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Undone: Healing from Botched Cosmetic Surgery
At 39, Michelle Roniak underwent cosmetic surgery—in secrecy.
She hated her torso and had spent a lifetime chasing the hourglass figure. Liposuction felt like the final solution. Her surgeon suggested a small gap at the top of her thighs—it was trendy. Why not?
A mommy makeover—minus the baby.
Her artillery. Her high.
There wasn’t a flicker of doubt that anything could go wrong. She’d had Botox, fillers, even a boob job. All successful. All with top professionals—this one included.
Botches were for back-alley surgeons.
Right? Wrong.
What followed was catastrophic. Her body ballooned instead of shrinking. Morphed. Possessed. Grief hit like a terminal diagnosis, and self-blame moved in, savage and unrelenting. Shame swallowed her whole.
She couldn’t find a single book, forum, or guide for women like her.
So she wrote one.
Through that sticky, suffocating grief, a deeper truth
She had been living with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)—a relentless, unspoken battle where perceived flaws became an obsession, and self-acceptance always felt out of reach.
Healing from Botched Cosmetic Surgery is a raw, unflinching memoir about body dysmorphia, plastic surgery gone wrong, and the silent shame women carry. It is for anyone who has battled body image, endured the trauma of a cosmetic surgery nightmare, or is searching for a story of resilience and healing.
This is not just a story about what went wrong.
It’s about what it takes to come back.
She hated her torso and had spent a lifetime chasing the hourglass figure. Liposuction felt like the final solution. Her surgeon suggested a small gap at the top of her thighs—it was trendy. Why not?
A mommy makeover—minus the baby.
Her artillery. Her high.
There wasn’t a flicker of doubt that anything could go wrong. She’d had Botox, fillers, even a boob job. All successful. All with top professionals—this one included.
Botches were for back-alley surgeons.
Right? Wrong.
What followed was catastrophic. Her body ballooned instead of shrinking. Morphed. Possessed. Grief hit like a terminal diagnosis, and self-blame moved in, savage and unrelenting. Shame swallowed her whole.
She couldn’t find a single book, forum, or guide for women like her.
So she wrote one.
Through that sticky, suffocating grief, a deeper truth
She had been living with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)—a relentless, unspoken battle where perceived flaws became an obsession, and self-acceptance always felt out of reach.
Healing from Botched Cosmetic Surgery is a raw, unflinching memoir about body dysmorphia, plastic surgery gone wrong, and the silent shame women carry. It is for anyone who has battled body image, endured the trauma of a cosmetic surgery nightmare, or is searching for a story of resilience and healing.
This is not just a story about what went wrong.
It’s about what it takes to come back.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2025
4 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
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October 14, 2025Undone
Raw. Unfiltered. Brave.
Three words I would use to describe this memoir. I have no doubts this memoir will save someone’s life.
Full video review on my socials.
Raw. Unfiltered. Brave.
Three words I would use to describe this memoir. I have no doubts this memoir will save someone’s life.
Full video review on my socials.
November 19, 2025
Not for me, sorry. I think people may feel sorry for the author, but just because you tell the most intimate details of your life in minute detail, doesn’t mean the book is worth 5 stars. This isn’t just a story about cosmetic surgery. The author uses drugs, but there’s no discussion of how drug use may have impacted things. She feels she is a victim of a doctor who botched a procedure. But she has repeatedly let herself be subjected to abuse, taken advantage of, and been game for everything under the sun. She makes a distinction between cocaine and heroin, like one is better than the other. What?
I feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for someone who feels so empty and worthless. No one is worthless. But it’s hard to be in her corner, the way the book is written. It reads like a journal and not much is explained well, except for an unnecessary amount of sexual detail. Unfortunately, that seems to be the total focus of her relationships, never anything deeper than that. It’s hard to understand how all of her actions came about. What was her relationship really like with her parents? Was she really as alone as she portrays? And no one noticed? She seems to have internalized a couple comments she considered disparaging and run with them. And all this time, no one noticed all the myriad of ways she was harming herself?
She doesn’t seem to have a plan for anything, she just jumps from one thing to the next. That may not be true, but that’s what the book seems to suggest, because the connections from one activity to the next aren’t really explained. The only connection seems to be looking for self-worth from absolutely anything out there. I am also a bit dumbfounded that she can pay for all these procedures and flights everywhere to go participate in races. I can’t afford that and I have a college degree and regular job. It just doesn’t add up.
