Thin Deep by Sarah Mackie is a raw and heartfelt memoir that offers an intimate, first-person account of her battle with anorexia and bulimia. This powerful narrative not only captures the deeply personal experience of living with eating disorders but also provides a unique perspective on the connection between physical illness and emotional trauma.

What sets Thin Deep apart is Mackie’s ability to intertwine her personal struggles with insights. The book emphasises the undeniable connection between mind, body, and soul in the healing process.

The journey through Thin Deep is both harrowing and hopeful, taking readers through the daily struggles of living with anorexia, the torment of bulimia, and the murky in-between. Mackie invites readers to explore the depths of these disorders and the emotional trauma that fuels them, ultimately guiding them toward the healing power of self-reflection and inner strength.

For anyone seeking a memoir that offers a candid and gritty look at eating disorders with the added benefit of spiritual guidance, Thin Deep is a must-read. It provides a sense of hope for those grappling with similar struggles, showing that recovery is possible when we turn inward and address the root of our pain.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cherish Editions, and Literally PR Ltd. for providing me with an e-book copy of Thin Deep in exchange for my honest review.

A look into someone who values inner work.
I am glad she acknowledges her privilege and unique situation in which she was able to basically have an "eat pray love" moment after eating delicious pad thai.

It teeters between hopeful and also just a seemingly unrealistic way of beating these deadly mental illnesses in my opinion.

She does say these things are what helps her and she warns she is no expert so I appreciate that.

Trigger warning: Discussion of anorexia and bulimia below

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, which was published on 8 August. It's the story of the author's struggle with anorexia and bulimia, and her complete recovery from both conditions.

It's a short book (115 pages), but very effective. Mackie explains how she progressed from being a normal teenage girl – trying a diet, then giving up after a few days – to one whose eating and exercise became progressively more disordered. (This is actually typical: she cites one study that found "35% of 'normal dieters' progress to pathological dieting. Of these, 20-25% progress to partial or full syndrome eating disorders.")

Mackie is more concerned with the psychological and behavioural effect of eating disorders than in-your-face descriptions of their physical effects. She describes a typical day under the sway of "Ana" and "Betty". Her description of what it's like to binge eat felt particularly intense – I felt like I was able to sense her panic and need to eat.

The author has researched the scientific and psychological studies of eating disorders, and she weaves this into her narrative effectively. She gives a concise, clear description of the physiology that keeps a binge going, for example, and she explains how mindfulness changes the brain. I thought her descriptions were simple enough that most people would be able to understand them easily while still remaining grounded in science.

What really sets this memoir apart from other works on eating disorders, however, is her description of how she recovered, and how her experiences can be used to help others. There's a chapter on how basic principles of mindfulness can be applied to eating disorder recovery, another on how to "hack" the anorexic brain (her description), and a final chapter on the role of yoga in her recovery.

I would really recommend this to anyone who is struggling with an eating disorder, or anyone who knows someone who is. It's also a very well-written and well-structured memoir and of interest to anyone who wants insight into conditions that can seem puzzling to the outsider.

This was a raw and honest book that allowed me to feel ans empathize with the writter. It was sad but informative and I would encourage others to read it to expand their knowledge. The mindfull exercises were a great addition and I have incorporated them into my day too. Thank you

As a young adult, Mackie fell headlong into an eating disorder. Anorexia became bulimia became a vicious cycle of eating and not eating that would last years. "Thin Deep" is her story of disorder and finding her way out of it, largely through yoga and variations on CBT.

If I could read only one genre for the rest of my life it might well be memoir (though the idea of giving up lit fic and general nonfiction and so on gives me shivers). Memoir is learning from experiences that are not my own, and also seeing what people with whom I share experiences did differently, and how they chose to frame those experiences. Mackie's story must have been a difficult one to write, and I'm glad she reached a place where she can explore her experience and put words to it.

Generally speaking, this would have benefitted from a few rounds more editing and a good copy editor. Cherish Edition is a self-publisher, and it's not fair to compare a self-published book to something traditionally published (a traditional publisher will often have more resources than an individual author to apply to a book and will *definitely* have more incentive than a self-publisher to make a book as polished as it can be). I've read some amazing self-published books, but it's worth bearing the context in mind when reading (or deciding whether or not to read) a self-published book. (Note that I received a review copy, so it's possible that updates have since been made; however, the review copy was offered after the publication date, and in that case I generally assume it's the final version.) I didn't mind the typos so much ("I kept a personal dairy", loc. 36—actually, didn't Marie Antoinette keep a private dairy so that she could play at working with her hands?), but there are a couple of things that give me pause and would make me reluctant to recommend this to readers who struggle or have struggled with an eating disorder.

Most eating disorder literature has moved away from including specific numbers and details under the understanding that they can be damaging or triggering to some readers. Mackie doesn't note weight, but she walks a (sorry) thin line of how much detail to include, and I think the calorie counts and occasional BMI and exercise details fall solidly in the "could've edited this out" category. Mackie also says some things in the introduction that put me on my guard for pretty much the rest of the book—insinuating that recovery weight gain beyond a certain (thin) point is unhealthy and unattractive. She doesn't return to this in the main portion of the book, and in fact says of yoga that "surrounding myself in an environment that didn't judge, that didn't care if my stomach was flat or if my arse was curvy, was so liberating" (loc. 1493), but I think I'd been waiting for the other shoe to fall for so much of the book that I was just left thinking that it wouldn't be a good fit for somebody who picked up the book early in recovery, having gained weight—no matter how much or how little—and feeling uncomfortable with it.

Your mileage might vary. Mackie is passionate about yoga, and I appreciate that she is very clear that you don't have to be a toned Instagram guru who can, I don't know, hold bakasana for twenty minutes at a time and then roll into ganda bherundasana before finishing with ten minutes of astavakrasana (I don't do yoga at all and Googled "hardest yoga poses" to find those, so if that sentence doesn't make sense it is squarely on me); that you can get the mental and physical benefits at any level. It's not a book I'm likely to return to, but it might make a good read for those who trust themselves and their trigger limits and are looking to work some yoga and mindfulness into their routine.

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

Good read, interesting and enlightening story with upbeat messages. It was somewhat superficial and rushed, but very good.

An excellent account of one woman's struggles and healing with Anorexia. Mackie's authentic writing naturally drew me to her words. The story is detailed and brave. I enjoyed it and found it to be something I think many people need to read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This memoir of living with and overcoming an eating disorder is written well. It seems that once the author begins traveling to Asia and meeting new people plus engaging in yoga and meditation, she begins to loosen her grip from anorexia and bulimia.

Once back home it becomes more difficult to maintain the peace and serenity. I do not see much of her struggle- if there is one- beyond the lessons learned in her travels.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.