Eat, and Love Yourself is a lovely body positivity graphic novel.

Mindy doesn't see herself in a positive light. She sees herself as her weight, and takes offense when other people point out it. She tracks it constantly yet over eats a lot of chocolate bars. A lot of her food issues seem to stem from her childhood and various issues she's had over the years. Chocolate bars have become her fix to help reduce her anxiety.

This story shows how Mindy developed over the years and how she learned to cope and and break the cycle. Body dysphoria can be really debilitating for people, and Mindy is learning all about it.

I found that this book hits home from the get go and talks some real truths. Mindy is super relatable and cool to boot.

Other Notes:
1. The cat's name is Jabba. I truly hope it's after Jabba the Hut, just saying.
2. TURQUOISE/TEAL HAIR FOR THE WIN!

I think this is the perfect channel for communicating this message. A graphic novel not only shows the story, but it also shows the emotions of the characters when it's painted on their face.

The colour scheme of purple and yellow is absolutely gorgeous. It stands out and the tones work really well together. Add in the cartoon-y illustrations and you make for one really pretty and well illustrated story. Honestly, the style really vibes with me. I'm impressed!

Overall, this book was a great resource to show the that body dysphoria is is common. I wish it would have dove into how Mindy learned to break the cycle to really hit the message home. I think that would have been a great way to show that there is positivity on the other side, because the story mostly showed her constantly eating the chocolate and only deciding that she would change. There wasn't much action.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for supplying me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. ( )

Rating: 3.5/5

TW: Eating Disorder, Body dimorphia, Anxiety

Eat, and Love Yourself is a gorgeous graphic novel depicting the story of Mindy and her struggles with an eating disorder.

Artist and writer, Sweeny Boo depicts body dysmorphia, Binge-eating and social anxiety in a magical realism story where Mindy finds a new chocolate titled ‘Eat, and Love yourself’. Once eaten, it takes the eater back to the memories they have from their past.

These encounters with her traumatic memories allows her to confront her demons and ultimately managing to overcome her self deprivation and doubt.

This Graphic Novel exudes the power of SELF-LOVE and how reaching maximum capacity on it is a long way.

The only thing I have a complaint about is that we don’t have more of the story. The few other characters introduced are interesting and I would love to see the author explore their future interactions with the beautiful Mindy. ( )

Trigger Warnings: Depression, Bulimia, Body Dysmorphia, Eating Disorders, Fat Shaming

Eat, and Love Yourself is about a young woman, Mindy, who has an eating disorder. One day she finds a special chocolate bar that claims it will allow her to relive times of her youth. As she slowly eats the candy bar, she goes back in time and watches as she grows up struggling with the crutch she has on food.

I'm going to start off and say, to read this book, please make sure you're in the right headspace for it. I made sure to put as many trigger warnings as I could on the review for anyone reading because I know how it goes. As someone who has had a weird relationship with food, this book hits it. It shows Mindy going back in time and seeing these moments when she begins to dig herself a hole and begins the spiral downward. She knows she needs help but first, she's got to see herself for who she truly is. By the end of the story, I was so excited to see her wings open so she could fly high.

The story is well written, topped with vibrant artwork with beautiful color pallets. It will make those who feel left in the shadows, seen. ( )

This was good.

There’s a slight touch of magical realism because a chocolate bar gives Mindy the ability to relive/revisit her past and see where her unhealthy relationship with food began. It also shows how offhanded remarks from friends and family (people who actually/are supposed to love you) can affect someone for a long time. I also wanna give this book a shout out for avoiding shots of vomit, despite focusing on eating disorders/purging. I don’t think I’ve emetophobia or anything, but that was just a pleasant surprise.

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Eat, and Love Yourself is a book tackling body dysmorphia, bulimia, and lack of feelings of self worth. Mindy eats away her feelings, then finds herself feeling disgusting, and the cycle continues. She does not notice that her friends and the people she meets think she is perfect the way she is. Mindy purchases diet foods and the magazines with airbrushed models and limits her worth based on her appearance in her mind. One evening, she goes out to grab a snack. Mindy buys a chocolate bar and some sort of magic happens as with each square she visits a moment in her past. Will realizing what brought her to this point help her heal? Will Mindy learn to love herself? Will she allow others to love her? Important topic and read in graphic novel format. YA read ( )