Letting Ana Go Book Review

Just when you think you’ve read it all before, the facts come out scarier than any sci-fi novel you can think of. Letting Ana Go, a YA novel about a girl’s start, struggle, and tragic end (no spoilers, it implies that on the jacket) with anorexia, by Anonymous, hit me hard. I don’t cry over novels, but this one almost got me.

I’ve read novels about eating disorders before, but I’ve never read one that details it start to end. Typically the person already has the disorder before the piece begins. This one starts with a regular weighted girl and lets the reader watch how it all unfolds.

The syntax in it is well done. By having a journal format, Anonymous can put Ana’s weight at the top of every entry, making the dwindling number feel more real as time progresses. The dialogue format is also interesting: without the quotations, the story has a surreal quality to it. Once put inside Ana’s head, it feels as though the reader, too, can’t get out to the surrounding world.

Journal formatted novels can sometimes feel a little too protagonist oriented, but this one has a rather large cast. It works, though; seeing how people interact with Ana brings another layer of insight into her illness, from Susan and Jill, who see this as a good thing, to Ana’s Mom, Vanessa, and Jack, who are concerned, to Geoff and Ana’s Dad, who want nothing to do with it. That realism makes the ending hurt that much more.

“...seeing Mom in this state makes me think it was a good wake-up call when Susan caught me sneaking food. That’s how it starts, I think. First you sneak a doughnut, then it’s a pint of ice cream, then you’re fifteen pounds overweight and your husband is taking somebody else to Korean barbecue.”

Recommended for anyone living in shadows.

--Grace Nask