The Disappearing Girl Blog Tour - Review

Tour Dates: July 8-13

Title: The Disappearing Girl

Author: Heather Topham Wood

Release date: May 7, 2013

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tour organized by: AToMRTours

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble 

 

Book Description:

Kayla Marlowe is slowly vanishing…
Last year, Kayla’s world imploded. Her beloved father died, leaving her alone with a narcissistic mother who is quick to criticize her daughter’s appearance. During her winter break from college, Kayla’s dangerous obsession with losing weight begins.
Kayla feels like her world changes for the better overnight. Being skinny seems to be the key to the happiness she has desperately been seeking. Her mother and friends shower her with compliments, telling her how fantastic she looks. Kayla is starving, but no one knows it.
Cameron Bennett explodes into Kayla’s life. He’s sexy and kind—he has every quality she has been looking for in a guy. As Cameron grows closer to Kayla and learns of how far she’s willing to go to stay thin, he becomes desperate to save her.
Kayla’s struggles with anorexia and bulimia reach a breaking point and she is forced to confront her body image issues in order to survive. She wonders if Cameron could be the one to help heal her from the pain of her past. 

About Heather

Heather Topham Wood’s obsession with novels began in childhood while growing up in a shore town in New Jersey. Writing since her teens, she recently returned to penning novels after a successful career as a freelance writer. She’s the author of the paranormal romance Second Sight series and the standalone The Disappearing Girl.

Heather graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor's degree in English. Her freelance work has appeared in publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bay and Step in Style magazine. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Besides writing, Heather is a pop culture fanatic and has an obsession with supernatural novels and TV shows.

Author Social Media Links:

https://www.facebook.com/HeatherTophamWood

http://authorheather.com

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/275908.Heather_Topham_Wood

https://twitter.com/woodtop255

 

Tour Sweepstakes/Giveaway

Up for grabs: five (5) eBook copies of The Disappearing Girl: mobi or ePub only: open internationally and one (1) $30 Amazon gift card: open internationally.

No purchase necessary. Must be 13 years of age and older to enter unless stated 18 + years of age. Must reside in countries able to receive eBooks via email. The retail value of the eBooks is $2.99 USD. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners will be selected July 18, 2013  randomly by Rafflecopter. Entries will be reviewed for accuracy. Live Read and Breathe and AToMR Tours are not liable for purchasing, shipping or emailing the items, winner not receiving the items, or lost items shipped/emailed. This sweepstakes is sponsored by the author and eBooks will be provided via email by the author. If the items are not claimed via email within 24 hours of receiving notification the item will be forfeited with no winner or an alternate winner may be selected at blog’s discretion with email verification by July 22, 2013. Any taxes associated will be paid by the author unless otherwise stated. Live Read and Breathe has the right to obtain and publicize the winners name and likeness. Void where prohibited by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Adult Contemporary-Ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.

Source: eARC for Honest Review from Author
Genre: New Adult

My Review...

I signed up for this book as the topic of eating disorders is close to my heart.

Kayla suffers a big loss than has to deal with a terrible mother who says the most hatred things to her daughters.  Over time these things start to build up and she snaps and becomes obsessed with becoming thinner, because she thinks that if she is thinner than she and everyone else will be happy.

At the beginning of her downfall she meets Cameron who instantly is drawn to her but with her mental spiral she keeps him at bay because she doubts his true intentions.

At the same time she pushes all her friends and family away. 

"I hate to be blunt," I smiled at Brittany's obvious lie.  "But your mother has mind-fucked both of you for way too long. She's obviously jealous because her daughters outshine her and she wants to make you both as miserable as she is. Don't let her win. Be happy with Cameron and stop trying to make yourself 'prettier' " - Brittany used air quotes - "for her sake".

Even though the disease has taken root Cam, her BFF and her sister have not given up hope.

"We're all broken in some way, Kayla. You just have to wake up each morning and find a reason to keep going,"

During her downward spiral to the end she finds a Pro-Ana group that helps her in her delusion of the disease and her self image which in the end is her demise.

After hitting rock bottom she makes a choice to finally want to be healthy physically and mentally.

"This disease is ugly. Kind of ironic, I guess, since we're doing it to be pretty."

I thought this book was well down and gave a good representation of the psyche of someone living with an eating disorder.  Eating disorders are a disease and you struggle with body image issues for the rest of your life. Each day is a journey to see who you really are.  The journey is always easier with the supports of friends and family like Kayla had with Cameron, Brittany and Lila.

Cameron was such a sweetheart and rock throughout the whole journey. He was able to see the inner beauty of Kayla before she was able to see it herself. With this it helped her move forward and want to strive to be better for herself and for the possibility of them.

Great book! 4 Food Loving Thumbs Up!

Lauren