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Fragile
Thirteen Reasons Why meets One of Us is Lying, in this page-turning thriller that exposes the lies and secrets a group of teens tell about one a deadly night.Two best friends.An unforgivable secret.Katherine and Carol are best friends, competitors in a deadly competition to see who will be the skinniest.Until Carol commits suicide.The case is closed. Carol killed herself. Her parents know she did it. The police know she did it. Everyone at school knows she did it.But before she died, Carol had called Katherine to tell her why she has decided to end her life. Whatever happened to Carol isn't over. Some of the kids at school know more about what happened than they're saying. And somehow...Carol is at the center of all of it.Everyone has secrets. How far will they go to protect them?Gemma Donoghue is the author of the Amazon Bestseller Delicate.
375 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 19, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 27, 2020
This was an interesting read about a character that has an eating disorder. I personally really like reading novels that have trauma and experiences that the reader can relate to. I did finish this in one setting, and I look forward to more of the author's work.
December 3, 2020
Disclaimer: I received this ebook from the author. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Fragile
Author: Gemma Donoghue
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3/5
Recommended For...: contemporary readers
Publication Date: January 19, 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNFed, but ED trigger warnings!
Publisher: Indie Published
Pages: 301
Synopsis: It started with a candy bar.
One minute Katherine was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, about to eat a Snickers.
The next she was running to the bathroom and shoving two fingers down her throat and throwing up.
Katherine doesn't know how her eating disorder started; was it curiosity, a jealous competition with her best friend Carol to see who would be the smallest, or was it something else? All she knows is that she dropped six sizes in five months after her grandmother tried to file for custody of her after her parents divorced when she was at her lowest weight.
Katherine feels like she has lost control over her life and the only thing she believes she can control is what she eats. It became easier and easier for her to lie to her dad and say that she had eaten, to lie to herself and say she was full, or to just not eat at all.
At 95 pounds she doesn't feel like a size zero. She still feels fat. When she looks in the mirror she can all she sees is an ocean of fat hanging off of her body even though no one else can see it. Katherine doesn't see food as food. She only sees the calories it contains.
Katherine is stuck in a rut in life. And now she's trapped in the small town of Deer's Run New York. Life in Deer's Run is a nightmare come true. Her grandmother has the school nurse, teachers, and lunchroom attendants watch Katherine at lunch, when she goes to the bathroom, and challenges
her constantly to eat the foods she's spent half of her life avoiding.
Katherine has planned to stay in Deer's Run for her sophomore year. But what he Dad doesn't know is that
Katherine only plans on staying long enough to convince her Dad and more importantly her grandmother
that she is healthy. Healthy enough to avoid being shipped back to the Rosewood Inpatient Clinic for Eating Disorders, a treatment center for girls like her—girls with eating disorders.
When Katherine learns that Carol, her best friend, had committed suicide only two weeks earlier, trying to get better is almost impossible.
Not only does she have to listen to her own voice analyzing and obsessing about every single thing she does and every single calorie of food she eats, but she also has to listen to Carol's as well when she listens to several messages Carol left her.
Messages that will change her life forever.
Review: I had to DNF this book. It had an interesting concept and if you liked Twilight or the other early YA books then you might like this one, but the ED in this book was really hard on me mentally and I can’t focus on it during this time.
Verdict: Not for me at this time.
Book: Fragile
Author: Gemma Donoghue
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3/5
Recommended For...: contemporary readers
Publication Date: January 19, 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNFed, but ED trigger warnings!
Publisher: Indie Published
Pages: 301
Synopsis: It started with a candy bar.
One minute Katherine was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, about to eat a Snickers.
The next she was running to the bathroom and shoving two fingers down her throat and throwing up.
Katherine doesn't know how her eating disorder started; was it curiosity, a jealous competition with her best friend Carol to see who would be the smallest, or was it something else? All she knows is that she dropped six sizes in five months after her grandmother tried to file for custody of her after her parents divorced when she was at her lowest weight.
