Review: Paperweight

I received this book for free from FTC: Exchange for honest opinion, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Paperweight by Meg Haston
Published by Harper Collins on June 1, 2015
Genres: Young Adult-Contemporary
Source: FTC: Exchange for honest opinion, Publisher
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In the vein of Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls, this emotionally haunting and beautifully written young adult debut delves into the devastating impact of trauma and loss.Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. In her body. 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 meal time, 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 sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn't plan to stay that long. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh's death—the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she, too, will end her life.Paperweight follows Stevie's journey as she struggles not only with this life-threatening eating disorder, but with the question of whether she can ever find absolution for the mistakes of her past…and whether she truly deserves to.

When seeing this book I knew instantly that I wanted to read it. I wanted it purely for its story. I guess one can say that I craved for this story. I have no idea if this is bad but I love reading about how there are people with struggles and what they go through and hope that they overcome them. Meg Haston created a perfect story of one girls struggle with the people around her but most importantly herself.

The story follows this one girl Stevie who has been sent to eating-disorder treatment center in New Mexico where she must let herself open up and find ways of coping with this problem. In this camp we are able to find out who she is as a person, what caused her to come here, and the inner demons she is constantly fighting.

Meg weaves together the story on such an intricate level that the words just melt in your head as you read them. The book has some slow parts but for the most part I just zipped right through. There are places you want to cry, smile, and scream. This book is an emotional read and it meant for the reader to shed some tears.

I feel that the main topic in the book is something that we as readers can relate to in our daily lives. There are so many people out there that may have an eating disorder and we may never know. Someone once told me that you should never judge a person because you never know what they may be going through and for our main character Stevie there is a lot more that she lets off of.

I loved Stevie. She is a fighter in a way some people might choose to ignore. She is living with a huge burden in her life and she finds that closing herself off from the world is easier than opening up. And I would totally agree. I don’t think I would immediately tell my life story to someone who I just met and I have no idea who they are except what they tell me. And for me that is what made the story more practical. It wasn’t this paradise on earth story.

Overall the story was simply amazing. There were some things I wished were different but overall I was glad that I took a chance with this book. I feel Meg Haston will go far if she continues to write like this. Paperweight is an encouraging read in which it shows us that no matter our past there is always something good waiting to happen.

Happy Reading!