Paperweight

By: Meg Haston

Narrated by: Mandy Siegfried

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert.

Life in the center is regimented and intrusive, a nightmare come true. Nurses and therapists watch Stevie at mealtime, accompany her to the bathroom, and challenge her to eat the foods she's worked so hard to avoid.

Her dad has signed her up for 60 days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn't plan to stay that long. There are only 27 days until the anniversary of her brother Josh's death - the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only 27 days until she, too, will end her life.

©2014 Meg Haston and Alloy Entertainment (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Difficult to Follow

The book has a lot of flashbacks, which makes it hard to follow. The storyline is not linear and was frustrating because the details weren't always relevant and it was hard to follow if what was being said was in the past or the present. the story itself was decent but the way it was written left a lot to be desired for me.

couldn't finish

I read reviews complaining about the random fake country accent but I thought "how bad can it really be"... but it made it really difficult to listen to... I couldn't even finish it!

Absolutely Heartwarming, Real & Honest

Paperweight was absolutely one touching book. An amazing perfectly written story. About honesty, pain and love. About confusion, learning the most amazing thing of all... Learning how to live life again. This was such a touching book. The author wrote this wonderfully touching story, about such a very real issue that many many young girls suffer from. This is one of the types of books that while you are listening you can picture it in your minds eye!
I absolutely recommend this book, I will probably listen to it again!

Uneven

Grade: C-

Stevie, a new patient at an eating disorders clinic, plans to commit suicide on the one-year anniversary of her brother's death.

PAPERWEIGHT is composed of Stevie's journal entries chronicling her arrival at the clinic throughout her first several weeks. Meg Haston gave Stevie an bright, teen voice, often unlikable and unsympathetic. The writing was the best part of the story.

Hello clichés:
-reluctant, angry patient
-feels responsible for dead friend/relative
-refuses to cooperate with treatment

I won't list any more clichés, to avoid spoiling readers, but will say there is nothing unique or different about PAPERWEIGHT and the ending is predictable.

I'm not sure what kind of research Haston did when writing the novel, but I doubt she ran the therapy scenes by an actual therapist for authenticity. I was disappointed to see her therapist buy into the making Eden a fall-guy for much the calamity in Stevie's life, as if the trouble older teen should have recognized Stevie's problems, forced her to get help, and a few other spoilery things.

THEMES: eating disorders, treatment, death, grief, siblings, family, friends

Teens may enjoy the story, but PAPERWEIGHT won't give insight into eating disorders or treatment.

SO AMAZING

Beautifully written and heartwarmingly gorgeous piece by meg haston would definitely recommend to all my friends

narrator ruined it for me

I really struggled to get through this, I don't think it was the writting... I believe it was the narrator.

Beautiful and real

It's a very genuine depiction of mental illness. I never had a eating disorder, so I can't say for sure about that part, but there were still so many things that were recognisable, so I would guess that the eating disorder part is genuine too. I think this book is great for people who deals or have dealt with mental illness of some sort, because it feels nice when you see that someone really understands, when most people don't. But I also think it's great for everyone else too, whether they know someone with a mental illness or not, because it can help them understand more about this really important issue, get a glimpse of the logic behind the irrationality, and hopefully help fight the stigma that mentally ill people have to deal with. And it's just written so beautifully! It doesn't have lots of unnecessary twists and turns that may be exciting for some people and triggering for others. Which is so nice, cause there's more than enough of books, shows and movies that make serious and horrible issues into sexy entertainment. This book express es something real, and digs deep down into it without all that. Of course it's impossible to know exactly what might trigger some people, but I would think this is a safe book for most people. This is a book the world needs. I loved it!

Insightful and honest

This story is written and narrated beautifully. The listener is allowed into the mind of someone who is going through the painful process of opening up and healing. Her thoughts and memories are vividly portrayed. A must-listen for anyone who wants to better understand not only eating disorders but also depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation.

a must read!

I highly recommend this book. it touches on a delicate issue in a compassionate manner.

Story is awesome. Audio performance is terrible!

This narrator seems to quite often forget that she's supposed to be doing a deep southern accent. The Georgia accent is extremely obvious at times and then as suddenly as she slipped into the accent she slips right back out, which took away from the story imo. I would have rather read a physical copy of this.