Katherine feels like she has lost control over her life and the only thing she believes she can control is what she eats. It became easier and easier for her to lie to her dad and say that she had eaten, to lie to herself and say she was full, or to just not eat at all.
At 95 pounds she doesn't feel like a size zero. She still feels fat. When she looks in the mirror she can all she sees is an ocean of fat hanging off of her body even though no one else can see it. Katherine doesn't see food as food. She only sees the calories it contains.
Katherine is stuck in a rut in life. And now she's trapped in the small town of Deer's Run New York. Life in Deer's Run is a nightmare come true. Her grandmother has the school nurse, teachers, and lunchroom attendants watch Katherine at lunch, when she goes to the bathroom, and challenges
her constantly to eat the foods she's spent half of her life avoiding.
Katherine has planned to stay in Deer's Run for her sophomore year. But what he Dad doesn't know is that
Katherine only plans on staying long enough to convince her Dad and more importantly her grandmother
that she is healthy. Healthy enough to avoid being shipped back to the Rosewood Inpatient Clinic for Eating Disorders, a treatment center for girls like her—girls with eating disorders.
When Katherine learns that Carol, her best friend, had committed suicide only two weeks earlier, trying to get better is almost impossible.
Not only does she have to listen to her own voice analyzing and obsessing about every single thing she does and every single calorie of food she eats, but she also has to listen to Carol's as well when she listens to several messages Carol left her.
Messages that will change her life forever.
Review: I had to DNF this book. It had an interesting concept and if you liked Twilight or the other early YA books then you might like this one, but the ED in this book was really hard on me mentally and I can’t focus on it during this time.
Verdict: Not for me at this time.
April 4, 2021
Fragile
By Gemma Donoghue
Ratings - 5 Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Fragile in this page-turning thriller that exposes the lies and secrets a group of teens tell about a deadly night.
Two best friends.
An unforgivable secret.
Katherine and Carol are best friends, competitors in a deadly competition to see who will be the skinniest. Until Carol commits suicide. Carol killed herself. Moving on isn't easy. Before she died, Carol had called Katherine. Katherine's world has started to unravel, as she after her parents' divorce and her grandmother tried to file for custody of her when she was at her lowest weight. as she loses control of her eating disorder and listens to the messages her friend had left her. And tries to understand the secrets that she's unearthed.
Everyone has secrets. How far will they go to protect them?
Wow such an amazing story. I started reading and kept reading and reading. I was hooked.
I loved the way all the things are explained.
This book dives deep into issues such as eating disorders, trauma, death, as well as the secrets that those we think we are close to keep from us. It is both a harrowing story as well as an insightful one.
I did find it sad at times but interesting. The story is written perfectly. I will give all the stars for the author Gemma has written the book so beautifully.
Thank you so much for the copy. ❤️
I fully enjoyed it and i would recommend it to everyone who likes the thrilling novels.
By Gemma Donoghue
Ratings - 5 Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Fragile in this page-turning thriller that exposes the lies and secrets a group of teens tell about a deadly night.
Two best friends.
An unforgivable secret.
Katherine and Carol are best friends, competitors in a deadly competition to see who will be the skinniest. Until Carol commits suicide. Carol killed herself. Moving on isn't easy. Before she died, Carol had called Katherine. Katherine's world has started to unravel, as she after her parents' divorce and her grandmother tried to file for custody of her when she was at her lowest weight. as she loses control of her eating disorder and listens to the messages her friend had left her. And tries to understand the secrets that she's unearthed.
Everyone has secrets. How far will they go to protect them?
Wow such an amazing story. I started reading and kept reading and reading. I was hooked.
I loved the way all the things are explained.
This book dives deep into issues such as eating disorders, trauma, death, as well as the secrets that those we think we are close to keep from us. It is both a harrowing story as well as an insightful one.
I did find it sad at times but interesting. The story is written perfectly. I will give all the stars for the author Gemma has written the book so beautifully.
