Thin Girls

A Novel

By: Diana Clarke

Narrated by: Jayme Mattler

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A dark, edgy, voice-driven literary debut novel about twin sisters that explores body image and queerness as well as toxic diet culture and the power of sisterhood, love, and lifelong friendships, written by a talented protégé of Roxane Gay.

Rose and Lily Winters are twins, as close as the bond implies; they feel each other’s emotions, taste what the other is feeling. Like most young women, they’ve struggled with their bodies and food since childhood, and high school finds them turning to food - or not - to battle the waves of insecurity and the yearning for popularity. But their connection can be as destructive as it is supportive, a yin to yang. When Rose stops eating, Lily starts - consuming everything Rose won’t or can’t.

Within a few years, Rose is about to mark her one-year anniversary in a rehabilitation facility for anorexics. Lily, her sole visitor, is the only thing tethering her to a normal life.

But Lily is struggling, too. A kindergarten teacher, she dates abusive men, including a student’s married father, in search of the close yet complicated companionship she lost when she became separated from Rose.

When Lily joins a cult diet group led by a social media faux feminist, whose eating plan consists of consuming questionable noncaloric foods, Rose senses that Lily needs her help. With her sister’s life in jeopardy, Rose must find a way to rescue her - and perhaps, save herself.

Illuminating some of the most fraught and common issues confronting women, Thin Girls is a powerful, emotionally resonant story, beautifully told, that will keep you captivated to the gratifying, hopeful end.

©2020 Diana Clarke (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Great narration

I enjoyed the story, it’s thoughtfully written. What I really loved was the narration. This person’s voice is sort of deep and sultry, she purrs the story into your ear and I couldn’t get enough. I’ve already chosen my next listen because she’s the narrator. Really really nice to listen to.

Above average

Identical twins Rose and Lily are two halves of a whole. Until they aren’t. As a teen Rose turns to dieting, which becomes anorexia and Lily to unhealthy relationships with boys and eating. The more weight Rose loses, the more Lily gains. Now in their mid twenties, Rose languishes in an eating disorder clinic while Lily dates an abusive married man who tries to tear the sisters apart.

THIN GIRLS packs a lot of issues into its pages. Family, sisters, enmeshed relationships, acceptance, self-esteem, body image, sexual orientation, dating, abuse and friendship are some of the themes. Diana Clarke delves deeply into the twins’ relationships with each other and their hapless parents.

With the exception of the writing style and the twins’ age, THIN GIRLS had the feel of a young adult eating disorder book because of Rose’s immaturity and manipulative behavior, all part of her anorexia. She didn’t engage in treatment, playing games to trick staff. When Lily wouldn’t visit, Rose threatened not to eat until her sister came.

Diana Clarke’s prose danced off my kindle screen as if they were poetry masterfully capturing Rose’s intelligent, yet mentally ill voice in a manner both maddening and sympathetic. Empathizing with Lily’s frustration was also easy.

THIN GIRLS will appeal to young adults interested in eating disorders as well as those interested in women’s fiction.

This Book Found Me When I Needed It

I was apprehensive at the start. It took me a moment to warm up to how the story was being told. Several chapters in, the story really came together for me. I needed this story. As someone who is always fighting a relapse, I needed reminders of why I recovered and why I should stay in the mindset of recovery.

I love the LGBTQ aspect of the book. The narrator was amazing.

I didn’t love the depiction of BDSM. I would have liked to see the abusive relationship portrayed differently. I didn’t love Kat’s character but I definitely seen her significance of her in the story. Kat’s dialogue was off putting, but I think even that could have meaning if think about it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was easy to fall in love with. Enough so that it prompted my first review.

Want more

amazing I wanted more. Another chapter .. I want to find out whY happens to Lily and Rose

nothing special

well written, promising at first but as a twin who has also gone through anorexia, i didn't find it all that authentic, the other twin lily is a cliché of the girly girl while the protagonist is the "i'm not like other girls" cliché. Also misrepresentation of abusive relationships in my opinion and very judgamental of BDSM for some reason.

wow

not much words other than OMG this hook blow my mind
but it can be triggering so caution about that

Finally a book about the true dangers of dieting!

I think the author did a great job with this book because she covered the extremes of an eating disorders and treatment centers, but she also talked about disordered eating and how we've normalized it in our society which is not okay.

She even mentions orthorexia which most think is "clean eating" but it's way more extreme than that.

Diet culture is to blame for all of this and more books like this are needed so the general population can understand that it all starts with a diet and/or restriction of some kind.

Raspy voice

I couldn’t get through the first 2 chapters without wanting to rip out my headphones from the super forced raspy voice. Immediately grosses me out.

Too precious & predictable

Full of tropes and as self indulgent as a soap opera. Every plot twist was predictable and melodramatic.