This book is a deeply moving look at one form of mental illness. I did not know that genesis of this story, but was not at all surprised when I learned of it.  All while reading I felt that this was too real to be purely fiction. The author takes you right along on the journey with her.  Each and every challenging meal, therapy session, revelation, loss and walk is as if we are there on the sidelines. Eating disorders, like so many mental illnesses are so poorly understood and not treated as other illnesses are.  If it cannot be diagnosed under a microscope it isn't a disease and people just need to buck up or toughen up. That is so not the case and this author allows us a gentle, tough loving intelligent peek into the looking glass.  It isn't a simple "just eat something" and move on.  Mental illness is so painful, not only for the person who is ill and suffering, but for everyone in his or her orbit.  I urge anyone who does not understand any form of mental illness to read this book.  Not only is the story engaging, but it is beautifully written.

An acute painful glimpse into anorexia. Zgheib spares nothing by demonstrating the challenge and health ramifications from this chronic illness. 

Anna is a young woman caught in the snare of anorexia. Daily she fights the battle to eat or not. Zgheib tells a tale of sufferers enduring a marathon with this condition. Anna is aloof, however, her sparse portrayal is fitting. Her back story is not a surprise as we learn of her spiral with anorexia. 

Other characters were entertaining and their development felt like young ladies in a treatment center, again a feel of aloofness fitting

Good solid story. Respectfully Zgheib approaches anorexia with great consideration. A frightening condition, enlightening story filed with empathetic characters. 

My only complaint- the repetition of “17 Swann Street” referenced throughout the story, grated on my nerves after a bit.  

Raw story, I recommended.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib appealed to me immediately because of the premise involving mental health, specifically eating disorders. As someone who struggles with depression, anything mental health related will probably get my attention, especially if the story is crafted in an intriguing way which this one is thanks to the main character’s backstory. 

Take a look:

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.

This book looks at anorexia and what contributes to this disease. Anna’s story will bring tears to your eyes, it’s very emotional and incredibly well written.  A heavy subject matter, yes, but this book is a must-read. 

Due out in February 2019

A solid 4 stars. The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a fictional book that centers around main character Anna Roux- a former ballet dancer from France that is battling an eating disorder. Anna, who now resides in the United States with her loving husband, enters a residential medical house located on Swann Street to seek treatment. 
The Girls at 17 Swann Street is an emotional/tough read that offers a realistic view in dealing with eating disorders on a physical level but also an emotional one as well. 
Highly recommended to fans of contemporary fiction. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

This is a raw, authentic (and, at times, heartbreaking) look at the struggles one goes through when battling anorexia. Anna is realistically drawn. The parts pertaining to her residential treatment didn’t feel as accurate, however, at least not in America with the way insurance tends to work. Treatment plans and case notes added to the story and were realistic. The author definitely sheds light on a rarely discussed eating disorder, educating the reader along the way. The author also shows the impact anorexia has on loved ones.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET is an aching — at times uncomfortably so — portrait of a young woman in the throes of a debilitating eating disorder. On her journey back to health (or something like it), she struggles mightily with herself and learns lessons from the other women in her recovery center. The ending was wrapped up a little neatly for my tastes, but Anna's story will stick with me.

Such an emotional book that really showed the depths of eating disorders. So many people I feel look at an illness such as anorexia and thing “why don’t you just eat?” There is such a stigma around eating disorders and this book is exactly what those people need. It shows how severe the illnesses are. This book flowed well, was emotional, and the characters were relatable. An awesome book that will definitely have an impact in 2019.

Anna is wasting away. Her husband has ignored that she is starving herself to death until he finds her passed out in the bathroom. When she goes to the Dr at his urging, Anna weighs only 88 lbs. At the Dr’s urging, Anna is sent to an inpatient rehabilitation center. Her time at 17 Swann Street is eye-opening. Can Anna let the staff and therapists, along with the other girls, help her reclaim her life? Or will Anna be destined to be a regular?

Anorexia has always been one of those disorders that people dislike talking about. It isn’t talked about enough. Anorexia and bulimia (as well as compulsive overeating and other food/exercise related disorders) need to be talked about. They shouldn’t be swept under the rug.  This disorder needs to be front and center. It needs to be talked about. 

I sat and read this book within 2 hours. I didn’t plan on sitting and reading it in one sitting. It just happened. The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a fast read. It is an emotional read too. At one point, I was mad at myself because I didn’t have a box of tissues on hand to wipe my eyes. What got me was how raw Anna’s emotions were. 

I will point out that the book is written in a way that might annoy some people. It would have annoyed me if I wasn’t so taken with how the book began. The book goes between past and present with little warning. I would normally moan and groan about that but not this time. It actually worked with this book. The author was able to flawlessly go between present and past. The only issue I had was reading the clinical observations. I want to say that they were supposed to be the beginning of chapters. But because the formatting of the book was off, they ended up being in the middle of the book.

I liked how Anna’s time in the program was realistic. She had her good days and her bad days. She made progress and she regressed. There were times in the book, mainly when the stuff happened with Valerie, that I thought she wasn’t going to make it. That she was going to be a regular.

The girls in the program touched my heart also. The background that was given on some of them was heartbreaking. I also felt for the staff. They had to counsel the girls. They had to force them to eat. They had to insert feeding tubes for the ones that refused. It must have been so draining for them. But they came back day after day to help those girls.

I liked the statistics that were sprinkled in throughout the book.  There were some that I didn’t know. There were some that made my heart hurt.

I also liked how the author showed how Anna’s progression into anorexia was. From the impossibly high standards that the ballerina world holds to the ex-boyfriend who was cruel about how much Anna ate to the anxiety and guilt over her brother’s death, it was all there. It also showed that Anna’s husband chose to ignore how skinny she was getting. Chose to overlook her only eating apples and lettuce. Chose to overlook her excessive exercising. Chose to overlook those things until it was almost too late. 

The ending was what kept this book from being a 5-star review. It seemed too perfect. I am not going to get into why it seemed too perfect. All I have to say is that I was kinda “meh” about it. It was not real life.

I gave The Girls at 17 Swann Street a 4-star rating. This was a fast, emotional read. While I didn’t mind the way the book was written, I do think that some people would have an issue. I would suggest reading with a box of tissues nearby. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the ending. It was too perfect.

I would give The Girls at 17 Swann Street an Adult rating. There is sex (not graphic but there). There is language. There is no violence. There are trigger warnings. They would be mental illness, eating disorders, talk of rape, the death of a sibling.

I would reread The Girls at 17 Swann Street. I would also reccomend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Girls at 17 Swann Street.

All opinions stated in this review of The Girls at 17 Swann Street are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This is an interesting book but unfortunately I just couldn't relate to it. I felt sympathetic towards the girls but it felt unreal to me.

I think many girls can relate to feeling the need to be "it"...whatever it is for them...thin, smart, pretty, funny etc. This book pulls you in as you take this ride with these girls to overcome their disorder. There is so much truth in needing a strong support system to help you break free of the titles and labels you put on yourself. It is a story of finding oneself.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. It was just okay for me. I found myself skipping parts because it just seemed to drag on. The storyline of women with anexoria was good and they truly cared about each other but I really didn't care for the parts where Anna was looking back.

When I got this book, I thought it sounded interesting, but had no idea what I was in for. I let it sit on my "To Be Read" shelf for WAY too long. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. 

What a wonderfully written book. I was immediately connected to the main character, Anna, even though I had very little, if anything, in common with her. I was curious to understand her and what she was going through as she dealt with anorexia nervosa. I didn't understand the disease-at all- and the author did an amazing job of educating the reader without seeming academic. I wanted to keep reading to learn and understand more. 

Educational, entertaining, emotional... I loved it and would definitely recommend.

I just finished an ARC of The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib. It was heartwrenching & painful, but you cheer for the girls with every victory, big or small. Possibly a trigger for those suffering eating disorders, but an in depth look to help readers understand the challenges of both anorexia and bulimia. The author has applied her own experiences to her writing, giving the story authenticity.

This book was incredibly captivating, I couldn’t put it down! A story of the harrowing, heartbreaking truth of eating disorders and the effects thereof. This book will have you feeling a wide range of emotion, and cheering on Anna as she struggles, denies, fights, and loves.

A harrowing novel about a twenty-six year old Parisian girl battling anorexia. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down.

It opens up with Anna, the main character, as she checks into 17 Swann Street, a residence that provides treatment to women with eating disorders. The name "Anna" is not random, many sufferers refer to anorexia as "ana". 

The illness, the center, and the characters are depicted in a complex and compassionate light. The author did and excellent job describing the emotional process, I felt connected and captivated by this story.

Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction as well as those interested in subjects dealing with mental health. 

Received ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

This book was an intriguing topic that isn't something that is often covered in books.  I didn't love the formatting but the storyline was good.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and hesitated in starting to read it because of that uncertainty. I am so glad I read this book!  It is difficult to explain how compelling the characters are in this book. They are young women...they have a debilitating disease. In very real terms we learn just how eating disorders affect the person and those around them.  What we THINK we know.....and what we learn are different.  The main character is Anna who was a Parisian ballerina, which in itself is a very demanding profession on a body, and so while living her dream, she begins a nightmare.  She marries Matthias and they are very much in love. One problem and another after another brings her finally to a rehab facility to deal with her anorexia nervousa. What she discovers while there makes her face the hardest decisions of her life...to live....to love.  The way the author takes the reader back in time and into current time to better understand is great!  A very emotional read, well worth the tissues needed!  I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley, author and publisher in return for an honest review, which this has been.

This was a sometimes sad look into the life of a woman suffering with anorexia. It sometimes seems everything works out a little too perfectly but it was still a good story. It is an important look at an issue that needs to be discussed.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is an in depth look at anorexia. The thought process and the struggle is written out so well that you can actually feel what they feel.  While at times, it is a hard read, you can't help but cheer for them with every bite. Anna and Matthias signify what "in sickness and in health" truly mean. This was a great story with some very interesting characters.

Quite a difficult read in some ways. I cannot imagine what anorexia is like. This book goes some way into describing the mental anguish behind this terrible disease. I did not really feel that this was a novel in a lot of ways, more a guide.