In the end, I guess it’s just too hard for me to relate. I feel sorry for her, and I hope things continue to get better. I hope she thinks for herself and stops making really poor decisions.
I feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for someone who feels so empty and worthless. No one is worthless. But it’s hard to be in her corner, the way the book is written. It reads like a journal and not much is explained well, except for an unnecessary amount of sexual detail. Unfortunately, that seems to be the total focus of her relationships, never anything deeper than that. It’s hard to understand how all of her actions came about. What was her relationship really like with her parents? Was she really as alone as she portrays? And no one noticed? She seems to have internalized a couple comments she considered disparaging and run with them. And all this time, no one noticed all the myriad of ways she was harming herself?
She doesn’t seem to have a plan for anything, she just jumps from one thing to the next. That may not be true, but that’s what the book seems to suggest, because the connections from one activity to the next aren’t really explained. The only connection seems to be looking for self-worth from absolutely anything out there. I am also a bit dumbfounded that she can pay for all these procedures and flights everywhere to go participate in races. I can’t afford that and I have a college degree and regular job. It just doesn’t add up.
In the end, I guess it’s just too hard for me to relate. I feel sorry for her, and I hope things continue to get better. I hope she thinks for herself and stops making really poor decisions.
August 21, 2025
Plato 430Bc... Our reality is created by our minds, change your mind, and you change your reality. Plato's theory of forms suggests that the material world is a shadow or reflection of a higher, immutable realm of ideal forms, implying that what we focus on mentally influences the reality we experience.
Reality was formed in a society that packaged everything is a perfect marketable package. White, Blond Barbie dolls to play with... Ken. Even sex packaged in pornography and a perfect Holiwood Vagina!
Michelle share her painful and brutally honest journey of Body Dismorphia, eating disorders, and illusion of control, that ended up in surgical procedures, all in search of this unobtainable illusion.
All went well, until this one catastrophic Botched procedure; a Labiaplasty.
Shedding light on the isolation, the pain and dept of despair; eventually leading to D-day... The point of no return, without proporting blame, but carrying the guilt herself, planning the end.
But it is not the end... In fact, this is where Roniacs story start... Facing her Demons, changing her Focus, and changing her reality.... This is painfully honest, and well written memoir... A life story not yet complete, but one that should be shared...
Reality was formed in a society that packaged everything is a perfect marketable package. White, Blond Barbie dolls to play with... Ken. Even sex packaged in pornography and a perfect Holiwood Vagina!
Michelle share her painful and brutally honest journey of Body Dismorphia, eating disorders, and illusion of control, that ended up in surgical procedures, all in search of this unobtainable illusion.
All went well, until this one catastrophic Botched procedure; a Labiaplasty.
Shedding light on the isolation, the pain and dept of despair; eventually leading to D-day... The point of no return, without proporting blame, but carrying the guilt herself, planning the end.
But it is not the end... In fact, this is where Roniacs story start... Facing her Demons, changing her Focus, and changing her reality.... This is painfully honest, and well written memoir... A life story not yet complete, but one that should be shared...
August 17, 2025
Undone is quite a journey. Heartbreaking, unsettling and deeply human, it is the author's personal story of BDD (body dysmorphic disorder) and how it takes a lifetime to understand, manage and come to terms with this debilitating disease.
This kind of memoir is not my usual cuppa. Usually I find it hard to connect with the overarching story of self that these memoirs are about, but there is something about Undone that, in its simplicity and honesty, made it compelling reading.
White people in South Africa. Wow. We are complicated by the burden of privilege! I think it is true that we are experts at making our lives hard. And yet, what Undone does is remind us that we all carry trauma, and it is not our job to compare it or go into a trauma competition. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, sets us up for who we may become, the rabbit hole we may fall into.
As I finished Michelle's book I sighed with relief that my own trauma had not manifested in body stuff. It so easily could have.
We all have stuff. So much stuff. Here's to finally dealing with it.
This kind of memoir is not my usual cuppa. Usually I find it hard to connect with the overarching story of self that these memoirs are about, but there is something about Undone that, in its simplicity and honesty, made it compelling reading.
