What do you think?
Rate this book
Shrink: A Journey through Anorexia
Starting Year 11 is bad enough, what with all the exams and end of year party. But Eloise has to deal with the now. The appointment.
Sixteen year old Eloise Meehan, who has an eating disorder, begins a journey through therapy in an attempt to come to terms with unspoken family secrets. But as relationships are built, and subsequently broken, it seems as if there are more questions asked than issues resolved. Will Eloise find the support she crucially needs? And will looking closer to home help her to face her shocking past?
Sixteen year old Eloise Meehan, who has an eating disorder, begins a journey through therapy in an attempt to come to terms with unspoken family secrets. But as relationships are built, and subsequently broken, it seems as if there are more questions asked than issues resolved. Will Eloise find the support she crucially needs? And will looking closer to home help her to face her shocking past?
- GenresYoung AdultFiction
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Heather Morrall
3 books1 followerHeather Morrall's first novel won the David St. John Thomas Charitable Trust Children's Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 2, 2023
There were four years between the publication of The Echo Glass and Shrink, and (from what I can remember of The Echo Glass) not much improved in that time. I genuinely appreciate the effort to portray a version of anorexia that is not The Worst Case Doctors Have Ever Seen, but the execution just isn't there. Flat writing, choppy dialogue, limited character depth, and truly, truly terrible therapists. (The first one tells Eloise that she's not a priority because she's not inpatient; tells Eloise—who is seriously underweight—that she'd have to lose a ton of weight to be a day patient, let alone be an inpatient; and on it goes. The second one also tells Eloise that she's not anorexic because she's never been hospitalised and that she's good at 'pretending' to be anorexic because she's maintained a dangerously low weight as opposed to continuing to lose weight.)
There's probably a point to be made in the book about the lack of training that many medical professionals and counsellors receive regarding eating disorders, but they're portrayed as such nasty, horrible creatures that they're hard to take seriously.
Points for effort and intent, but I can't recommend this.
There's probably a point to be made in the book about the lack of training that many medical professionals and counsellors receive regarding eating disorders, but they're portrayed as such nasty, horrible creatures that they're hard to take seriously.
Points for effort and intent, but I can't recommend this.
January 21, 2014
What the fuck did I just read?
This is terribly written. And as great as it is to see someone with a "less severe" case of anorexia, this depiction was miserable.
This book is the biggest hot mess. I'm not wasting my time writing a longer review for it.
This is terribly written. And as great as it is to see someone with a "less severe" case of anorexia, this depiction was miserable.
This book is the biggest hot mess. I'm not wasting my time writing a longer review for it.
March 18, 2018
Tells you a lot more about the lived experience of anorexia than the experience of getting out of it. Because the protagonist is so self-obsessed (due to her illness) none of the other characters come across as real people at all. Not sure how helpful or accurate the depiction of therapy is. Altogether a depressing and unsatisfying read.
May 4, 2023
One of the most annoying books I've ever read about a girl with anorexia and the help she's given. The two therapists she sees are rude, manipulative and over-the-top and the rest of it is just boring.
November 18, 2012
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Eloise Meehan knows she needs help, but finding just the right person to help is becoming a problem. She is dealing with the accidental death of her brother, the suicide death of her mother, living with her chronically depressed father, and her own eating disorder. Her family doctor referred her to a therapist, but things aren't going well.
Mars bars are Eloise's favorites for binging. She and her friends are preparing for exams. They know their future depends on passing the tests, but their focus is more on the end-of-year party than on study sessions. They've been trying to distract Eloise with shopping for the perfect outfit for the party. They don't seem to see that she has a weight problem. Eloise is sure that people notice how fat she is, and she constantly dreams of her ideal weight.
Visits to the therapist have her obsessing more and more about her weight. At the hospital she sees other girls admitted there as in-patients. She looks at their skeletal frames and protruding bones and envies them. Her weight fluctuates from a high of 46kg to a record low of 39.1kg, and the more she sees these girls, the more she wants to be like them.
As the visits to the therapist continue, it is obvious they are not connecting. When the therapist wants to discuss weight issues, Eloise deflects her, and any attempts to deal with her family tragedy stalls out, as well. Eloise returns to her family doctor in search of someone else. It seems to be a Catch-22 for Eloise. She knows she has a problem, but her overwhelming desire to be thin prevents her from accepting help.
(Since SHRINK was written by an author from the UK, I found myself needing to seek help converting kgs to pounds so I could make sense of Eloise's struggles. I'll provide translation here for any future readers: 46kgs = 101 lbs., and 39.1kgs = 86 lbs.)
SHRINK by Heather Morrall takes readers through a year in the life of 16-year-old Eloise. With a life filled with the pressure to succeed at school while at the same time dealing with two tragic deaths and a father with problems of his own, there is no shortage of issues for readers to relate to. The issue of anorexia is a constant plot element and will have readers wondering if it is a result of Eloise's life tragedies or a legitimate problem of its own.
Eloise Meehan knows she needs help, but finding just the right person to help is becoming a problem. She is dealing with the accidental death of her brother, the suicide death of her mother, living with her chronically depressed father, and her own eating disorder. Her family doctor referred her to a therapist, but things aren't going well.
Mars bars are Eloise's favorites for binging. She and her friends are preparing for exams. They know their future depends on passing the tests, but their focus is more on the end-of-year party than on study sessions. They've been trying to distract Eloise with shopping for the perfect outfit for the party. They don't seem to see that she has a weight problem. Eloise is sure that people notice how fat she is, and she constantly dreams of her ideal weight.
Visits to the therapist have her obsessing more and more about her weight. At the hospital she sees other girls admitted there as in-patients. She looks at their skeletal frames and protruding bones and envies them. Her weight fluctuates from a high of 46kg to a record low of 39.1kg, and the more she sees these girls, the more she wants to be like them.
As the visits to the therapist continue, it is obvious they are not connecting. When the therapist wants to discuss weight issues, Eloise deflects her, and any attempts to deal with her family tragedy stalls out, as well. Eloise returns to her family doctor in search of someone else. It seems to be a Catch-22 for Eloise. She knows she has a problem, but her overwhelming desire to be thin prevents her from accepting help.
(Since SHRINK was written by an author from the UK, I found myself needing to seek help converting kgs to pounds so I could make sense of Eloise's struggles. I'll provide translation here for any future readers: 46kgs = 101 lbs., and 39.1kgs = 86 lbs.)
SHRINK by Heather Morrall takes readers through a year in the life of 16-year-old Eloise. With a life filled with the pressure to succeed at school while at the same time dealing with two tragic deaths and a father with problems of his own, there is no shortage of issues for readers to relate to. The issue of anorexia is a constant plot element and will have readers wondering if it is a result of Eloise's life tragedies or a legitimate problem of its own.
May 5, 2013
Very good book. It was very similar to my own life story, especially with the attitude towards shrinks and psychologists, and not getting on with them. It was like reading about myself. A lot of anorexics and also those recovered will see at least one thing familiar in this truthful, accurate book on the struggle with anorexia and the tough road to recovery.
June 5, 2012
This book isn't particularly well-written or thought out, but I'm giving it 4 stars because I think it successfully captures what most eating-disordered girls go through.
August 7, 2014
I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and It didn't it just ended not sure I'd recommend
March 12, 2015
Terrible view of therapists. Don't ever stay with someone who makes you feel this bad. I worry that young people will read this and avoid seeking help because of how negatively adults are portrayed.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews