It is heavy and painful, but I think it’s so incredibly important to read and learn about. Paperweight is certainly not the easiest read. Something bigger, something outside of ourselves. This, of course, is always very refreshing to have a disorder or mental illness represented fairly, because for those who suffer, they will realize they aren’t alone in their struggles.
(And I’m now realizing in the acknowledgments that Haston actually suffered from an eating disorder herself and says she’s tried her best to represent it). I don’t suffer from any eating disorders, but as far as my knowledge goes, I think Haston approached the subject beautifully and accurately. Promise was like a precious stone, she told me: hypnotizing, but after a while the weight of it could sink you. I did begin to feel the pain and anxiousness as if it was my own. Again, it was challenging at times to be reading about these characters living through such a difficult time.
Their own personalities that reflected their weaknesses and issues. They each had their own pasts and their pain. Stevie, among the other side characters, were very rich and layered. Being that Stevie wanted to take her own life, I knew there was more behind her story and why she was behaving in such a way.Īs always, I was right, because when am I wrong? ( JK. But as most situations, bitterness typically stems from a source of guilt. I’ll admit throughout the first half of the novel that Stevie is hard to love. This book deals with a multitude of heavy subjects, including eating disorders, anxiety and death. It was quite difficult to read at times, but I’m glad I pushed through.ĭeath is not an exact science, which is irritating for those of us who appreciate precision. In this emotionally haunting and beautifully written young adult debut, Meg Haston delves into the devastating impact of trauma and loss, while posing the question: Why are some consumed by their illness while others embark on a path toward recovery?ĭespite the name of this novel, Paperweight is not a light-hearted read. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she too will end her life. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh’s death-the death she caused. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn’t plan to stay that long. Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. 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. Life in the center is regimented and intrusive, a nightmare come true. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert.
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