The Weightless One

by Anais Chartschenko

Every bit of food I eat
Is turning into more thoughts
And what do I do with the thoughts
I am too afraid to say?

After a party changed everything, Miranda loses her appetite. She is placed in an eating disorder treatment program, where she must be brave enough to face the truth she was trying to bury.

A novel told in verse

Genres: Young Adult

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2017

About the author

Anaïs Chartschenko hails from the Canadian wilderness. She has come to enjoy such modern things as electric tea kettles.

Reviews

[J.D. Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful. Unnerving. Impactful. Emotionally intense. Important to read.

All the words serve perfectly to describe how I feel about the Weightless One. Yet again, Anaïs Chartschenko offers a brutally honest, intensely real, and disarming read. Unlike her previous collections, this is a poetic narrative that talks of a young woman who is battling an eating disorder, the reasons for it, the traumas that aggravated it, and the damage it can do in our lives. Language is never too elevated to ensure the point gets through... and boy does it. Some verses hit like a sledgehammer and the entire collection is written with the brutal unflinching honesty characteristic of this wonderful poet.

Chartschenko doesn't care if what she captures in words rattles you, makes you uncomfortable, unnerves you, or even hurts. She's not about making you feel comfortable... she's all about making you feel.

I think this is an important collection to share with people of all ages in the hopes that like some other works of art it helps people understand more about the challenges people with eating disorders face and how it can ravage not just one life, but several.

Raw, intense, real poetry for those who know that roses are not always red and want no puffery with their verses.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet but too spare for my liking. I think I prefer novels in verse to be...messier? More lyrical? I'm not sure. This leans towards sentences

That are broken up

Like this

To add a bit of

Timing

And

Drama

And

I don't know what else but

A poet might.

The hard thing for me with verse is that there's often a lot of story between the lines, and it can be hard to tell how much fuller a story it might be with thicker verse (for lack of a better term) or prose. Here, it's only near the end that we get a full picture of what happened to make Miranda stop eating, and it's only at the end that her parents really show up. It does what it can with this spareness of verse, but I think my preference would have been for something with, well, twice as many words.

[Ilana Maletz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Weightless One is a compelling and beautifully written book. The book is written in verse, but it is not a book of poetry. Each chapter draws you into what the main character is feeling, one poem building upon the last, intimately connecting us to the main character. The story that unfolds is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Chartshenko begins by sharing the main character’s total denial of her eating disorder and her anger at the loss of control of her own life once she is forced into a hospital residential program. Each poem leads us deeper down into in her journey of healing, until at last, we are allowed to bear witness as she faces the demons that haunt her.
This book is not just for people who have or know people with eating disorders. It is for anyone who has ever struggled through dark despair. It reminds us that no matter how dark our circumstances, we can find the light and we can embrace healing.
This is one of the most powerful books I have read in a long time. I give it a whole hearted 5 out of 5.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This painstakingly beautiful story written in verse was a pleasure to read.

Many people use the therapy of writing to expel their experienced torment. Word by word, the trauma is transferred from the heart, through the ink, and then becomes permanently soaked into the paper. Little by little, the process eases the heaviness upon one’s soul.

The next step is to look upon those words through the eyes of an observer. Phrases should be rewritten, moved around, or deleted altogether. After much deliberation comes the most difficult step; allowing others into the most painful moments of the writer’s life.

Anais took this therapeutic method to a whole new level. The format is decided. Her story is laid out. Focus on each word is essential. Flamboyance doesn’t exist when you’re exposing yourself to the world.

I applaud the author’s creativity. I am honored to have been given the opportunity to experience her work. I am thrilled to know she has a second book, Perfect Break, waiting patiently for my attention.

[Ksenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Weightless One' is a tragic story told in verse through the eyes of a girl in a therapy program. The author Anaïs Chartschenko made an excellent attempt to picture the hell youngsters go through when in the most critical time, their parents, instead of giving a helping hand, slap their cheeks with accusations. Sadly, the emotional wounds may never heal. Eating disorders, anxiety attacks, and suicides could be prevented if only parents shared unconditional love with their children.
There is still a considerable gap between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and feels like it's a neverending struggle, and that is heart-wrenching.
I loved the memoir-style of the novel and enjoyed a variety of verse rhythms. By the end, tears rolled down my cheeks. Beautiful, emotionally written story! Well done!

[Jason Greensides · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING

This is a truly incredible book, and I'm so glad I read it. There were parts that left me breathless, amazed, sad, and angry. And it's also very funny. How the author managed to take a simple situation - a girl admitted into hospital for an eating disorder - then illuminate the topic and the inner workings of the main character just left me stunned.

I didn't really want to review it because when I finished the book I felt like there were no words to do it justice. But what is most miraculous is the way Chartschenko, over the course of all the versus, uses so few words yet manages to convey so, so much.

Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

[Richard White · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl trying to escape

The weightless one is the perfect story of a girl trying to escape her eating disorder. I love Anais’s poetry. In each book she captures you within the words, and makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. If you have a disability of any kind especially an eating disorder, this is a must read.

[SW! · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so