Thanks Net Galley for the preview!
This was an interesting read- loved the use of formatting to add emphasis to certain sentences or scenes. I think this book is a little limited in it's information. It ended with me wanting health for the main character and not seeing that happen.

I was also very displeased that I did not see any information about what to do if you are struggling with an eating disorder. There should be a disclaimer with a hotline or website or something for those that are struggling.

"I'm a liar. A liar who tells only one lie. The same one again and again."

This book was an ARC given to me from the publisher and author through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity, and know that all thoughts are my own and do not reflect the author or publisher in any way.

Not Hungry is a short story, written by Kate Karyus Quinn, about a high school-aged girl who secretly struggles with an eating disorder. This book was a quick, easy read. I thought the writing style was interesting, and I appreciated how well the book flowed from one idea to the next. The chapters were well connected, but the book somehow still felt disjointed. I think I would have appreciated a little bit more formatting in the writing style, but it may appear differently on paper as opposed to the Kindle copy that I received. Overall, this was a good book that acknowledged a serious issue. I believe this would be a good book for mature teens and young adults to read, although there is discussion about eating disorders, body shaming, drug addiction, and dating violence.

A repeated theme in this book was secrets. The book is structured around the idea that everyone has secrets, and it is people’s job to decide who to share their secrets with. The main character struggles with her weight, so she would starve herself for days until binge-eating and throwing up all her consumed food. During this book, she must learn how to deal with this problem and attempt to find a solution. How long can she keep her secret a secret?

This story was not my favorite book because I did not think the characters were developed well-enough for my liking, although that is partly because this was not a very long book. In addition, the end felt a little rushed. However, I did enjoy that the book contained the themes of friendship, admitting truths, being yourself, and accepting help when you need it.

I think our world has a horrible stigma about mental illnesses and health problems that can be detrimental to an individual's mental and physical health. I believe that many problems could be aided if people felt accepted for who they are and felt safe about asking for help without being ashamed. I appreciate that this book tried to help normalize eating disorders, and I hope that this story can help people see that they do not have to go through things alone and there is no shame in asking for help. Love yourself and live your best life.

I appreciate this read so much!

I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to read a story about eating disorders and letting go of people who don't appreciate you, but instead focusing on just being you.

I am so happy for both June and her sister, Mae for standing up for themselves in the end and choosing to enjoy being them instead of being conscious about what people will think of them.

This story was easy to read, understand and relate to the feelings and frustrations of the characters. Although it was short, I felt like Kate Karyus Quinn got the main points of the story out there, somehow.

I wanted to keep reading!

Thank you so much, Netgalley and West 44 Books for the opportunity to review the book. It was great!

This is a very short book written in verse. I did not really like this book as to my opinion it wasn’t showing off enough of the mental illness and the real struggle of an eating disorder. Writing in verse for this subject was probably not easy, but I think more was needed.

Not Hungry was a story written in verse about a girl named June who suffers from an eating disorder that hurts her relationship with her sister, a new love interest and herself. I think that I enjoyed that this was written in verse so that it was easily digested and quick to read, and I found that I quite liked some of the characters. However, this book lacked originality. In some cases, like the weird stalker ish love interest, this book had an interesting take on friendship and wanting to be in love.

This book fell short and made me unsatisfied. Sure the main character managed to restore her relationship with her sister and start a journey to recovery, but this book read like any other you could find. It wasn't surprising or different and I'm very sad it didn't take any other choices further.

Very disappointed that this was just an Average Joe book. Good, but average.

This book was told in a very different way than I am used to. I first I wondered when the actual book would start, then I realized the whole book was told this way, through verse. On the whole I actually really enjoyed it, it made the book fly right by. I do think readers could have been given more information if this book had been told in a traditional style, but the main point of the book was still conveyed well. I very much enjoyed reading about June and Mae's relationship and the ending was really wonderful in how they stuck up for each other. I was happy with the ending, but I wanted to keep reading. I think this is a great book for young adults to read to see how bullying can affect people. I rated this book four out of five stars.

