About the Book
Mel Ellis knows that her eating disorder is ruining her life. Everyone tells her rehab is her best option, but she can’t bring herself to go. Broken and empty in more ways than one, Mel makes one last-ditch effort to make hers a story worth telling. She will walk her own road to recovery along the lesser-known trails of the North American wilderness.
Though she is physically and mentally unprepared to face the difficulties that lay ahead, she sets off on foot from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and heads toward Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State. During the long journey, she meets strangers with their own stories, as well as ghosts from her past who can no longer be ignored. But though the land she travels threatens her success at every turn, it’s her own dark thoughts she’ll have to overcome in order to find peace in the life and the body she has been given.
With pitch-perfect timing and delightfully witty self-awareness, debut author Autumn Lytle masterfully leads readers on a journey down the hard path toward healing.
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In My Opinion
In her debut novel, Autumn Lytle takes readers on a journey of healing, faith, and friendships. All That Fills Us is not an easy read as Mel deals with an eating disorder, but it is an eye-opening story.
I believe Lytle’s own battle with an eating disorder allows her to give an honest portrayal of how obsessive Mel is with her appearance throughout this book, and it gives readers a lot of insight into what might be going through a person’s mind as they are faced with lack of controlling their food. I felt sympathy for Mel as she worries over every little calorie she ingests and delights in every calorie she burns from her hike from Michigan to Mt. Rainier. How exhausting that life can be!
But there is hope in Mel’s story. Hope found through the people she meets along the way. Strangers who take a hurting and sick woman and love on her without judgment. And I appreciated that Mel also helped a couple of these people see their own lives through a different lens.
While I do not encourage anyone in a current fight with an eating disorder, for everyone else, this book is timely. We live in a society where comparison is too easy. Where everyone is showing the best sides of themselves on social media and on screen. Where actresses and other public personalities proudly tell the world how they lost x number of pounds in x days to fit into a dress or for a role. And All That Fills Us is a harrowing reminder of how damaging this can be. This novel shows us how to love on others well.
Disclosure statement: I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Giveaway
(3) winners will receive a copy of the book, a signed bookplate, and $25 Bookshop.org gift card! (US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics. Instagram is not affiliated with nor responsible for this giveaway. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on May 27, 2022.).
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