#Meg Haston

[meaningfall]

— From Paperweight by Meg Haston

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Paperweight | Author: Meg Haston | Publisher: HarperTeen (2015)

[tcplnyteens]

Paperweight by Meg Haston

Content Warning for discussion of eating disorders (not pro)

This book follows a seventeen year old girl named Stevie as she goes through a standard eating disorder recovery center. Through the book we slowly learn more about what happened before she arrived at the treatment center... and why Stevie is going to die in twenty seven days. She has no plans of recovering at first, the pressures of the world are weighing too heavily on her and the anniversary of her brothers death looms on the horizon, just twenty seven days away.

I enjoyed this book. Unlike Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, this book depicts eating disorders in a non-glamorized light while still being realistic. Granted, Bulimia Nervosa is often less glamorized in comparison to Anorexia nervosa, but both are often romanticized in media.

I remember growing mildly frustrated at the pacing and the vagueness of why she was so upset, but looking back it was definitely worth it. It gave a sense of empathy, where the reader couldn't know what was going on because Stevie refused to confess. While Stevie had fully accepted her guilt in what happened the reader wasn't privy to this knowledge for a while, similar to how the medical professionals didn't know about it either.

From an abused child to a self-blaming teen, Stevie's development is riddled with negativity. The development of her disordered habits as a child evolving into a full blown eating disorder which steadily consumes her mind is realistically portrayed amazingly. The author drew from her own experience with an eating disorder and from her studies as a registered counselor. That gave her much needed nuance and care when it came to handling the sensitive topics discussed.

All in all, this was a great book. I would recommend it for those who have an interest in stories surrounding mental health/illness.

[wishbowl]

Paper Weight

M. HASTON

About This story is about a 17 year old girl, stephenie who strictly goes by stevie and we are plopped into her life as she is entering her first day of in treatment at an eating disorder retreat in a faraway desert town. I feel like perhaps my main points from the book may be wildly different from the main points that a normal eating person would be able to gather from this but a major point of contention was her diagnoses, which was the reason for many tantrums. Through the book we see her grow [figuratively and literally lol] and she gets less bitchy and she doesn't end up killing herself on her brother’s death day.

Review This book is less triggering and more cathartic in a way as it somewhat materialises the internal monologue you have towards food, and your body and how your fucked up mind perceives other people. But there's no numbers ex It's a little difficult to get into the main character, especially in the beginning since she's a total bitch to everyone including herself and although the story is told entirely in her perceptive you find throughout the book you sympathise and even have these moments where youre proud of her becoming. Could it be more typical, seventeen year old girl, major life event, starving, failing to stick to, sticks her fingers down her throat. And honestly if it werent such a quick read i wouldve probably had more of a distaste for it. What i did like was that the ending wasn’t the after of her being years into recovery and all cured and wrapped up in a bow. I liked the ending which was much like the rest of the book where nothing really happens.

[alyssalikestoreadbooks]

Paperweight - Meg Haston

"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 seventeen-year-old Stevie’s journey as she struggles not only with a 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."

Read Date - May 2024

Length - 288 pages

Genre - Mental Health, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

Rating - 7/10

Stars - ★★★★☆

Notes - I think this is a great depiction of different levels of loss, grief, and trauma. It unpacks it all through the story of a girl with an eating disorder staying in a treatment center in new mexico, and it switched back and forth between present day and the past through flashbacks. I think the flashback scene are VERY well done, and they remind me of my own flashbacks. They’re accurately described where its a memory, a very STRONG memory-- but a memory nonetheless. They use this format to show off how Stevie got to where she is now with her trauma. I personally am a big fan of the resolution of this book as well, where the therapy starts working. I’d honestly be interested in a sequel to this about Stevie’s life in the center as she’s accepting treatment. I loved this book. 

[mil3nk]

KSIĄŻKI O ZABURZENIACH ODŻYWIANIA:

„TELL ME LIES - CAROLA LOVARING”

„WHAT IT TAKES TO LOSE - ANNA TAYLOR”

„THE ART OF STRAVING - SAM J MILLER”

„SAD PERFECT - STEPHANIE ELLIOT”

„WHAT I LOST - ALEXANDRA BALLARD”

„SILVER CROWN - JULIE JOHNSON”

„CRESCENT CITY - SARAH J MAAS”

„BOYFRIEND MATERIAL - ALEX IS HALL”

„HEARTSTOPPER - ALICE OSMAN”

„SHAPE OF LOVE - MARINA NEUMEIER”

„MASSIVE - JULIA BELL”

„SOMEONE TO LOVE - MELLISA DE LA CRUZ”

„THE YEAR I DIDNT EAT - SAMUEL PALLEN”

„BE•LIEV•A•REX•IC - J J JOHNSON”

„BUTTER - ERIN JADE LANGE”

„PAPERWEIGHT - MEG HASTON”

„NIE POLICZALNE - KAREN GREGORY”

[sk1nn1blogger]

Hello peeps I’m a bookseller and I recently found a lot of 4n4 books I wanted to share

1. Elena Vanishing - Elena Dunkle

2. The art of starving - Sam J. Miller

3. Sad perfect - Stephanie Elliot

4. Paper weight - Meg Haston

5. Butter - Erin jade Lange

6. Winter girls - Laurie Halse Anderson

7. An apple a day - Emma wolf

8. The ministry of thin - Emma wolf

9. What I lost - Alexandra Ballard

10. Wasted - marya hornbacher

11. Diary of an eating disorder - Chelsea smith

12. Unbearable lightness- Portia de Rossi

13. Size zero - Victoire dauxerre

[weightlessisthenewblack]

Ik wintergirls blew up a little while ago on here, but Paperweight by Meg Haston is another really good 3d book, takes place in a recovery center. Just finished it the other night and I was crying towards the end of it there.

