I loved the concept of this book very much. Simply because having been there as a teenager, I completely understand the expectations and pressures of being a teenage girl and wanting to feel slim as well. Whilst I never had an eating disorder (in actual fact I was an overweight teen), I related to the feelings of wanting to be thin.

The start of this book was a little bit too slow and didn’t really have an air of authenticity to it. The protagonist is Maddie who is a 17 year old girl who suffers from an eating disorder. I didn’t really understand the underlying reasons (if any) for her developing this illness asides from wanting to be skinny.

The first half of the book talked a lot about what Maddie said and did but didn’t delve nearly as much into how she felt. I felt the story line was really important, I just didn’t connect to it so much.

It really came into it’s own in the second half of the book that being said. The time Maddie spent in the clinic helped redeem the book in my eyes and I actually quite enjoyed the story from that point onwards. We start to feel her anger, her denial about even having an eating disorder, her feelings for her online friends… I actually felt something, which made the story that much better for me.

Definitely an important story for teenage girls out there who feel those pressures that society places on us. It shows the unglamourous truth about eating disorders as well as this “pro-ana” websites out there promoting this illness and actually motivating girls out there to get sicker. Books like this highlight just how serious a condition this is. ( )

Liane Shaw 's book thinandbeautiful.com caught my attention with it's mesmerizing title and situation. After seeing the book it makes me think what made the author name it like a website. I really enjoyed reading the book although it was a story of tragic since Madison the main character is anorexic and madison won't let people help her. At first the book confused me with its storys jumping back and forth between before when she went to the hospitale and after but i understood after a few chapters.
This book is about a girl name Madison who was anorexic starting at the age of eleven when her docter mentioned to her that she should keep track of what she's eating and Madsion took that as a insult of calling her fat. So at first she did more exsercise and avoided food as much as possibe. Her mom became suspicious and she had no friends at school because she thought no one was supporting her but her friends knew that she had eating disorder and try to make her eat. Madison was becoming thiner but also unhealthy. Her family members try to make her eat by making her favorite food and her dad bring back treats which made the situation worse. Madison wont want to upset her family so she forced food into her but puking it out later. Few days later when she was surfing on the web for diet tips she found a website called thinandbeautiful.com. Exactly what she want. In that website she found many "friends' who are also anorexic that are supporting her. She felt great finially somewhere that she belongs to. Good things don't last long after a trip to the docters, she was known as underweight and she is also anorexic. She is put in a speical care center for people like her and two weeks later after she was back one of her friends from thinandbeautiful.com died from a heart failure caused by eating disorder.
The theme of the book is to not care about what others think about you as long as you're yourself .And anorexia is very dangerous like it said in the book it could cause heart faileur leading to death.In the book if Madison didnt care about what her classmate said about her and misundertanding the docter calling her fat then she wouldn't become anorexic. I think it's important to watch what your eating so you dont become obesity but dont become like madison to have a unhealthy obession with losing weight.
I recommand teen girls who are crazy about who they look than how they feel to read this book. This book would be more apealing to girls because normally boys don't care about how they look so it less likely for boys to become anorexic. ( )

This is a book that really gets you inside the head of someone with an eating disorder. The thoughts seem authentic and Shaw uses her own experience with EDs as a basis. Maddie isn't always likable, but she is relatable.
It is not an easy read, we travel with her as she pushes her friends and family away, see through the lens of distorted body image, and begin on the difficult road of recovery.
I understand why all of the flashbacks where there, but it still annoyed me a bit ...more This is a book that really gets you inside the head of someone with an eating disorder. The thoughts seem authentic and Shaw uses her own experience with EDs as a basis. Maddie isn't always likable, but she is relatable.
It is not an easy read, we travel with her as she pushes her friends and family away, see through the lens of distorted body image, and begin on the difficult road of recovery.
I understand why all of the flashbacks where there, but it still annoyed me a bit. (It established the long standing of the friendship with Annie and Maddie)
This is a really tough issue to write about without glorifying the disease but Shaw did a great job, and I would recommend to anyone who wants to see what the struggle is like, and to see hope at the end of the tunnel. ( )

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Maddie considers herself pretty normal. At the age of eleven, she began thinking, and yes, worrying, about her appearance. But aren't most girls concerned about things like hair, make-up, and weight? It may have been that visit to the doctor for a physical that got the problem started.

It was a routine sports physical. After the exam and Maddie was back in her clothes, the doctor came into the room to chat. Part of the conversation was a warning from him that girls her age need to start watching what they eat so they don't put on "unwanted" pounds.

Those words stayed with Maddie, and as her desire to create the perfect figure began to occupy more of her thoughts, those words may have urged her to go way beyond what was healthy and wise.

Most of THINANDBEAUTIFUL.COM involves Maddie writing about herself and confronting the fact that she is suffering from an eating disorder. She has many people who offer her support, but recognizing whose support she should seek is difficult.

Her family and school friends are ready to do whatever is necessary, but she is drawn to an online chat group known as Girls Without Shadows. Their belief is that they have the right to do what they want to their bodies in their desire to be thin and beautiful. The idea of eating disorders does not exist for them.

Author Liane Shaw presents the all too common problems of anorexia and bulimia in stark detail as she helps Maddie tell her story. The excuses and denial typical of those with eating disorders is made plain for all to see. Anyone suffering with one or both of these disorders, or anyone who knows someone who is, will benefit from reading Maddie's story. ( )