Skinny by Donna Cooner

I first heard about Skinny from Staci on Twitter. After she mentioned it, I immediately put it on my library queue. I loved Skinny. I immediately feel in love with Ever and her story.
Ever Davies is sixteen years old and weighs 302. Other than her friend, Rat, Ever feels like she's alone expect Ever's ever present companion, Skinny. Skinny tells Ever that she's fat, worthless, and unloveable. Ever believes Skinny and her hateful words. Desperate to stifle Skinny, Ever decides to have gastric bypass. Ever's journey was beautiful and tearjerking.
I can relate to Ever's struggles. I've been struggling with my weight since I was 10. And I struggle with my own version of Skinny. I've gotten her to shut up about my weight but she still taunts me about my other imperfections. Both Ever and I realized that everyone has their own Skinny, a voice that puts them down in their heads. Many people are able to silence that voice or ignore it but plenty of people live everyday (skinny, overweight, pretty, average looking, tall, short, rich, poor) with a voice, berating them. I saw this book as a way to help people rid themselves of that voice. Ever's weight didn't create Skinny, Ever did. And when you realize other people struggle with their own version of Skinny, then you realize you are not alone in your struggle.
I liked that Ever's journey didn't end at the gastric bypass. Skinny stuck around after that. While I felt the book pushed gastric bypass a little hard (the author had gastric bypass herself), I was glad it wasn't shown as a magic solution to Ever's problems.
I highly recommend Skinny to anyone. If you've heard a voice in your head telling you that you are worthless, unloveable, ugly, fat, nobody, this is the book for you. At times it was difficult to read. My own nagging voice piped up about my weight more than once while I read this, but Ever's triumphs made it all worth it. They felt like they were mine. Others who shared their thoughts on Skinny: The Perpetual Page Turner, Midnight Book Girl, I'd So Rather Be Reading, Love & Life & Learning, and Sophistikatied Reviews.