Ink in Water is a thought-provoking account of the author's experience of and recovery from an eating disorder. The illustrations by Jim Kettner are beautiful and really capture the fragility and tension experienced by the narrator as she tells her story. It is honest and brave, and ultimately empowering. I loved it.

As much as I wanted to enjoy this book and get carried a way with it, it took me a very long time to get into the story. The narrative is very straight forward with little distracting decor and it was supposed to be a touching story. Or, I thought it would be a touching story, instead it was a hard and gritty narrative of a very real battle with mental illness.

The rawness of the narrative and the very relateable additional issues that often tag along with with mental illness made this book very hard for me to read. The story convey in a very real and hard way how mental illness can be there even if you are obliviously unaware of it for a while.

IT shows how, even when you know you are sick, the biggest challenge of the battle is not the disease it self but recovery part. Mental helth issues, like eating disorders, depression, OCD, they become a part of you and who you are. The disease become part of how you see yourself and you identity, and how are you supposed to recover from your identity?

Davis goes all the way out to show how real her struggle was and she is in not painting any rainbows or making any face-saving promises or painting rainbows. Yet her strong narrative still warrants hope and I would recommend the book for anyone who knows someone or themselves struggle with a eating disorder.

Kettner's gritty artwork through out the novel aids to the harsh narrative without sugarcoating anything. Nothing in a story like this needs sugarcoating, even if it makes the story harder to read, and both the author and the illustrator knows this.

I was particularly interested in this as graphic memoir is a growing medium with a lot of potential. Connecting with the beginning was a bit hard for me, the whole tone tried too much to be upbeat and a bit jokey, which I thought fell  flat both in the art and writing. However, as things spiral downward for Lacy we get a split in the style used, where the writing starts to really ring true and the art changes to become much more stylized - interspersed with smudged, splashy sequences and beautiful full panels. Near the end of chapter three they began to hit on something really compelling in a few panes, finally by the 2nd half they're cohesive in depicting something very raw, I wish it had been more laid out that way straight from the beginning.

Davis did an amazing job with the main plot arc, genuinely conveying the downward slide of disordered eating, particularly the desperate misplaced need for control. Through everything she's clawing to re-gain control in her life after a failed relationship, she focuses that toward other aspects of her life over & over again in obsessive and damaging ways. It takes a difficult wake up call and a lot of loving support to drive her to turn that intensity toward goals that make life better and stronger.

Ink in Water is an illustrated memoir that tells the story of Lacy. It tells her journey, mostly focusing on her eating disorder and anxiety.

I really liked this book, the story was captivating and I couldn’t put it down…
I loved Lacy, she was so relatable.
I teared up a couple time, it made me feel so much.
The only reason this doesn’t get 5 stars is that even though I liked the art I didn’t LOVE it…
IDK…
Still, a great read that I would strongly recommend.

the artwork is great and the story is raw and real...shows the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ink in Water is a gorgeously illustrated memoir. New to graphic novels, Lacy Davis and Jim Kettner are sure to make names of themselves. It is deeply moving and deals with mental health in an incredibly honest way.

No lie, I read this book in one sitting. I loved the artwork and how well it conveyed the author's emotions. My falley expired, or I would read it again now! Guess I'll have to wait til it comes out...

Ink In Water's cover instantly pulled me in. It's art was a beautiful picture of depression and I felt like I would identify with the work on a personal level.
Lacy walks readers through her self esteem and body issues that leads to trouble with eating. Always honest, we watch her fall into despair, hit rock bottom, try to pull herself out, make some progress and then recede and then make progress again. This is the truth of any obsession, addiction, and any mental disorder. While I don't have an eating disorder, it was easy to understand her anxiety and recession as I suffer from depression myself. I saw my journey in hers and I saw the hope that is there.
Other than art, I really love that this book looks at the idea that 12-step doesn't work to change thinking patterns. While it can be very helpful and keep you accountable but Lacy saw that she still had issue with in her to deal with. Finally, when she meets someone who changed her way of thinking, then she was able to embrace who she was as a person. For me it was a therapist while for Lacy it was a method of exercise and health that challenged everything she had believed before.
A gorgeous representation of being stuck inside one's head , Ink in water truthful , sad, and inspiring all at the same time. I encourage those with issues to read it so you won't feel alone and I encourage people with out issues to rea it because then you will start to understand what we go through.

This graphic novel was utterly amazing. This topic hits pretty close to home so I was glad to see that Lacy was able to recover at the end of the story. For someone who is struggling with an ED,  this is a good way to share a survivor's story. The artwork is beautiful and Lacy clearly has a way with making graphic novels. I can tell this one is going to stick with me for awhile. 
The narration was so honest and truthful that at times I was shocked. Not to mention that usually other books that have ED related issues usually skim over the content or tell it completely wrong. This was a genuinely well written story and I enjoyed every second of reading it.

For someone with current problems with my body, especially anorexia, Bulimia & other eating dissorders. This was an amazing comic that got me and my family understanding more along the way.

*I received this copy in exchange for an honest review.*

I'm just gonna go ahead and throw it on out there - I LOVED THIS. It's 242 pages that I completely understand and relate to. 

This is an illustrated battle with anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive exercise - what the author views as her catalyst for what triggered the eating disorders and how they affected her life, relationships, and health. She doesn't shy away from embarrassing situations or from sharing the dark thoughts she had while in the midst of it all and that is something that I respect. 

Eating disorders aren't pretty and shouldn't be glossed over. They don't make you a pretty person and I love how the illustrations reflect that in this story. In the first few pages, you can see that her portrayal of herself is not attractive. She doesn't smile, she doesn't look healthy, and she sure doesn't look happy. As the story progresses, it's obvious that the deep feelings of inadequacy and obsessive calorie counts are slowly being pushed out to make way for rational thoughts. 

