This book was SO emotional for me because I also went through a couple of the same things that the author went through. I am not the biggest fan of poetry, but this book was amazing and I had trouble putting it down at points. I normally don't give reviews for memoirs/(auto)biographies because I don't like 'rating' someone's life experiences, however, this book was just so good, I had to review it and post about it. Although if you have trouble reading about some heavier topics, look up the trigger warnings before reading this book because they are EVERYWHERE, but that's why I loved it so much. It made the book much more relatable.

Not many books make me cry, but this one had me bawling at certain moments. This book will be a valuable addition for young readers.

Here we have a quick-reading memoir in verse and ink sketch that recalls being: the child of an alcoholic, a desperately seeking adolescent girl, and an eating-disordered wannabe city slicker.

Crompton's memoir in verse is a solid new adult title that deals with eating disorders, mental illness, parental alcoholism, and sexual assault. I think each topic is handled with care, especially the scenes depicting Crompton's father's addiction. The level of detail in the scenes make this more new adult, as much of Crompton's story takes place during her college-aged years in New York. I think the ending was a little rushed, and doesn't really depict the work Crompton had to put in to work through her eating disorder.

"The Denim Diaries" makes for a coming-of-age story in verse and in sketches, ranging from small-town Pennsylvania to the hustle and bustle of New York in the 70s and 80s. Between a discordant home life and body dissatisfaction, she had more than enough to deal with, and she chronicles years of ups and downs, fitting herself into the skintight-have-to-be-done-up-with-a-clothes-hanger jeans of the pre-stretchy sort, seeing her mother struggle to keep the family afloat while her father's alcoholism ebbed and (mostly) flowed, and on it goes.

The book covers a fairly extended time period—this isn't a story that can be wrapped up simply in a few months or a year; rather, Crompton describes a very up-and-down journey that took a long time to settle. For the most part it manages to avoid feeling repetitive, and generally speaking I much appreciate books that show the longer haul of struggle—better that than an emphasis on the difficulty and then a skip to the end, everything's fine now.

The sketches are more than an afterthought here: perhaps half of the pages include quick drawings similar to the ones on the cover. They don't expand on the details in the text, but they give the book a distinct flavor and texture, and although the style isn't usually one that I'm drawn to, I found myself looking forward to seeing what parts would be illustrated. Although the text is appropriate for both adults and teens, I can also see the drawings adding to the appeal for a teen audience in particular.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Laurie is an insecure teen with an alcoholic parent, an eating disorder, and dreams of living in the big city. Her youth is consumed with getting as skinny as possible and finding a way from her small Pennsylvania town to the bright lights of New York City. "The Denim Diaries" blends Laurie Boyle Crompton's poetic storytelling with nostalgic sketches that paint a young girl's coming of age. The book doesn't just address Laurie's correlation with her eating disorder, dysfunctional home, and influence of supermodel/pop culture norms; it interrogates it without bias. Sometimes, her testimony is cringe-worthy, pitiful, and/or heartbreaking. But, it's consistently rooted in amplifying the human experience that's wired on emotion, understanding, and capacity. Laurie's background and privileges are super-white. Because of this, "The Denim Diaries" lacks a level of culture and texture that would have otherwise correlated with Black and Brown marginalized genders. Still, it's worth using as a reference for disordered eating and feminist theory.



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5862232997

I adore book long poems and Crompton's beautiful memoir is just that. I found the focus on her eating disorder and issues of a drunk father and divorced family good. She illustrated them well with strong word choice. While some might not like the uneven time given to different periods I didn't find it too bad as the time spent in high school is important to lead up to her issues in New York. It makes sense then that it gets heavier page-time even if chronologically they should be more equal. That being said I did wish the epilogue was a big longer. It's good but it isn't very long. It doesn't need to be but I did wish there was some more of what she did after.
The poems don't have much over the top poetic techniques but they don't need to. Its meant to be diary-like and the plainer prose works for that. It only makes the poetic techniques that are used stand out more.

This is a very raw real encounter with eating disorders and self-worth. This young ladies' journey through the world of eating disorders shows the very unglamorous life that goes with it.

I really enjoy reading memoirs and this one didn't disappoint! I liked Crompton's writing style as it felt natural with a lot of flow - it felt like I was listening to someone tell me a story rather than read a book, if that even makes sense. Some parts felt a little slow, but you can only control so much when you're writing about your own real life. So much of it was heartbreaking and an accurate look at what women struggle with as far as hardships and insecurities. I got a real sense of sisterhood and companionship from this one and feel it would make a good book club pick as a lot of the topics and life events are ones many others can connect with, as sad as they are. This is a great pick for a relaxing read when you want to feel heard and understood.

This was so beautifully written. I loved the writing style. You can tell Laurie put her heart in this book. To see how even though back then is almost the same as today is just sad. For what us women deal with and go through on a daily basis. We deal with a lot. And this book was very inspiring. And I hope others learn from this story.