Thank you so much for the copy. ❤️
I fully enjoyed it and i would recommend it to everyone who likes the thrilling novels.
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September 13, 2020Gemma Donoghue is killing it with these gritty and dark contemporaries! I love contemporaries that aren’t afraid to hit upon the dark and deep topics and really open up a conversation. And Fragile definitely goes there, so make sure you go into this one expecting to feel some things.
This is my third Donoghue book and I can honestly say that each one has made me go, “this one’s my new favorite!” They’re all just so brutally honest and contain such uniquely powerful stories. And Fragile is no different. This story revolves around Katherine and her struggles with an eating disorder. As well as secrets. You’ll find yourself flipping through the pages needing to find out what happens next.
This book dives deep into issues such as eating disorders, trauma, death, as well as the secrets that those we think we are close to keep from us. It is both a harrowing story as well as an insightful one.
You can view my full review on my blog! I also post about a lot of different types of books!
Talk Review - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/20...
Good Enough Review - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/20...
Reader | Bookstagrammer | Blogger | Reviewer
@ya.its.lit - https://www.instagram.com/ya.its.lit/
Blog - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/
This is my third Donoghue book and I can honestly say that each one has made me go, “this one’s my new favorite!” They’re all just so brutally honest and contain such uniquely powerful stories. And Fragile is no different. This story revolves around Katherine and her struggles with an eating disorder. As well as secrets. You’ll find yourself flipping through the pages needing to find out what happens next.
This book dives deep into issues such as eating disorders, trauma, death, as well as the secrets that those we think we are close to keep from us. It is both a harrowing story as well as an insightful one.
You can view my full review on my blog! I also post about a lot of different types of books!
Talk Review - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/20...
Good Enough Review - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/20...
Reader | Bookstagrammer | Blogger | Reviewer
@ya.its.lit - https://www.instagram.com/ya.its.lit/
Blog - https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/
December 24, 2020
The subject of this book is the struggles of a girl with her weight and her mental problem, she truly believes she will be happy only when she reaches 0 pounds. I applaud this subject, for me it seemed very real the things that happened to her and her thoughts about her weight. I admit I do not have a personal experience but I believe many girls can relate to this. Also there should be more books about how teenagers see themselves and how affected are by the way others see them.
Also she has to deal with messages form a former best friend who is dead. I have seen and read 13 Reasons Why and the same story can be found in 80% of Fragile. I admit 13 reasons why is a good book and can be used as a model for dealing with sensitive subjects among teenagers and mental issues but the main scenes can be traced here in the same chronological sequence with small difference.
Another reason for only 2 stars is the fact that at some point the main characters name was changed. In matter of paragraphs she was either Kate or Jess. Also there were plenty of spelling errors.
Also she has to deal with messages form a former best friend who is dead. I have seen and read 13 Reasons Why and the same story can be found in 80% of Fragile. I admit 13 reasons why is a good book and can be used as a model for dealing with sensitive subjects among teenagers and mental issues but the main scenes can be traced here in the same chronological sequence with small difference.
Another reason for only 2 stars is the fact that at some point the main characters name was changed. In matter of paragraphs she was either Kate or Jess. Also there were plenty of spelling errors.
March 26, 2021
This is my 4th book from the author and each of her book is very honest and bring out the raw emotions and focuses on sensitive issues.
The story revolves around Katherine and her struggle with the eating disorder. Her Grandmother wants to take her custody when her parents got divorced. Even at 90 pounds, she thinks she is fat and she wants to get to size zero. She constantly lies to her dad about her eating schedule to prove that she is healthy and also so that she will not be taken to the Inpatient Clinic for eating disorders.
And above all this, there is a secret to be unravelled about her best friend Carol's suicide. When she listens to the messages Carol had sent to her she tries to look at life from a different perspective.
