Thank you to the author for writing a story of what it is like to hate yourself, and your body. Using a scrapbook-like style, the author draws memories and thoughts for us that led to her finding love for herself. If you have struggled before with your body, especially as a younger person, this will probably resonate with you. All of the ugly thoughts I have had about myself were shown in brutal and honest truth, and I appreciate this story for taking the time to break those moments down.

I wish there had been a bit more of a section on how the author came to love herself, but overall this was an emotional and touching read. Her art is beautiful, quite realistic and in some instances, haunting.

CW: self-hatred, body dysmorphia, struggles with body image, fatphobia, dieting, bullying, suicide

Thank you to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press Inc. for the ARC.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to netgalley, the publisher, & the incredible author for giving me the opportunity to read this true work of art.
The writing paired with her art felt like the most gorgeous sunset was taken & bound into a book. I’m completely in love.
I’ve never in my life come across a book that made me feel seen. Her struggles as a “fat kid” mirrored mine so perfectly. I was sad reading it only because I experienced it, I knew how she felt, I look back and hate that I spent so much of my childhood and teen years obsessing over my weight when I should have just been living!! I want to hand this book to my younger self.
Okay but on to her drawings. Wow just wow. I’m in awe at the sheer talent.
Dear Marie Noelle, thank you for bringing this book, your story, and your art into the world.

This was more of a scrapbook of images that evoked sadness in me. Body image is such a struggle for many and this book will engage a conversation. The imagery was beautifully dark with emotion.


Thank you NetGalley for the arc

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC of My Body in Pieces in exchange for an honest review.

My Body in Pieces is more of a collection of snapshots than a story. We follow Marie-Noelle, a young women that has been struggling with her weight and how she sees herself. The illustration is beautiful and as a plus size women myself I could relate to the character.

This book had all the potential to be really great for me. I am also plus-sized and have major insecurities about it. However, it missed the mark. It was quite jarring in numerous ways. The first being the art style. Some of the pictures were rendered in crazy, beautiful detail yet some were like a blurry collection of shapes. The two forms weren't cohesive. Second, was the way it jumped between subjects. I understand how background on her best friend and her father are relevant to her overall journey, but the way they were presented within the narrative was really stiff. It was hard to follow. Oh, okay, we're here now. Op, now we're over here. And no where for more than a few pages.

The picture of her parents felt inconsistent. Of course, I understand it is the nature of people to be inconsistent, but I wasn't sure what she wanted me to think of them or of their part in her life. In character terms, they weren't "fleshed out." Not that anyone was. But at least her best friend, Matilda had a clear motivation. It's difficult to criticize stories that are autobiographical, but ultimately you have to make the true events work in book form. Here, they did not.

The intention of the book also seemed to change throughout. At first it seemed to want to illustrate Marie's journey as an overweight girl into adulthood. Then it felt like a thank you letter to Matilda, then it felt a little self-help. It was supposed to be, here's what Marie learned, but it felt more like what the book wanted ME to have learned.

Ultimately, the intention was good but the execution lacked.

This brought me to tears. The way that this book so perfectly captured what it is like to grow up in a larger body, constantly being pressured to change. I grew up in a larger body before losing a lot of weight when I was a teenager. The part where she shops at sears, that was similar to my experience. Eating disorders and disordered eating is something often ignored in literature. This was a beautiful piece that I want to recommend to everyone. TW: Eating disorder, disordered eating, suicide, self harm

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

My Body in Pieces is a beautiful graphic novel/memoir that gives us an inside look into the mind and experience of an individual suffering from self-esteem issues, anxiety, and depression. As someone who has struggled with these issues in the past and currently experiences a lot of anxiety, these words were something that I needed to read.

The format of this book being a graphic novel really added an extra layer of depth to the author's story and experiences. Being able to see images that correlate with their words made me feel like I was right there with them in their mind. I appreciate the rawness of the writing and images and that the author was so open with their experiences, even things that you could tell were more difficult for them to share.

I encourage everyone to pick up My Body in Pieces and give their time to it - it won't take you long to read, but the message and author's words will stick with you long after you finish.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

I really, really didn't like this book. The storyline made absolutely no sense and I had a hard time keeping up with the story. The message is good, but I'm sure the author could have told it in a million different ways. The translation was also not my favorite (it often felt like it had been done by an amateur or by Google Translate). The art style was okay, but it wouldn't have made me pick the book up in a store.

This story shows one's struggle with thoughts that take on more people than we want to realize. It's real and raw. She has to convince herself to love herself. It's short and to the point. It makes you remember that you are never alone, even if you try to be, and things do get better eventually.

My Body in Pieces is an emotional memoir of a young woman’s ongoing struggle with body image, self esteem, and self love. First off, I want to thank the author for sharing everything in her memoir with the world. You are beautiful and courageous, and your story is alike to so many that will find themselves within your pages.