CW. eating disorder, harassment, drug abuse, verbal abuse, low self-esteem (I think I might be missing some)


This story is really sad but at the same time important and not easy to read. The author made me feel like I was the character and that is amazing. I really enjoyed how the main character, her sister and her friend grew throughout the story. How, even though the story is sad and focused on the mental health disorders this girl have, it found a way to become a way to empower and try to help others with similar problems. Is like it says in the bok "Everybody has secrets" but there is always a way to help yourself and others around you to see things in a better light.

I know is a book that would sink deeper with so many other people, but I think, in some way is an important book for everybody to read it. Even if you don't have an eating disorder you could be like Mae or Lacey or Toby and this book would help you see how can you help others or how can you pay a little more attention to how others acts or how what you say or do affects others around you. Good job to the author to make this book so important, sad and hopeful at the same time.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

I am so disappointed in this writing. Yes, the story could have been very interesting but the set up - almost like poetry was so boring and, in my opinion, there is no association with eating disorders and poetry. I could not finish

Not Hungry by Kate Karyus Quinn, 200 pages. POETRY
West 44 Books, 2019. $20.
Language: PG (2 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
June has a secret, one that makes her lie every day to keep hidden. One day, she isn’t as diligent about making sure she’s alone, and her new neighbor becomes witness to her secret. June’s world starts to change after that not-so-secret moment, but are things getting better or worse?
I love that June’s story is told through poems. I felt like I understood her thoughts better, that I could relate to her more, and that her emotions were better conveyed through poems than they would have been through a traditional novel style. This story is one of secrets and lying, of perception and judgement, and of courage and love. I was surprised by how much I like it, not expecting it to touch my heart like it has.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

NetGalley provided for an honest review, thank you!
This book is about a girl with anorexia and bulimia who's secrets get exposed to the whole school by the end of the story. She falls for a popular jock who likes her but also keeps her as a secret. He finds out about her ED and almost uses it as a way to have her feel closer to him. I didn't like him at all but his character is the typical confused teenage popular boy who "wants his cake and eat it too" (no puns intended).

Also, the whole storyline with the sister and sisters boyfriend seemed almost disconnected. I get how he added conflict and revelations to both the sisters lives but it seemed fairly cliche BUT this is a young adult novel--have to keep that in mind.

I liked the main characters perspective on her ED though, it was realistic but by the end I feel she should have shown more worry and dread for recovery than her "okay, I'll just try to eat more" attitude. I'm happy though it ended on a positive note and she didn't bother choosing her love interest over her friend and sister.

Overall, decent story and realistic internal dialogue about eating disorders.

3/5

This is a short, yet powerful book that's written almost in verse/poetry style. As someone who suffered from a similar eating disorder in high school many many moons ago, June's story really hit me. I think this will be an impactful story for a lot of teenagers. It's about someone learning their worth. Your worth is not the size of your clothing or how a guy treats you. I loved how it ended.

Not Hungry is a book about secrets. June sees the secrets of others but has one of her own. She has an eating disorder. When her neighbor finds out about it, she is stressed beyond belief. But then she learns his secret too.

This book is written almost like a poem, short and choppy across the page (but doesn’t rhyme). This actually made the book easier to read for me because I usually skim. But in this instance it created a sort of juxtaposition of words that matched the narrator's thoughts. If I was a teen girl, I would think is short staccato like this too. Overall the book was a short and thoughtful read that shed light on the importance of honesty.
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I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀

I appreciated the style of this book. I think it would resonate well with younger teens. I kind of hated the mother, and I'm really over books about dieting/weight loss/being fat/eating disorders with a mother who is overbearing and borderline abusive. For once I'd love a book where the mother accepts her child for whom she is, and if she is told her child isn't eating, doesn't just give her broth with some veggies. This wasn't geared towards my demographic, but I thought it was definitely appropriate for the age group it is. It doesn't glamorize the eating disorder, but you can get a sense from June's perspective the sense of control she feels over her lack of eating/binge eating. The ending was sweet, and I'm glad that it was about sisterhood and friendship over boys.

A sad story about a fat girl and her sister being treated poorly because of their weight or at least that’s how it seems on the surface. At first the story seemed very sad and I wasn’t sure where the story was going. At the dance when everyone stands up for Mae I am pleasantly surprised. I’m glad the two sisters came together at the end to deal with their problems together.

