Lia has been haunted by her former best friend, Cassie, since Cassie died in a shady motel after calling Lia 33 times with no answer. They shared an obsessive need to be the thinnest, which earlier landed them both in the hospital and ultimately ended Cassie's life. Lia cannot move on: Cassie and anorexia continue to consume her. She is always thinking about food, calculating the calories in everything she does or could eat, and longing for the numbers on the scale to drop until she disappears. She sees, smells, and hears the ghost of Cassie urging her to continue destroying herself until there is nothing else, so that they can be together again.
Anderson has masterfully put words to the internal dialog, emotions, and mental processes of the eating disordered. Stream-of-consciousness narrative and typographical choices emphasize the tension and obsessiveness and darkness of Lia's reality. Poignant language and good research make this book both authentic and captivating.