This story addresses self hate, bullying, emotional eating, societal expectations placed on young women, and parental influences of body shame passed down generation to generation with the message that pretending to look perfect was more important than to just love yourself the way you were.

The illustrations were beautifully detailed in graphite. There were a few images that were more blurry and my only critique on the art would be to add more detail to a few of the more blurry images. Most of them are absolutely stunning though! A truly talented artist!

I didn’t find much of an encouraging message from the author/illustrator to leave with the readers going through the same feelings of body image though. This memoir reveals the author has identified the influences shaping her own feelings around her self image and is making steps in her healing process, but I think this memoir’s purpose is to be cathartic for the author and relatable to the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Anansi Press / Groundwood Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Gorgeous & real, this reads like a love letter from the author to herself; unflinching & bold & daring to love.

[What I liked:]

•Magnificent art! Sometimes it’s almost photo realistic, but with this blurry softness to it.

•There is mainly one theme: body image & self esteem. It’s explored from several angles: childhood memories, family influences, pop culture messaging, etc. I appreciate the nuance & depth. It’s not an easy topic to be so honest about & go so deep into.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I would have liked a bit more about her process of recovery, learning to love herself, etc. That part is so beautiful, and it’s the part I want to stick most in my mind.

•Sometimes the text is very small, a bit hard to read. I realize this is a stylistic choice, though.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

My Body in Pieces is a memoir of Marie's journey to adulthood. This graphic novel shows her struggle with her body image, self hate and self esteem. It shows how much people's words can really tear you down when you already feel so low. It encases a beautiful friendship of a woman named Matilda, who helps Marie find the therapy she needs. The writing was well done and the book itself was a quick read.

3.5/5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and House of Anansi Press Inc. / Groundwood Books for allowing me to read and review this book!

The graphics really spoke to me and I found myself relating to more and more of them as the story went on. The emphasis on the artwork really left a lot of the images up to interpretation which, im my opinion, makes it even stronger. I appreciated the story that was being told about body image and think a lot of people can relate. The author hit on a lot of specific things that I've struggled with growing up, so the thoughts of the main character really resonated with me. However, I think it would have been cool if at the end of the book, the MC started to love herself more and the images slowly turned to color, as if seeing herself from a different perspective for the first time.

A fragmented graphic novel done entirely in pencil illustrations. Some of the illustrations hit the uncanny valley for me. I liked the up-close ones of faces, but the full-body shots of people moving were a little off. I did like the story of learning to accept your body as it is. However, the narrative was too jarring for me to fully connect, and I felt that some of the emotional resonance was lost in translation. Would like to read the original French to see if I connect with it more that way.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

A poignant story about the author's body image. It was really touching. I wish nobody would have to go through this and it sincerely breaks my heart. For this reason I really recommend this book.

On a more technical level, I personally didn't like the drawings, but that's really my opinion and it didn't affect in any way the story. I also would have like for it to be more developed, because I feel like 100 pages is really short and we would relate even more to Marie-Noelle if it was longer.

The art is gorgeous and so full of emotion. The story is relatable for so many people, but would have benefited from being drawn out more. The art makes the reader/viewer connect to the pain of the protagonist but we see very little of the work she does to free herself of so many of the negative thoughts tearing her down.

Thank you NetGalley and House of Anasi Press for this ARC! My Body in Pieces is a graphic memoir of the author's struggles with body image. Recalling memories both in her childhood and as an adult, she shows her struggle to accept her body. The illustrations in this graphic memoir are hyper-realistic and the author is clearly a very talented artist, even though they are not my personal preference with illustrations. The black and white palette fits the intense and at times disturbing content. While I think most women will relate to the deep feelings of body hatred that come across in this graphic memoir, the narrative itself is disjointed and difficult to follow at times. It's more of glimpses into certain scenes and feelings rather than one cohesive story. Please note major content warnings for eating disorders and suicide. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Bookstagram after the book is published, around April 8.

3.5 stars. The art style of this book was absolutely beautiful. There were some beautiful lines and as a girl who has struggle with weight/appearance my whole life, I really resinated with them. One of my favorites was where she talked about how she was invisible and how she doesn't have time to keep up with experiences because she has to be keeping up the tasks she needs to do to keep weight off. But, I did feel like the writing was a little all over the place and didn't convey any sort of storyline, which I could see how that could've been intentional, but it makes it a little complicated to understand the narrative. I did really enjoy it though and I'd love to pick up a hard copy to see the beautiful art on a page.

Thank you for providing this to me early.

The charcoal art was stunning and is one of my favorite styles of illustrations.

It’s always hard to rate a memoir, but I feel I must be honest. The writing seemed a bit all over the place, I didn’t feel as though it flowed well, story wise. There was some beautiful lines, however I was looking for something a bit deeper. I just felt like I was lacking something, and this is coming from a girl who struggled with weigh, was bullied, and still struggles with self-love. I was hoping to feel that connection and just didn’t get there.