Skinny by Donna Cooner

‘Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful.’

She’s heard these words a million times, and they only get louder.

Skinny revolves around an ordinary girl, Ever Davies, but her weight and physical appearance renders her more than ordinary to the people around her. She weighs a hefty 302 pounds and is only the centre of attention for being a laughing stock in school. However, the mockery and laughter from the people around her is nothing compared to a strong, growing voice inside her head that constantly encourages her – negatively. This voice is none other than Skinny, the part of Ever that juxtaposes her outer image. Skinny’s voice haunts Ever constantly and the battles between them never stops, with how she constantly views herself, physically. Even in the process of weight loss and starting anew, Skinny never left Ever’s head – and she has to learn to go against it, and pluck up the courage to reveal the voice inside her.

Written by an author, who has underwent the same experience as Ever, I personally find this book memorable as it follows a very simple storyline, yet it gives the character and the heated argument going on inside Ever, a powerful and overcoming voice, hence giving the story its unique character. I never knew what the title of the book meant until I opened up the book and Skinny started speaking. Surprisingly, I was touched by the poignant storyline and the whirl of emotions the author has put across so that readers can feel for Ever and learn from her.

I believe each of us has a certain form of Skinny in each of our minds all the time., that injects negative thoughts into our minds to prevent us from living our lives to the fullest. We fight with it but end up believing that we are fighting a losing battle and we let our lives be decided by this voice which knows nothing of our talents and capabilities at all. This voice will always live with us, be a part of us and we need to learn how to step up for ourselves. So why not give this book a try and hopefully, after reading it, it will trigger the inner voice in you and you will not let the ‘”Skinny in your mind define you.

Renee Ong

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