the ugly parts of this mental illness and what off handed comments can do to one's mental state.

Despite the fact that I enjoyed the comic very much and in some cases in hit deep thanks to my own struggles in life, I can't say it was perfect for me. I loved the role of her best friend in the story and I thought it very important but I'd love to see a deeper conversation between Mindy and her BFF. Especially later when she comments on Mindy's eating pattern and Mindy stops talking to her and after a while she decides to somewhat explain it, I thought it could have been done in a deeper way. I thought it important to show how we can explain these emotions to our friends and also the other of things, because there are people who don't struggle with it and don't know maybe how to act around their friends who might have these problems. I thought there was a great opportunity to show how to help them, how to be there for them in those moments.

I felt some similar feelings towards the moment with her parents, where Mindy finally reveals her feelings. In my opinions it gave the author another perfect opportunity to show the conversation on a deeper level and in this case it was dealt with very quickly.

Same goes with the climax of the story and the main theme behind all of it, I felt like it was very rushed and sudden. There are pages where we can see the magical chocolate and after each flashback, we can see one piece missing. There are three more I think and suddenly, the climax is there and it caught me unprepared and suddenly it was over. It also felt like it was lacking emotions. Just get it over with - that's what it felt like which was quite underwhelming.

Another thing I didn't understand was the role of the mailman Matt in the story. I felt like he was redundant and could be omitted, perhaps he was in the story just to introduce us to Elliott in one scene in which case I like it even less. Unless, it is supposed to have a sequel in which Matt will have more space.

All in all I do think it's a lovely comic book to spend your afternoon with. It deals with very important topics, it has beautiful art and the coloring is so in sync with the overall mood of each scene.

before i started this i knew it would get too close for comfort, but somehow that didn't turn out to be a bad thing. even though mindy's entire life is not universal, i'm sure everyone can relate to her to some extent, because she felt as real as you and me

i finished this book 30 minutes after picking it up, bawling my eyes out like there was no tomorrow. it started and ended the exact way i wished it would, i wouldn't change a thing (except maybe the diversity in there, but i'll let this one go because i liked it so much).

TW: Depression, Bulimia, Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorders

This was a powerful and realistic story about a girl who deals with her depression and self-hatred by turning to a disordered eating pattern. It is a rather raw story and I in particular related to her body dysmorphia and her depression. I often feel the same as she did in the story like she has no particular purpose and like she is a disappointment to her family. I liked the premise of her eating a candy bar that helps her confront her issues, importantly the issues with her family, which were pretty toxic.
I did not like the ending of the book, however, which is why I feel I can't give this graphic novel the full 5 stars. First, I felt the ending wrapped up much too neatly and quickly for it to be realistic. While Mindy did start to realize that she needed help with her thought patterns and disordered eating towards the end of the story, she had a very convenient reemergence of Elliott into her life and seemed to be "cured" when he validated her body and said that he liked her.

I feel like this is an unhealthy way to end this book, especially for readers who may be struggling with similar issues. I feel like readers need to understand that validation by people is not a cure. Often times, eating disorders and mental illness requires that people get treatment, medicine, and therapy. And that is okay. We didn't see Mindy get any sort of therapy or treatment at the end of the story. We only saw her being "cured" because a man said he likes her body. I don't think that in itself would help her love herself fully, and so the ending left me kind of unconvinced.

In addition, we never see what happens with Mindy's other relationships, especially with her parents, who were very toxic but "only want the best", and with Shae, who could also be toxic at times.

5/5⭐️ for Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Boom! Studios for giving me early access to a digital copy of this graphic novel!

**Trigger Warning: eating disorder (specifically, bulimia) ~ explicit depiction of bingeing and purging of food**

Holy Crap! I freaking loved this graphic novel! I’m already calling it my #1 for 2020, and easily top 5 of all time! It is set in Canada (likely Montreal), and follows Mindy. Mindy has always been on the larger side, never has had a great relationship with food, and has to deal constantly with negative comments re: her body & eating habits. One day, she discovers a chocolate bar that takes her back to specific moments in her life. These moments have formed who she is, but reflecting on these moments and choices may give her the strength to change her life for the better and start healing.

Art Style: 10/10 - colour palette and character design were ON POINT!

Characterization: I loved the emotional journey our MC Mindy takes through this book, and how she grows from beginning to end. Side characters, especially BFF Shae help bring the story to life and convey the message of the story.

*Potentially Spoiler-y*
There is a scene where Mindy does see a psychiatrist to help with her eating disorder, but I think it would have been great to see her also confide in someone else who is a part of her daily life such as a close friend or co-worker. I do not personally suffer from an eating disorder, but some people I talked to say that it can be immensely helpful to have extra people in your corner supporting you. This may be because Mindy is not at a place where she’s ready to do that, but that’s probably the only thing I would add to this book.

