This memoir took me by surprise. It was at times challenging to read, the portrait eleven-year-old Evanna Lynch painted of her life. It was haunting, yet beautifully written. The prose was tragically poetic, adventurous, wild, and free-flowing.

I truly appreciated Evanna's attempts to tread lightly while recounting the tales of her disordered eating, a departure from many of the memoirs in the same genre, which are filled with specifics like calorie counting, mentions of diets, and specific weights, and tend to be more road maps to eating disorders, rather than stories of recovery. She was clear in setting this intention from the beginning, saying, "I was determined from the start that this book would not become a ‘how-to’ manual for eating disorders. For this reason, I’ve decided to omit any specific details of weight, calorie counting, and health statistics."

However, Lynch's unflinching story of her eating disorder and how it affected her life was nonetheless still devastating to read about.

There were times the memoir could be triggering, which Lynch was cautious to warn readers of, stating, "I would advise any reader to use their personal discretion when reading this book, and to step away from it if it triggers unhealthy thoughts." Specifically, readers may feel triggered while reading about Lynch's extremely unhealthy BMI, her hospitalizations, and food rituals.

Perhaps what made the book so challenging to read, was because it was very relatable. Evanna and I share our battles with anorexia, which both started around the same age. What started as a "health-kick" for Evanna, was similar to what triggered my eating disorder.

There were parts of the book that brought tears to my eyes, specifically, when admitted to the children's ward at St Kevin’s Hospital, Evanna refuses to eat, commencing a two-day hunger strike. When told she's going to be tube-fed, Lynch agrees to eat on the condition she'll be allowed out of the hospital to pick up the new Harry Potter book, which she's already pre-ordered. Her treatment team agree, on the condition that she meets her target weight. Some time later, eleven-year-old Evanna turns up at Irish bookseller Eason and is given a copy of the book, which she's asked to open up. She does so, and finds J.K. Rowling's signature inside. Evanna decides to write a letter to the acclaimed author, which turns into a long-term pen-pal relationship between the two.

At the age of twelve, she was treated at The Farm, and there she met a young man named Marcus Freed, a drama teacher. Freed encouraged her to follow her dream of being an actress, which led her to sign up at an extras agency. She later auditioned and was awarded the part of Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter, a dream come true for the Irish actress, who resonated with the character ever since reading about her in the books.

When talking of the author of the Harry Potter books, she says, "I continued to send letters to my kind friend Jo, who was also J. K. Rowling, and who consistently handwrote her incredible, wise letters after the relapse, throughout my time at Peaceful Pastures and every few months after that, offering me endless support, empathy and encouragement at every juncture."

To conclude, Evanna Lynch's memoir is unique, breathtaking, and captivating. It's one that will remain in my mind for a long time. I think back to the many books on eating disorders that I've read over the past eighteen years and how unhelpful they've been, sending me further into the depths and darkness of my disordered eating. Lynch's memoir is impactful, in that she was able to convey the reality of her anorexia without relaying too many of the gritty details that these books usually include.