While the conclusions/lessons of "My Body In Pieces* are not new, the way they are expressed are hauntingly beautiful.

In fact, the illustrations and the medium used to tell this story are what really brings the message home. I would highly recommend this book to anyone starting their self love journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this piece in my own self love journey.

3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4 because rating systems have yet to pick up on readers' demand for partial ratings, and I'd rather bump up a book's rating than lower it in these situations.

CW: disordered eating, fatphobia, thoughts of suicide and self harm
My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noelle Hebert is a graphic novel memoir about the author's recovery from struggles with her weight, body image, and disordered eating.

I think this book carries a very important message. There is still a proliferation of diet culture and many people are still affected by unrealistic beauty standards and pressures and developing mental illnesses and/or dangerous habits as a result of this exposure, even if we are seeing more "body positivity" or "self love" posts on social media and a push for more diverse, realistic, and less photoshopped marketing. Although I don't read many graphic novels, I love that art was the medium Hebert chose to tell her story through---it can be difficult to put such complex or painful feelings and experiences into words, or sometimes words alone aren't enough to capture it. And this is where art can maybe elaborate better. There are a few different art styles/presentations here, but I found that the scenes drawn very realistically, almost like a photograph, were the most compelling to me artistically-speaking.

I also liked how the author addressed how it affected not just her self esteem and self concept, but her relationships with other people and how important being honest and vulnerable with others, but also having a support system, is to recovery and healing.

I personally found the back-and-forth between her childhood and development of her obsession with weight, and her process of moving towards recovery as an adult felt disjointed and occasionally confusing navigating the sharp transitions, and it wasn't always clear why she chose to flashback or forward in that moment. However, I also am not usually a huge fan of nonlinear timelines, so this aspect could simply be a matter of personal taste vs authorial and artistic choice.

My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert is a wonderfully written graphic novel! I loved reading this and seeing another perspective on mental illness regarding body image. This was such a relatable story and reminded me of Lighter than My Shadow by Katie Green. The art style in this graphic novel was not my favorite, but it did not distract from the story. Great read!

Title: My Body in Pieces

Author: Marie-Noëlle Hébert

Genre: graphic novel

PopSugar Reading Challenge Prompt: A book that discusses body positivity

Thank you NetGalley for this book!

This book is absolutely beautiful. Not only are Marie-Noëlle’s honesty and realizations important to convey, but her illustrations are absolutely phenomenal. They are in black and white, so I was able to read it on my e-ink Kindle, but I also read it again on my phone to see just how dynamic the illustrations would look. I definitely recommend reading on a full-color tablet. The shades of gray and small details are so dynamic.

From Goodreads: All Marie-Noëlle wants is to be thin and beautiful. She wishes that her thighs were slimmer, that her stomach lay flatter. Maybe then her parents wouldn’t make fun of her eating habits at family dinners, the girls at school wouldn’t call her ugly, and the boy she likes would ask her out. This all-too-relatable memoir follows Marie-Noëlle from childhood to her twenties, as she navigates what it means to be born into a body that doesn’t fall within society’s beauty standards.

When, as a young teen, Marie-Noëlle begins a fitness regime in an effort to change her body, her obsession with her weight and size only grows and she begins having suicidal thoughts. Fortunately for Marie-Noëlle, a friend points her in the direction of therapy, and slowly, she begins to realize that she doesn’t need the approval of others to feel whole.

Marie-Noëlle Hébert’s debut graphic memoir is visually stunning and drawn entirely in graphite pencil, depicting a deeply personal and emotional journey that encourages us to all be ourselves without apology.

There isn’t a lot of text to this graphic novel, but that’s okay. As Marie-Noëlle discusses her image of herself, the few words and detailed illustrations work together well. When I downloaded the book from NetGalley, I had no idea it was a graphic novel, but I loved everything about this book. I highly recommend this one.

I think this was the first memoir I have read. It was written incredibly well. The author did such a good job telling her story and letting other people know they aren’t alone.

CW- eating disorders, fat phobia, suicide
-
My Body in Pieces is a graphic memoir that follows Marie-Noëlle as she struggles with body’s image and finding her place.
-
This is a heavy graphic memoir. The art style is in a grayscale, adding to the overall feel of the book. It was heartbreaking and you can tell the author spent a lot of time on the art.
-
I would recommend this for those who are looking for a heavier read. There is a lot of triggering material, so stay safe.
-
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This memoir really hit a chord with me. While I didn't have this same exact experience, much of what Marie-Noëlle Hébert describes in her own life is something I can relate to. This is a difficult topic to talk about, especially when it is your own experience and I believe that Hébert did a beautiful job in telling her story and making someone who had similar thoughts about her own body feel comfort in knowing that she wasn't alone. Having it written as a graphic novel was an interesting way to approach this topic, but I think it worked really well; the images made it more approachable and relatable.

I definitely plan to recommend this memoir!

TW: Eating Disorders, Suicide, Fatphobia, Fat/Body Shaming

This is a graphic memoir about the life of Marie-Noëlle. Marie-Noëlle wants to be thin and beautiful. She struggles with her weight, becomes obsessed with weight and begins to have suicidal thoughts.

My heart broke reading her story. She has to deal with bullies and her family’s teasing about her weight. She has an amazing friend who suggests she tries therapy. With the the help of her therapist, Marie-Noëlle gets the help she needs and her confidence grows.

The illustrations in this graphic memoir are amazing. I love that most of the illustrations are in black and white.

*Thank you NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*

My Body in Pieces by Marie- Noëlle ARC Review

I was asked by the author to give her book an honest review in exchange for the ARC.

Synopsis:

All Marie-Noëlle wants is to be thin and beautiful. She wishes that her thighs were slimmer, that her stomach lay flatter. Maybe then her parents wouldn’t make fun of her eating habits at family dinners, the girls at school wouldn’t call her ugly, and the boy she likes would ask her out. This all-too-relatable memoir follows Marie-Noëlle from childhood to her twenties, as she navigates what it means to be born into a body that doesn’t fall within society’s beauty standards.
When, as a young teen, Marie-Noëlle begins a fitness regime in an effort to change her body, her obsession with her weight and size only grows and she begins having suicidal thoughts. Fortunately for Marie-Noëlle, a friend points her in the direction of therapy, and slowly, she begins to realize that she doesn’t need the approval of others to feel whole.
Marie-Noëlle Hébert’s debut graphic memoir is visually stunning and drawn entirely in graphite pencil, depicting a deeply personal and emotional journey that encourages us to all be ourselves without apology.

‘Each day I focus on finding fault with my body, one piece at a time.
I’m good at it.’

I know I’ve definitely been there. I still do this. I always focus on finding my faults and not enough time focusing on positive self attributes.

‘No more fading into the background. Free myself from the expectation of an ideal body image by becoming stronger, more complete. Be myself. And stop making the mistake of apologizing for it.’

I love the artwork in this book!

Release Date- April 6, 2021

4/5 Stars!

TW: Eating disorders, fatphobia, suicide

Based on the author’s own experience, this graphic novel uses an evocative art style to explore one girl’s experience of fatphobia, disordered eating and body image. Fat folks are tragically underrepresented, especially in relation to eating disorders, so this book is an important addition. Through flashbacks Body in Pieces shows the detrimental effects of weight stigma on children, looking at all the seemingly small moments that had a large impact on Hébert’s relationship to her body. Although we unfortunately do not get to know much about Hébert outside of her body image struggles, the book ultimately offers a hopeful conclusion that Hébert will be able to break this cycle and heal.