The premise to this drew me in because I have dealt with my weight my whole life. I've even dealt with an eating disorder. This story really hit home and felt so real. It touched on a very sensitive subject and really showcased what it's like for someone that is dealing with an eating disorder. I really like that the story was told in verse so that the reader gets to see inside the characters head and the turmoil that this disorder causes.
Aside from just talking about eating disorders it also talks about the fat-shaming and bullying that June has to deal with which felt very real to me. It shows the emotional abuse and self-abuse. It wasn't an easy read by any stretch of the imagination but I do think it was a very good read. On a subject that isn't talked about enough. Girls and even guys are dealing with these issues and they need to know they don't have to face it alone. With that being said my only complaint was that I didn't feel there was a real resolution I guess. There needed to be something that talked about how to get help. What steps you could take to get that help if you're dealing with this issue. That's it though. Other than that I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it.

June is fat,her sister mae is also fat but beautiful.June doesnt eat much at times or throws up what she eats.Her family and friends just think she is on a diet Her friend Lacey is obsessed with the popular kids at school and starting rumors.June is tired of being hungry all the time.It is creepy that Toby likes to look into people's windows.I like the format and how it was a quick read.Toby gives mixed signals and treats her one way at school then pays attention to her at home

Written in verse, Not Hungry is about a girl who is navigating high school and her own life. She opens her story telling the reader that she is a liar- she tells the people in her life that she's not hungry, but in reality, she is always hungry. Battling her perception of herself (and her perception that others think she is fat), she attempts to restrict her food, but ends up binging and purging. Her secret is found out by a boy at school, and suddenly, her life is spiraling even more out of control.

I liked that this book was written in verse, and from the point of view of the main character. The conflict was revealed pretty early on, with other complications revealing themselves as the plot moved forward. However, the story was very short. It wasn't super complicated, and had a resolution that didn't leave the reader guessing. I would have liked more character development and plot points, but as a quick read, it was pretty good.

7/10 would recommend.

June is hungry. All the time. She is either starving, or binging and purging but because she is overweight nobody notices she has an eating disorder. They only see a fat girl on a diet. Neither June or her sister, Mae, are fine. Mas has a boyfriend that treats her like trash. He verbally abuses her. Toby is no better he has his own secrets that he dont wont out one of them being his friendship with June.

When I first requested this ARC I thought it was just poems about eating disorders. It is wrote in verse. It has a lot of issues that teens have to deal with today like fat shaming, eating disorders, and bullying. This book has a nice flow. It was easy to follow along with the characters and the story. The format made it go by quickly with isn't a bad thing. I kinda feel like the author the author could have went into more depth about ED's because they are more that binging, purging and starving. Maybe it was that way because of the format. I kinda wish it was longer but It still gave all the answers you needed. I didnt really connect with any of the characters except June a little bit because I've dealt with ED's most of my life. Given the word count the author did pretty good at keeping everything connected.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher through Netgalley.

3 stars ⭐ (i guess??)

I'm very conflicted about this book, I almost DNFD twice but I'm happy I finished...

What I DID NOT like:
- June's love interest IS PURE TRASH, from the moment he appeared I just knew he was going to treat her like shit and he did... (this was the main reason why I almost dnfd)

What I LIKED:
- June and Mae's relationship was literally the best thing about this book, you could really feel their love for each other. It made me want to have a sister.

Told in verse we follow the life of June and her struggle with anorexia breaking the myth that 'fat' girls can't be anorexic.



Her sister Mae is also a big girl while her mother seems to encourage her to lose weight while she goes under the radar of best friend Lacey who notices everything about everyone else around.



However, when Toby moves in next door, she finds herself crushing on him, Lacey does too though and she also finds out he has a secret as they spend time together though never in public.



The night of their school dance, we see how Erick is a nasty piece of work to both sisters especially as he bullies Mae into doing what he says and reveals a huge secret about June to their school...



This is a book that you could get triggered by I will say as a recovering anorexic since my early teens issues raised could trigger easily especially the talk of weight, foods and treatment from the boyfriend in the book. However for people who want to learn about eating disorders this will help them to learn how it can be a burden on lives.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!