Review: The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

Title: The Girls at 17 Swann Street

Author: Yara Zgheib

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publishing Date: February 5th, 2019

Pages: 384
Audio Length: 7 Hours and 49 Minutes

Genre: Contemporary
TW: Suicide, Anorexia, Bulimia 

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.
Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.
Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.

What made me pick this book up: 

I had seen it everywhere, and I thought the cover mixed with the title was interesting. So I had to see what it was about.

What did I like about the cover: 

This cover is just kind of meh to me. I mean it makes sense that it has girls on the cover and I do love that it's very soft. But I'm not so big on it for some reason. I think it's too... simple? Maybe. I can't put my finger on what I don't like. 

What made me read this book: 

The story. I actually really like reading books like this. I want to believe that the people are going to get better. 

What did I like the most: 

Like I said. The main reason I like these type of books (In rehab, self harm, anorexia, etc.) is because I want to know that these people get help. That they can get better. It's such a hard but important subject. And I think it's great if they have a happy ending. It can really show people that just because they're going through something rough, that it can get better. Sometimes it just takes work.

The story is a good one. I loved reading about all the girls at 17 Swann Street. I loved how real and raw this book was. It didn't sugar coat it. 

I saw everything happening right before my eyes. Like I was there. With that being said, this book was written really well. 

I liked the main character, because she was strong. She was going through something so hard, and she was angry at first. She didn't want to get better. She was scared. But she learned so much while she was there. And she met people who could help her. And that's important too. People need to know they can't do it by themselves. And that they need someone to lean on, and that's perfectly okay.

The ending was everything I had hoped it would be.

*Spoilers highlight over to read* The ending was so realistic. She WANTED to get better. She realized how much she had to live for. It wasn't one of those "oh she went to rehab and now she's better and it's all sunshine and rainbows." It was she's willing to work for it. And even though she's not 100% better, she can be. She will be. And I loved that. *End spoiler*

What didn't I like: 

It started off kind of blah. It took me a bit to love Anna, and to really be able to care for her. But once I did I was rooting hard for her.

I feel like even though the author wrote the characters and emotions well, that she could have had better descriptions for the looks of the characters and the area they were in. 

But that's it. It was a bit slow at times, but for the most part it worked.

Oh and the narrator was kind of hard to understand at times. She talked slow but her accent made it hard to speed up. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Absolutely. 

This book started slow to me. But in the end I loved it more than I thought I would. 

“The dark, ironically, makes many things far too clear.” 
― Yara Zgheib, The Girls at 17 Swann Street

Yara Zgheib is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a PhD in International Affairs in Diplomacy from Centre D'études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris. She is fluent in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish. Yara is a writer for several US and European magazines, including The Huffington Post, The Four Seasons Magazine, A Woman’s Paris, The Idea List, and Holiday Magazine. She writes on culture, art, travel, and philosophy on her blog, "Aristotle at Afternoon Tea"