Paperweight by Meg Haston

Whilst reading this book I had the exquisite privilege of joining an anorexia nervosa sufferer and survivor on their journey to recovery. Haston's way of writing makes the sufferings of her characters seem real and brutal which makes for an interesting read.

The story centres in around Stevie, a young bulimia sufferer, who undergoes the terrible struggle of losing someone you love and paying the ultimate price for it. Horrifically enough however, it is a price that she brings upon herself, spiraling deeper and deeper in a whirlpool of guilt and denial.

Stevie goes from being a particularly normal teenager to getting sucked into seedy bars and binge drinking where she meets Eden, a hypnotic and dangerous girl who brings Stevie and her beloved brother Josh under her spell.

What made this story special is that with every chapter you get a little more insight into who the character is and how they go to where they are. If you consider the story a little boring at first, stick with it, because the story gets as warped as the mental disease itself.

As she resists the pull of her treatment and her shrink (cleverly nicknamed Shrink), Stevie reflects on her life up until her brother's untimely death in a car accident. Things start to boil between her and Eden and what Stevie thought was an ideal friendship evolves into something deeper.

Overall this novel was definitely a unique experience to read and it made me think a little deeper about life and those most affected by it's twists and turns. If a book that makes you think twice is what interests you, then this is most certainly a book worth your time.

4 out of 5 stars.