As a twenty-something female myself, I relate to this memoir in ways I don't feel 100% comfortable admitting. It's funny, well sad actually, but there is a scene depicted towards the beginning of this tale that could be taken from my own life. Lacey goes to see her doctor for a check up. She has been restricting and has very obviously lost weight. Her doctor looks her up and down and tells her how great she looks! This is a scene from my own life. I've been that girl on the scale, heart pounding while you watch the nurse/doctor check the numbers and write something down. Then you crane your neck to see if you can see exactly what it was they took note of - but you really don't want them to say.

Putting the too familiar story aside, the illustrations are fantastic. I don't know if color will be added when it's released but I love the black and white version I read. I like how the emotion is portrayed in hazy waves and stuttering thought bubbles rather than loud color and distracting patterns. 

My overall thoughts are that it is very well illustrated, completely relatable, and all too real for anyone that has struggled with weight or dark thoughts, of any sort.

"Ink in Water" by Lacy J. Davis and Jim Kettner was pure awesome. 
It's an inspiring story of how one girl beat anorexia, I would definitely recommend this book to my friends, my family, or a stranger on the bus. 
I thought that it was so nice to hear that she was able to go on with her life without the image of her body holding her back all the time, without it holding her back from the things that she loved to do.
The artwork is well done and extremely detailed. I admire how the colors used throughout the novel was mostly black, white and gray, which I think is a metaphor for how her life felt like, it was always in black and white, colorless.Even through all of the struggles and the difficult things, she prevailed and kicked anorexia's ass.

Wow. Powerful stuff. I really liked the grit in the images to match with the story itself.  It was dark, sometimes messy, and ever evolving. 

Intense read.  I found myself fighting tears in a spot or two.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2112816232?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Are you a rad and proud feminist who, despite being super progressive, has struggled with body image or eating issues? Do you love memoirs and graphic novels, and especially love when the two genres collide? Are you interested in learning about one person's experiences with those things, if not? Then, this book is for you!

I absolutely loved Ink in Water, and it felt really authentic to me. I have struggled with these issues in the past, so I was very eager to read a memoir by someone who has not only also dealt with these issues, but has queer punk feminist roots, as well. I think it's vitally important to share our stories in order to dispel the stigma that society places on people with chronic illnesses—especially when we also happen to be young and female. Not to mention, it's extremely refreshing for a queer author to write a memoir that neither diminishes nor makes their queerness the entire plot of the book, but just talks about it in a real way. It also doesn't hurt that the drawings are gorgeously done throughout.

For those who would ask about nudity/profanity: there is a very slight bit of nudity and a mention or two of sex, but nothing more graphic than what you would see in the American Girl book, "The Care and Keeping of You," which is meant for preteens—and there is actually a lot less of it in Ink in Water than there is in the American Girl book. There is a bit of profanity used throughout the book, as well, but it is not overused. I would give this book a PG-13 rating.

I highly recommend this book! Five stars! The world needs more books like this!

Really liked the artwork of this book, together with the humor and Lacy's vulnerability it was a great and honest way to talk about difficult issues .

I read this "illustrated memoir"/graphic novel in one sitting during a rainy sunday afternoon while I was taking care of my newborn daughter. I love everything about this book and story. The artwork is charming and different, I really enjoy the way the story is developed and told. It is such a beautiful book with an important message and not only for those who struggled with eating and their body.

“Ink in Water” is an affirming story about coming to terms with an eating disorder and body image. Told as a graphic memoir, Lacy Davis outlines her struggle in straightforward language and endearing illustrations. The simple presentation is an elegant way to give space to the demons and insights Davis develops through her journey.

Davis's early treatment is through the 12-step program Overeaters Anonymous. OA, like other 12-step programs, is rooted in a “higher power,” a concept many non-religious participants grapple with. Davis’s discussion about her issues with this are spot on. It was excellent to see how processed this and how she ended up resolving it. 

Throughout the book, she shows us many other players in her story. Many are small exchanges that speak volumes, like the doctor also in recovery who gives Davis hope. Or the snarly coffee customer, who exemplifies all the things Davis hates about her life at that moment. Davis does a lovely job showing us the development of her long-term relationships, too, including her best friend and her partner. 

Davis’s depiction of intrusive thoughts is a highlight in the book. Here, she encapsulates this deep-seated psychological torment in comic panels, making the experience relatable but not overwhelming to the reader. I recommend this book to anyone working through addiction, in any 12-step program (not just OA), with an eating disorder or body dysmorphia, or who cares for someone who is struggling.

The synopsis for the book ticked a lot of boxes for me. My best friend had an eating disorder when we were at university together, and my first husband was an addict who got well thanks to a twelve step programme. I myself found a twelve step programme really supportive when he was in recovery. I really hoped it would be the kind of book that spoke to me at a very personal level, and after an initial panic that it might be too 'Goddy', whatever that means, I realised that it wasn't at all. As the novel progressed I found myself buying into Lacy's recovery more and more passionately, until in the last few chapters I was willing her on so hard, and I was tripping over myself to read faster so that I could find out how things turned out. Obviously, I am more aware than most that recovery can be a rocky process and is ongoing, so I was delighted to find her blog and see how well she's doing and how happy she looks. I wished this book had been around when my friend was going through this. It would have helped so much. I'm really grateful that this book exists and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend and buy it for people. I think of all the addictions, the ones with food are hardest to master, because complete abstinence just isn't an option like it is for drink or drugs, and I am so pleased that Lacy was able to find her way to health again.