“It doesn’t matter how awful celery tastes, nothing will ever taste as good as skinny feels.” With a title that appropriates Kate Moss’s famous line on dieting and body image, Claire Hennessy’s new novel sets out its stall from the beginning. Nothing Tastes as Good is young adult crossover fiction that centres on the tale of two older teenagers with eating disorders....Both female leads are engaging and vibrant. Annabel’s snarky voice and frustration at being dead bring comedy to her sad story. Julia’s intelligence and outward-looking attitude offer a plucky modern heroine who has been brought low by circumstance. Her history with Call Me Dermot is well handled, a complex subplot that doesn’t villainise but rather presents a real picture of a questionable situation.
Louise O’Neill’s novels come to mind in terms of theme and the way important subjects for young women are intelligently explored. “This is why we look at pictures, to inspire us,” says Annabel in one of her many haunting lines. “To help us see what we can be, to remind us that we can be better.”