Now I understand

Everyone always asks me why teen books are so depressing. I often tell people it's because teens are going through a lot of emotional stuff. They have a lot going on. Someone I was talking to said "But if they are sad then why read sad books? Why not read something happy?" I shrugged. I never knew that answer to that, until now. Now I understand.

My life is a wreck right now. Things are not what I expected. Things seem to be unraveling. I'm just a mess. So I thought now was the perfect time for some teen angst.

Maddie comes from a good home. Both parents love her, she has friends at school, things are good until she hits puberty. That's when she has an uncomfortable visit at the doctor's office. The doctor tells her to start watching what she is eating. Maddie is short, curvy and has curly brown hair(OMG its me!) and since she's not growing up she can only grow out. Deciding to take matters into her own hands Maddie starts to diet. She doesn't want to be fat anymore. She wants to be thin and beautiful.

She takes her dieting to an extreme and logs onto the website thinandbeautiful.com to find out how to lose weight. She also finds friends there that give her support. Meanwhile her life in the "real world" is slowly falling apart. Her grades are slipping, her long time friendship is destroyed and her relationship with her parents is suffering as well.

The book takes place while she is in rehab and flashes back to how she got there. Maddie believes there is nothing wrong with her, but others think different.

Overall, I liked the book. My own dark mood may have played a factor into liking this novel. I needed angst. I got it. Now I understand why teens read angst filled novels. They feel connected to the characters, feel like someone is sharing in their pain. They like to know that there are others out there like them. And maybe for just a minute you look at the main character and say "wow her life is way worse than mine."