Ofc it 100% can be super triggering so like. If you decide to read it be careful of what your limits and triggers are, especially in terms of 5u1c1d3 and sh, and 3ds ofc

[may202020]

If you want a good and triggering book, read Paperweight by Meg Haston

[meaningfall]

— From Paperweight by Meg Haston

[karenlacorte]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Bundle of My Little Pony Books.

[mica-1989]

¨Tal vez entonces entendería que en la vida nunca es todo blanco y negro. Que la mayoría de nosotros ha aprendido a vivir entre grises.¨

El final de nuestra historia - Meg Haston.

[fiction-quotes]

This is one thing I can appreciate about the desert: It is without pretense. There are few perfumed flowers, or lush green leaves, or other signs of life or beauty. The environment is harsh; the life that has survived is stripped of excess.

  —  Paperweight (Meg Haston)

[first--lines]

Twenty-seven days to freedom, and I am caged. Suspended in a boxy aluminium prison with gray cloth seats and the synthetic stench of piña colada swinging from the rearview.

  —  Paperweight (Meg Haston)

[iambookotter]

Paperweight by Meg Haston – Book Review

5/5

Triggers: Eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, anxiety

‘The girl in the mirror was too much and not enough.’

‘The reason a single caloric unit takes on such importance, the reason the pound becomes our currency of worth.’

This book hit so close to home that I had to take long breaks in between chapters so that I could get to the end without falling apart. Here is the dish: I have struggled with an eating disorder for most of my late teens and early twenties. I am still grappling with a distorted self-image. Therefore, this book was extremely triggering for me.

Stevie’s journey is tough to read because the author breaks down her thought processes, letting us in to see everything that is going on in her head. As is often the case with people working through their EDs, her mind is preoccupied with the crippling fear and guilt that accompanies the thought of taking even a single bite of food. She is also overcome by guilt and pain over her brother’s death, which is revealed very early in the book.

There were so many passages in the book that were hard-hitting in their portrayal of the toll EDs take on their sufferers. The way they perceive themselves, the lack of self-worth, and the extent to which a number on the scale can dictate one’s life. As someone who is sometimes still unable to help seeing the words ‘worthless’ and ‘not enough’ in place of the number of kilos on the scale, reading Stevie’s and the other girls’ journeys made a world of difference. It was a brutal and raw representation of EDs and I am so thankful for the representation. Especially because it is not always as simple as “oh, just eat, it won’t kill you” and “it’s all in your head”.

Okay, now for the more objective part of the review. Stevie was an unlikeable character from the beginning, but this is understandable given that we are experiencing the story through her eyes while she is suffering from loss, grief, pain, suicidal thoughts, and an ED. I appreciated the faithful depiction, which made the relationships she grudgingly developed with her therapist and the other girls in the centre that much more satisfying. Stevie’s journey towards healing progresses organically as well, with the narrative jumping between her ongoing time in the centre and her past which is delivered in the form of memories crashing into her mind unbidden during harder moments.

All in all, Paperweight is an excellent representation of mental health and EDs. Very triggering, especially for those who have been in similar straits, but definitely worthwhile. Highly recommended!

[ireadingbooks]

Review: paperweight (Meg Haston)

-- TW: eating disorder, suicide, self harm --

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 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.

Rating: 4.5/5 

This was my first read of 2021, I finished it in one day and loved it. I believe this book deals with eating disorder in a brutal, honest way and does not “romanticize” or “beautifies” it. 

In this book, you are invited to join the journey of seventeen-year-old Stevie through her time at an eating disorder clinic in the middle of the desert. However, Stevie is planning to take her life before she can end her rehab there - she plans to end her life on the one-year anniversary of her brother Josh. In the clinic, she meets other girls her age and gets to know a whole lot about different ways an eating disorder can be caused and expressed. And, most importantly, she learns about herself. 

While my heart was constantly aching for Stevie while reading this book, I enjoyed it. It was funny but also brutally honest. The “shrink”, how Stevie decides to call her therapist Anna made me smile a lot because she reminded me a lot of my therapist. I felt like I was part of the girls sitting at the dinner table or sitting next to Stevie during her therapy sessions. This book was painful and yet so beautiful.

However, this book might not be for someone who is struggling or recovering from an eating disorder. It is quite brutal in a way of describing the honest truth about eating disorders. For me, as someone who almost lost a friend to anorexia, this was painful, but also gave me so much insight into what having an ED is like for the person, and not somebody on the outside.