I almost didn't finish this book but since I had already invested a fair amount of time, I wanted to see it through. There were parts that went quickly and then other parts where there were too many details that I just wanted to skip over.

It was refreshing to read a memoir in which the author did not predictably close the book by saying she's "fixed" and her life is now perfect. While I'm sure some authors do this, it never seems authentic. It was wonderful to read a book in which the author admits to still struggling despite having recovered from her "lowest" point. No one does, and when you read novels with Lifetime movie-esque endings, it can make the reader feel ashamed and abnormal (otherwise, I'd go to the self-help section) as well as discouraged and alienated if they aren't "cured"—especially if they are the same age or older than the supposedly "changed" author. I don't have an eating disorder, but I've struggled with other addictions, low self-esteem, and a double life. I'm glad she admitted it without sounding arrogant. I'm glad she included a happy (but realistic) ending.

A beautifully-written memoir of life with a lesser-understood eating disorder. Burton examines in fine detail her life as a teenage girl, her attempts to reinvent herself, and the toll disordered eating took on her both physically and mentally.

I am not a binge eater, so I really knew nothing about the emotional aspect of what this disorder can cause. This book gave me a glimpse of what a binge eater may experience. This book was a very honest look at this. People that have labeled people with this disorder, needs to read this book. Your thoughts will be changed. To the author, thank you. Thank you for enlightening us on this subject and I salute you for your honesty. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I applaud Burton for laying bare so much of her struggles in this memoir. It is no easy feat. That being said, the book did read a bit slow at times. I would recommend this book to others who struggle with eating disorders - because I think the epilogue brought the resolution that was lacking in the text.

I heard about this book on a podcast and was interested in this memoir and learning about this author’s experience. I started this book but eventually lost interest from the beginning. This story organization lost my interest and so I didn’t finish it.

This book was okay, but it wasn’t quite a memoir. The author has a fantastic way of weaving together her story and the feelings that led her down the path of binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia. I could feel her pain as she described trying to fill herself with food to avoid feeling while simultaneously wishing she could just be empty and devoid of everything. It is kind of amazing to hear her story and how long she his these struggles from everyone, even while away at college. It is a painful and emotional journey to follow along with, but to see her ultimately overcome and have a successful journalistic career is truly astounding.

This is about Susan's journey with eating disorders and what may have caused it.

I enjoyed her openness and the details she gave of her life. I have all the respect in the world with her courage to let us look so closely at her. This is a hard topic for so many, myself included. It was insightful and helpful.

I've read a bunch of books about eating disorders (both memoirs and novels), and I find it somewhat rare for a writer to truly capture what it feels like to struggle with this type of mental illness. With "Empty," Susan Burton is brave enough to let us crawl inside her brain for awhile, but perhaps more importantly, she allows us to live inside her body. Tormented by periods of both anorexia and binge eating disorder, Burton describes the thrill and feeling of achievement that can come from restricting and the horror and disgust that can accompany a binge. With each detail, Burton unveils the complicated and terrifying journey of someone with an out-of-control eating disorder.

The majority of "Empty" is focused on Burton's childhood and young adulthood - her complex relationships with her parents, her experience of moving to Boulder, Colorado as a girl, and all of the simultaneously confusing and exciting experiences that go along with surviving school and friends. The most captivating part of the book to me was her descriptions of her life at Yale - a time when her binge eating was the most dangerous. This was a time in Burton's life when her eating disorder completely took over - and it's evident in her struggles with her classes, her relationships with roommates and friends, her feelings about herself, etc. Burton describes the intense shame and hatred of herself with such clarity and openness that it's like she's laying bare her soul for everyone to see.

I would have loved more focus on how Burton has been able to gain some recovery from her eating disorder. For myself, recovery has been a process of ups and downs, and I was left wondering how Burton is coping with these challenges in her adult life. However, above all, I feel like this memoir is a gift to anyone who has struggled with body image or their relationship with food - even if you haven't experienced a full-fledged eating disorder, Burton's writing is intimate and honest enough to inspire a sort of kinship with her. For those with eating disorders, Burton's story will most likely serve as a reminder that even in the darkest depths of despair, there is always someone who has been there and who has somehow crawled out into the light.

Honest and thought provoking- especially for me, as I’ve always been super conscious about my weight all my life. The way the author described going deeper into her eating disorders was done with clarity and grace - she writes in a way where you feel like you’re talking to a good friend. All in all, a fantastic read!