It was another good book by the author but I didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as I liked the other books by her. The narration and character building was good. The eating disorder that is increasing in youngsters these days and the trauma they face when they couldn't lose weight is all covered in this book. Overall it was a good book.
The story revolves around Katherine and her struggle with the eating disorder. Her Grandmother wants to take her custody when her parents got divorced. Even at 90 pounds, she thinks she is fat and she wants to get to size zero. She constantly lies to her dad about her eating schedule to prove that she is healthy and also so that she will not be taken to the Inpatient Clinic for eating disorders.
And above all this, there is a secret to be unravelled about her best friend Carol's suicide. When she listens to the messages Carol had sent to her she tries to look at life from a different perspective.
It was another good book by the author but I didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as I liked the other books by her. The narration and character building was good. The eating disorder that is increasing in youngsters these days and the trauma they face when they couldn't lose weight is all covered in this book. Overall it was a good book.
May 14, 2021
Disclaimer: I received a free pdf of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This isn't my usual type of book, but it was powerfully written! The author seems to have captured the mindset of an MC with an eating disorder really well. I would have liked to have the plot points connected more and for things to mesh a little more. The first third of the book was rather difficult to follow because there were a lot of characters and discussion that wasn't explained to the reader, and it often didn't seem to be "doing" anything for the story. (I spent a good portion of the book expecting to find out that the grandma, Maud, was actually dead/imaginary because she was suspiciously absent a lot of the time despite constantly weighing on the MC's mind. Nope, just kind of off doing her own thing!) I know not every book has to be "plot-driven," but I think setting up the events more really would have helped a lot. Overall, a grim read, but it did what it set out to do fairly well!
This isn't my usual type of book, but it was powerfully written! The author seems to have captured the mindset of an MC with an eating disorder really well. I would have liked to have the plot points connected more and for things to mesh a little more. The first third of the book was rather difficult to follow because there were a lot of characters and discussion that wasn't explained to the reader, and it often didn't seem to be "doing" anything for the story. (I spent a good portion of the book expecting to find out that the grandma, Maud, was actually dead/imaginary because she was suspiciously absent a lot of the time despite constantly weighing on the MC's mind. Nope, just kind of off doing her own thing!) I know not every book has to be "plot-driven," but I think setting up the events more really would have helped a lot. Overall, a grim read, but it did what it set out to do fairly well!
July 7, 2025
It was comforting to read a book about something that you've experience but about someone fictional. It reminds you that the grass was never greener on the other side no matter what the voices in your head told you and it was nice to see someone with the same struggles have the good support system you never had.
However one criticism I have isn't about the actual story but the books format, I would recomend re reading and checking what you've written for any grammar mistakes. I counted many throughout the entire book and it tends (for me at least) to take you out of the reading experience.
Other than that I think Gemma did a great job of capturing the mindset and thinking process with someone with an eating disorder and self harming tendencies. I would recommend this book to those who maybe need a reminder on why they've chosen to get better or to those who know someone who struggles with these sort of issues and would like to understand they're struggles a bit better.
However one criticism I have isn't about the actual story but the books format, I would recomend re reading and checking what you've written for any grammar mistakes. I counted many throughout the entire book and it tends (for me at least) to take you out of the reading experience.
Other than that I think Gemma did a great job of capturing the mindset and thinking process with someone with an eating disorder and self harming tendencies. I would recommend this book to those who maybe need a reminder on why they've chosen to get better or to those who know someone who struggles with these sort of issues and would like to understand they're struggles a bit better.
November 19, 2020
Just finished “Fragile” by Gemma Donoghue the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. This is not my usual read but I’m happy I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one! A really interesting take on eating disorders and trauma. Centered around teenager Katherine and her journey to recovery as well as uncovering secrets around her friends suicide. There’s a lot of dark topics and handles them well.
I would recommend this to young adults who might be struggling with similar issues. I personally had a hard time getting into it at first, but I think that’s mostly my fault as I’ve been reading and rereading a lot of horror lately 🤣 but once I got into it I really found myself caring about Katherine and I liked how her recovery process was so naturally handled.