Again, thank you so much to Sweeney Boo for creating this beautiful and important graphic novel and I hope this helps a lot of people ❤️

Great character design and movement through the panels. The colours give it a young and vibrant feel.

I read this in one sitting and it had me in my feelings, wow! Let start with complimenting the art style. It was so colorful and so pretty, definitely kept my attention through out the whole book. I will say that this book has trigger warnings for fat shaming, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders so tread cautiously. As a plus size young adultit brings me nothing but joy being able to relate to a character on a personal level. I’m definitely going to be purchasing this for my myself and I highly recommend.

Amazing! I loved this book about body dysmorphia, binging/purging, bulimia, and body/food issues told by Mindy. Seeing her journey and character growth was so inspiring and honest. The flashbacks really helped show who she was and how she got there. I’d love a sequel to see how she’s doing and if she finally chose to love herself and take a chance on love too. Very hopeful book. Thanks Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Well, I didn't need my heart anyway.
This story will impact so many people and I'm really grateful to have read this.

Mindy is a 27 year old girl struggling with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. I don't suffer from neither things so my voice comes just from an outside point of view, but I had experiences with not loving my body, with feeling like nobody would ever love it and accept it, so it totally touched my heart. I can say the author touched these themes with extreme caution and realism.
The struggle of accepting themselves, of even realizing there's something wrong, loving our bodies and moving on from the pain of the past.

HUGE HUGE trigger warning for eating disorder, fat-shaming, bulimia, anorexia, body dysmorphia. If any of these things deeply affect you be cautious. It's extremely graphic and deep into these topics so if it's something that you can't read about, I absolutely advise you to not pick this one up.

Thank you Netgalley and Boom!Studios for the arc!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, especially the art style. The story was also captivating and I would highly recommend this but I just have the feeling like not a whole lot happened. I kind of wish there was a little bit more to this graphic novel. I can't really say what I'm missing though but there's something. But yeah, for the rest I still highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC !
This was my first graphic novel os this genre and I loved it !
It touched my soul and brought back so many memories...
But at the same time it was really good !
The characters were so well drawn and artsy, I loved the quality of it !
The story in itself was as raw as we can get, if you've dealt with something like this you will know what I mean...
It's a good read !
3.5⭐

This book had amazing commentary on what your mind goes through when dealing with an eating disorder. I loved the art style and was very surprised by the fantastical element. This book will be very important to slog of teens an i’m so glad that this will be there for people to relate to and get help from.

As someone who is in recovery for B.E.D., I appreciate this graphic novel and the main character’s journey to start loving and accepting herself for who she is, not who she believes herself to be. I love that the author uses the chocolate bar not only as a vehicle for revisiting the past but also as reminder that food isn’t the enemy. Beautifully illustrated and written!

TW: Depression, Bulimia, Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorders, Fat shaming

This graphic novel deals with several heavy issues in such an interesting way when the main character, Mindy, eats a new chocolate bar that allows her to glimpse back at past moments in her life. Mindy is a very relatable protagonist and watching her deal with her body dysmorphia is hard but also inspiring.

The artwork in this graphic novel is stunning and the purple color palette is stunning. The flashbacks are also designed really well and easy to read.

You can tell that the author understands how it feels to experience shame and depression and handles the topic very respectfully. I would highly recommend this graphic novel!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This comic focused on the main characters eating disorder and body dysmorphia. I felt like it was represented well and the flashback via magic chocolate bar was an interesting twists. In the little amount of time I got a good sense of her relationship with her family and best friend. I also really loved the art style. It was bold, colorful and cute.

[this review is going to be up on my blog, acquadimore.wordpress.com, on May 1st.]

A graphic novel from the PoV of a young woman with an eating disorder as she finds a magical chocolate bar (called "Eat, and Love Yourself") that makes relive some of the moments in her past that defined the negative relationship she has with herself and her body: her well-meaning but insensitive parents, their expectations, the bullying at the hand of her classmates, the many fatphobic comments masked as concern for her health, or concern for her future and relationships in general.
It's emotional and short and... really resonated with me in the way I know sometimes bringing up memories/rereading a diary can be, the way it can help you understand the many small-yet-messed up things that happened to you, what repercussions they still have today even though you didn't truly understand them in the past, and maybe it can even help you have a clearer idea of what to do about them. The hopeful, open ending was just what it needed.
(Also, I loved the cat. More comics need to have cats in them.)

As soon as I read the synopsis of this one I knew it was something I wanted to pick up, but also that it was going to be very hard hitting. It follows Mindy, who has a very hard time with her self image, as she takes a look back at her past and the things that shaped her.

Major trigger warnings for body dysmorphia, bulimia, low self esteem, depression and slight fat shaming. While these can be hard to read about, especially for someone who relates to the main character, they are very important topics that should be talked about more. The artwork style is bright and pops with color in all the right places. Mindy's journey is definitely multi-faceted and I love the touch of magical whimsy included in this story.