All That Fills Us by Autumn Lytle | Review

 All That Fills Us: Lytle: 9780800740160: Amazon.com: Books

First of all, this book deals with eating disorder, exercise addition, and mental illness. Though eating disorder is mentioned on the back, I think it would be nice to have a bigger trigger warning about these themes at the beginning.

In this book, Melanie finds herself faced with entering rehab to combat her eating disorder. Having always felt a pull to this region and wanting to avoid rehab, Melanie decides to go on a sort of pilgrimage and hike from Michigan to Mount Rainier in Washington. The people she meets along the way help her understand herself.

I picked this book up because I am a bit obsessed with thru hiking, however the bulk of the book had very little to do with hiking. This book is more about Melanie's recovery and the people she meets along her journey. My favorite parts of the book were when Mel was in a place I've been, I love to read about places I've visited. I also really enjoyed the focus on chosen family, and how this book did not sugarcoat toxic parents. 

I really enjoyed the realism of eating disorders. The author's bio explained that this is something the author has faced, so I know it's an accurate and not a romanticized representation. I also think it's really important that there isn't some overnight miracle cure, as often happens in these types of books. 

I personally found many of the "endearing, eccentric" characters to be obnoxious more than anything else, and I often found myself reading quickly to get to the next part. Since the focus of the book is not on the hiking, there are many jumps in time and across states, and I wish we could have gotten to see more about her hike. 

Overall, I gave this 4/5 stars.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

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