Thank you @honeyhousebooks for sending me this!! I really loved it!
I would recommend this to young adults who might be struggling with similar issues. I personally had a hard time getting into it at first, but I think that’s mostly my fault as I’ve been reading and rereading a lot of horror lately 🤣 but once I got into it I really found myself caring about Katherine and I liked how her recovery process was so naturally handled.
Thank you @honeyhousebooks for sending me this!! I really loved it!
January 16, 2021
Fragile by Gemma Donoghue follows teenage Katherine as she battles an eating disorder while also coming to terms with the mysterious and haunting death of her former best friend. Many difficult and painful issues are tackled in this novel, including self-harm, suicide, guilt, sexual assault, and complicated family dynamics. Donoghue addresses all of these themes with much care and sensitivity. I found this to be a very beautifully written and thoughtful novel that many young women will find relatable in some way. It also a very thrilling story that readers will not want to put down! I was immediately drawn in and finished the novel in one day!
Thank-you very much to the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for a fair and honest review!
Thank-you very much to the author for sharing this book with me in exchange for a fair and honest review!
October 7, 2021
I’m not sure how to start this actually…
This was an eye opener… I actually loved this, and a lot. The way this theme is handled is amazing, with such care but also with so much information. I truly understood every emotion that girl felt, I imagined myself being the character and it was really hard to stop reading this. This is… the best book by Gemma Donoghue I’ve read yet. My personal opinion, is that everyone should read this, because you really get the sensation that you know this girl in real life, or that you are her. I’m not going to stop recommending this because… it’s a really great book, frfr lol.
This was an eye opener… I actually loved this, and a lot. The way this theme is handled is amazing, with such care but also with so much information. I truly understood every emotion that girl felt, I imagined myself being the character and it was really hard to stop reading this. This is… the best book by Gemma Donoghue I’ve read yet. My personal opinion, is that everyone should read this, because you really get the sensation that you know this girl in real life, or that you are her. I’m not going to stop recommending this because… it’s a really great book, frfr lol.
November 11, 2020
At the beginning, Fragile began as a combination of Twilight and 13 Reasons Why, which had me a little confused. It took me some time to warm up to the main character, Katharine, but when I reached a point where I suddenly empathised with her really strongly. By the end of the book I was very invested in the story and I was glad that Katharine wanted to get better, she wasn't forced into a recovery process by her parents like in many other books.
August 4, 2020
This is an absolutely compelling read of Katherine’s harrowing journey as she discovers the secrets left by her best friend.
I was hooked from beginning to end and enthralled by how Gemma has written this difficult story of a teenager suffering the heartbreaking trauma of an eating disorder while coming to terms with the secrets left by her friend.
Highly recommend
I was hooked from beginning to end and enthralled by how Gemma has written this difficult story of a teenager suffering the heartbreaking trauma of an eating disorder while coming to terms with the secrets left by her friend.
Highly recommend
November 20, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. It has a 13 Reasons Why vibe to it. The author does a great job of capturing what it's like to deal with daily feelings of not "fitting in". Although this is not the type of book I usually read, it kept my interest, delivered a great message, and had a fantastic ending. Fragile told a story that many young women can relate to.
November 14, 2022
Excellent Story
This is a great story that pulled me in right from the start. Honest and heartfelt, you really feel for what the main character is going through. It's also very raw but liberating at the end. I would have given it five stars but there were a lot of typos. Nonetheless, I highly recommend reading it.
This is a great story that pulled me in right from the start. Honest and heartfelt, you really feel for what the main character is going through. It's also very raw but liberating at the end. I would have given it five stars but there were a lot of typos. Nonetheless, I highly recommend reading it.
October 24, 2020
Gemma wrote about a character with an eating disorder and trauma, which are topics that need to be discussed more openly without judgement. This book is perfect for young adults. Watch out for her other books!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews