Nothing like the end of the month approaching to make you catch up on reviews you’ve been putting off!
#thighgap – Chandler Morrison (Released August 30th, 2022)
You can see my thoughts on Morrison’s other book, DEAD INSIDE, here!
Book Description:
Los Angeles fashion model Helen Troy wasn’t always skinny. Drastic weight loss has given her everything–money, confidence, attention, respect. Being thin has legitimized her, and starvation has become an addiction.
Following an encounter with a seemingly “perfect” rival model who destabilizes Helen’s shaky self-confidence and shatters her fragile illusion of control, she’s sent into a tragic tailspin that will take her to the lowest depths of hell. Nightmarish versions of herself begin materializing in mirrors, and her tried-and-true coping mechanisms stop working. Reality comes apart at the seams as Helen’s disease manifests in increasingly self-destructive fashions, forcing her to ask herself…
What does perfection look like, and how much would you sacrifice to obtain it?
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars
This is my second book by Morrison and after reading DEAD INSIDE I had no idea what to expect. First impressions for #thighgap? Look at that cover! It ended up tying into the story so perfectly. This is very different from DEAD INSIDE, and I think that’s good to know prior to starting. While the subject-matter is shocking, it is in an entirely different way (don’t worry, no cannibalism here). So I’m not entirely sure how to talk about this book without potentially spoiling anything, but here we go.
Helen Troy is a sought after fashion model living in Los Angeles. She takes pride in being the skinniest person in the room wherever she goes, mainly because she wasn’t always this thin. Being skinny has brought her fame, money, and the respect she’s always wanted, so being anything but thin isn’t an option. This book deals heavily in eating disorders and body dysmorphia as well as drug addiction. Normally for horror books I feel some content warnings end up spoiling endings but this book is almost entirely focused on these topics.
I honestly think the only reason I didn’t like this one as much as DEAD INSIDE is because of some of the dialog. I didn’t understand the fixation on sunglasses in this book. I mean, I can understand that labels are everything to Helen and that it shows your status and wealth, but it was only the sunglasses that were always mentioned. Otherwise this was a great little horror novel with some good body horror and I wasn’t expecting it to end the way that it did. Obviously I’ll be getting more from Morrison after this.
Jessicamap Reviews 