White people in South Africa. Wow. We are complicated by the burden of privilege! I think it is true that we are experts at making our lives hard. And yet, what Undone does is remind us that we all carry trauma, and it is not our job to compare it or go into a trauma competition. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, sets us up for who we may become, the rabbit hole we may fall into.
As I finished Michelle's book I sighed with relief that my own trauma had not manifested in body stuff. It so easily could have.
We all have stuff. So much stuff. Here's to finally dealing with it.
October 13, 2025
Review of "Undone".
From the very first page, Michelle invites us into her world with unflinching honesty and emotional depth. Her story is not just a recounting of events - it’s a journey through vulnerability, resilience, and transformation.
What struck me most was her courage. She doesn’t shy away from the hard truths, the painful memories, or the moments of doubt. Instead, she embraces them, and in doing so, gives readers permission to do the same in their own lives. Her writing is raw yet graceful, weaving together heartbreak and hope with a voice that is uniquely hers.
It reflects the complexity of being human, the beauty of healing, and the power of self-discovery. I found myself pausing often, not because the story slowed, but because I needed a moment to absorb the weight of her words.
Michelle has given us a gift: a story that shows us how strength is born from struggle. I’m grateful for her openness, and I know her story will stay with me and all those who read it, for a long time.
From the very first page, Michelle invites us into her world with unflinching honesty and emotional depth. Her story is not just a recounting of events - it’s a journey through vulnerability, resilience, and transformation.
What struck me most was her courage. She doesn’t shy away from the hard truths, the painful memories, or the moments of doubt. Instead, she embraces them, and in doing so, gives readers permission to do the same in their own lives. Her writing is raw yet graceful, weaving together heartbreak and hope with a voice that is uniquely hers.
It reflects the complexity of being human, the beauty of healing, and the power of self-discovery. I found myself pausing often, not because the story slowed, but because I needed a moment to absorb the weight of her words.
Michelle has given us a gift: a story that shows us how strength is born from struggle. I’m grateful for her openness, and I know her story will stay with me and all those who read it, for a long time.
August 25, 2025
This is a brutally honest, raw memoir where the erudite author digs deep into her life journey and allows the reader a glimpse into the mind of someone burdened by insecurities when they looked in the mirror and didn’t love what they saw.
This is a subject that is relatable for a lot more people, men and women alike, who most probably wouldn’t ever admit to. The words flow off the page making a painfully difficult life story an easy read. as she succinctly describes each step along her journey. It is not all negative of course - and at points is truly heartwarming and satisfying in that the strength of the human spirit shines through and there are significant triumphs along the way too.
This is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read and I strongly believe it will help someone going through similar trials and tribulations.
This is a subject that is relatable for a lot more people, men and women alike, who most probably wouldn’t ever admit to. The words flow off the page making a painfully difficult life story an easy read. as she succinctly describes each step along her journey. It is not all negative of course - and at points is truly heartwarming and satisfying in that the strength of the human spirit shines through and there are significant triumphs along the way too.
This is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read and I strongly believe it will help someone going through similar trials and tribulations.
October 13, 2025
Undone is a brutal and harrowing memoir of Michelle's journey - from a teenage eating disorder to botched cosmetic surgery and ultimately, recovery. While the topics covered are distressing, including addiction, body dysmorphic disorder and suicide, Michelle's voice remains at all times sincere and honest. It is rare to find such a deeply personal story written with such truth and candour. This book should be compulsory reading for all young adults, particularly teenage girls who aspire to Hollywood ideals of beauty and perfection. There is no fairy tale ending, but Michelle's story is one of hope and courage.
August 30, 2025
A raw and powerful read, Michelle bravely shares her story of a botched cosmetic surgery and her painful journey with body dysmorphia. This book is a testament to the power of self-love and the long, difficult road to acceptance. It’s a must-read for anyone who has battled with their own body, physical appearance and learning to overcome their own self-judgement.
December 3, 2025
Unfortunately I did not care for this book. It was exhausting and draining to read. I barely made it through and admit to skimming toward the end.
December 1, 2025
Courageous, compassionate, and deeply human. Michelle's story about cosmetic surgery and lifelong body‑image struggles resonated with me personally—I’ve always battled harsh perceptions of my own body, and this book has honesty helped me see myself with more kindness. This book is a testament to resilience and self‑acceptance. Thank you for telling the truth so generously. We all know how hard it is to share our stories that haunt us.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews