Running Free

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A book review of Running Free: My Battle With Anorexia by Rebecca Quinlan

A book review of Running Free: My Battle With Anorexia by Rebecca Quinlan

Stars: *****

SRL Publishing (2022)
Eating Disorders
330 pages

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Summary: From Olympic hopeful to hours away from death, a harrowing yet inspirational true story of suffering and recovery from severe anorexia nervosa.

Running Free is a ground-breaking memoir of suffering and ongoing recovery providing hope and inspiration to the many sufferers, carers, and families of this chronic disease showing that recovery is always possible.

From being a top ranking athlete to repeated and lengthy hospital admissions, Rebecca has been at rock bottom and only a few hours between life and death. Now in recovery, Rebecca is using her experience to bring awareness to not just anorexia, but to the suffering of being controlled by it, what motivated her to keep going, and also to highlight the dangers of eating disorders in sport.

Running Free

I always feel weird saying it was a good book when it’s about something so not good. The book was well written, engaging and helpful to those already in recovery from eating disorders.

I do not recommend it to those who are just figuring out that they have an eating disorder. The book talks about all the little tricks she used to fool people into thinking she was eating more than she was. She gives a few notes to say she does NOT recommend doing these but to someone new to anorexia, it could be introducing them to tricks. However I do recommend it to those on the road to recovery who feel like it’s not possible or maybe even that they don’t want to recover because they don’t see what’s wrong with it.

I read the book in just a few days because it was so gripping. I would also recommend the book to those who KNOW someone who struggles with anorexia. Reading this could help them understand how they think. Even the author had to challenge her thoughts about what anorexia was before she could realize she was struggling with it.

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About Kathleen

I've been a nonfiction lover for as long as I can remember. I love children's nonfiction as well and love to share my knowledge and the books I gained them from, with the world. I wish more people would give nonfiction a chance.