In the end, this book was not for me. I hesitate to give a negative review when I know she is completely putting herself out there…that part, I totally admire. But honestly, I wish she had spent a few chapters outlining her struggles and then the second half of the book talking about how she overcame them. It was mainly one big long diatribe of her circular behavior between not getting her emotional needs met and then going back to food every time. Then, repeat. Over and over and over ad nauseam (literally). Again, I so admire her for putting this out there and her writing is strong but I just kept waiting for her to talk about her turning point. Also, how was she maintaining these incredibly destructive eating habits and still managing to be a successful student? (and not just at any school, at Yale for Pete’s sake) And then she goes on to be a successful writer and work at NPR. Towards the end she mentions it was a gradual recovery (and hints that she is still struggling in some ways). But honestly, I still wanted to hear more about that part...since I suffered through the dark and low bits, I wanted to hear more about the light. This was an incredibly well-written and interesting look at eating disorders, a subject we don’t often hear about, that would have been infinitely better as an essay instead of in the form of a book.

Memoir walks such a fine line between over sharing and glossing over. I am pleased to say that Susan Burton's memoir, Empty, is balanced and open. She gives readers the whole of her 30 year journey, and her story is compelling, emotional, and at times difficult and frightening.
I appreciated her willingness to explore and expose what was happening in her world, and what external and internal motivations kept her living within her patterns of disordered eating.
I am confident that Empty will make a fantastic book discussion selection, especially for our parent/teen book club. It's a book that I immediately wanted to share so that I could have someone with whom to discuss and debate. 4.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Empty was POWERFUL. This is a memoir about an eating disorder and it was incredibly eye opening. It was also page-turnery due to the powerful writing!

I found that this book was a little hard to get into. I was expecting a memoir type book about a woman who was going through an eating disorder however the book felt more clinical and colder than memoirs usually do. I found our main character very hard to relate to and the story didn't help much because it made our main character seem almost cold instead of a real person who went through real problems. I also found the main character to be very cold and almost robotic at times. Even when they were talking about things that happened in her past she still didn't seem like a real human to me. I did feel for her a bit but it was almost like an alien describing what they think needs to be said. I struggled to finish that book and considering the subject that is something that rarely happens. Interesting idea in concept however I think that the delivery of it was a bit lacking. It wasn't until about half way through the novel that it really started to pick up. I got more insight into the author and what she was going through so that was very nice. Much more of what I was expecting when I picked up the book in the first place. There were lots of things that I would chance about this book but it did have its redeeming qualities. So I would say that this book was about fifty-fifty in my opinions of it.

This is such an important book on a subject that doesn't receive enough attention. Susan bravely steps forward and tells her story that's at times heart wrenching and hopeful in order to face her demons and to help other girls out there who may be facing the same situation. Absolutely pick up this winner of a book and cheer for Susan as she struggles to conquer her demons. A definite must read. Happy reading!

This would be a great book to discuss in either a health-related curriculum and/or a psychology class. The psychological ramifications of divorce in a family can result in addictions...in this case it manifests itself as an eating disorder. The book was well written and held my interest.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Susan Burton for the opportunity to read and review her memoir about her eating disorder.

Susan takes us on her journey to wellness, from a fairly-typical childhood, to parents divorcing and moving from Michigan to Colorado, where the need to reinvent herself began in her early teens. She loved the empty feeling that starving herself brought on; later, her switch to binge eating brought out self-loathing and a desire to do better the next day. Through all her internal struggles, Susan achieved much; however, she could never reveal her secrets to anyone and therefore continued to be "less than."

This is such a brave and powerful book. In the days of social media, I can't imagine raising a teenage girl. It's hard enough as an adult to see the images projected that cause us to question our own self-image. And food is the one addiction that you can't get away from. We have to eat to live; therein, lies the problem. There probably isn't a woman alive who can't relate to these struggles of the number on the scale being equal to how we feel about ourselves.

Thank you to Susan for speaking out. Hopefully, someone will be where you were and find your book that will speak to them and their struggles.

As hard as this book was to read at times, I imagine it was much more difficult to write. The author's struggle with eating disorders is illustrated in a great way, and makes you realize just how hard it is for people that deal with these issues on a daily basis.

Empty brings you into a teenager’s world of feeling out of control, as her parents struggle to keep things together, and eventually divorce. Susan finds herself struggling with anorexia and binge eating. As many teens, young people , middle aged people, and older people struggle with body dysmorphia as they see photoshopped images everywhere, Susan’s story may be difficult, but connections to some thoughts are evident. She is open and honest about her struggles and gives hope of breaking the cycle. As I moved more deeply into her story, I was hopeful for her to love herself. Deep, emotional read,

I always think how incredibly brave a person has to be, to put their personal struggle down in words. Eating disorder, anorexia, bulemia, binge eating, struggles with body image, all issues with which many struggle. The author dealt with some of these, and it made her life a struggle on a daily basis. Always afraid to let others know what was going on, she became an expert at hiding her troubles. She never felt good about herself, hated the way her body looked. It colored every aspect of her life.

She has come to terms with her illness with the help of others, but this will be an issue with which she always needs to be aware. A very readable and honest look at a very personal matter, but something that is at the forefront of our current culture. Body image is something many young girls struggle with and images in magazines and television add to their confusion. Susan's story will hopefully help others with these same issues.

ARC from Netgalley