| Title: Dancing With Ana |  |
 |
| Author: Nicole Barker | ||
| Genre: Contemporary | ||
| Publisher: The Golden Road Press | ||
| Elements: Eating Disorder | ||
| Series: Stand Alone |
Ana? Who is this Ana we're talking about? This story is in fact, about a 16 year old girl named Beth. She's smart, has 3 best friends and seems to have a prefect life: surfing, lounging, hanging out with friends etc.Beth is a lucky girl. She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she’s grown up with has the most amazing green eyes. Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed.
Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?
Sixteen year old Beth Baxter’s life merely resembles the one she’s always known. Her father has left. She is falling for Jeremy Duscana and the diet she started has somehow turned into an obsession.
Yet her three best friends remain the same, always there for her. But even their love can’t save her from herself.
But that's all on the outside, and we all know how much looks can be deceiving. For Beth is deeply unhappy inside, having to come to terms with her parents' divorce and her eating disorder while pretending that everything's A-okay.
With every dark cloud, there's a silver lining (What's with me and all these idioms?) and Beth's silver lining comes in the form of Jeremy. Their love blossoms slowly and innocently, and it's one of the bright sparks in Beth's life. Well developed and realistic, the romance still makes me "awwww" at times, even though it might seem a bit rushed.
Okay, after some Googling, I found out that Ana is a character in the book, though not in the conventional way. It's the short form for Anorexia Nervosa, the eatin disorder that Beth suffers from. There's no real reason for her to diet, except for the fact that she just wants to lose weight.
As for the dancing, there is both a figurative side to it (the way Beth 'toyed' with her unhealthy diet taking 2 steps forward and very rarely, one step back), but there is also a literal dance - in the way she danced her heart out at the end of the book. Dancing away her pain, sadness, anger, frustration and disappointement. The way she released her demons to the sky.
Colour me slow, but isn't this supposed to be about bulimia rather than anorexia? Thus shouldn't the book be called "Dancing with Bul" instead?
4 comment(s):
I'm popping by to offer some cheering! Give me an R! Give me an E! Give me an A! Give me a D! What does that spell?! Read! Read! Read!
Congrats on all the books you've read-you're doing great!
I saw the cover for this a while ago but I didn't read what it was about - you've got me interested now! Thanks for explaining about the title name too, I was wondering where "Ana" came from when I read her name was Beth. Great review! :)
I thought the story was a bit rushed, too, but overall it was a worthwhile read.
--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
This is probably dumb, but the summary bugs me a little, because if she's "sticking her fingers down her throat" then that's bulemia, not anorexia, and then the title doesn't work AT ALL.
Okay, rant over. Great review!! :)