Lighter Than My Shadow

Jun 14, 2025 4:01 PM

Author:Katie Green

A poignant, heart-lifting graphic memoir about anorexia, eating disorders and the journey to recovery

Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She’d sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she’d have to eat it for breakfast. But in any life a set of circumstance can collide, and normal behaviour might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly.

Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the vulnerable, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

‘Even at its most heartbreaking it never feels sombre … Inspiring, plucky and, in the end, consoling, it’s hard to put down’ Observer

Reviews

Even at its most heartbreaking it never feels sombre … Inspiring, plucky and, in the end, consoling, it’s hard to put down.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer

A work of true devotion.

—— Paul Gravett , Independent

This heartbreaking, endearing and painfully honest depiction of a girl fighting against herself to survive makes for a truly amazing story.

—— We Love This Book

[A] searing memoir… Gripping, thanks to its honesty and its disjunction between traumatic subject matter and sometimes childlike artwork, James Smart

—— Guardian

Honest, poignant and ridiculously silly in all the best ways and I'm better for having read it. Plus, doggies!

—— Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess

One of the funniest sites on the Internet

—— salon.com

Hilarious and poignant and brilliantly illustrated. Check it out. The whole blog is inspired.”

—— Daily Dish

“Once I started reading Hyperbole and a Half, I found myself unable to stop—except to laugh uproariously.

—— boingboing.com

“Here’s a rough analogy: David Sedaris sets out to write a graphic memoir, but decides to use the MS Paint application on his computer rather than hire an artist. . . . [Brosh’s] naïve art plays brilliantly against dark comic themes.”

—— True/Slant

One of 2013’s biggest publishing successes … Quirky and captivating

—— Observer

Very funny, occasionally incredibly insightful (when [Brosh] chooses to be in that mood), and a brilliant dip-in-and-dip-out-of book

—— Stuck in a Book

Brosh's naive but surprisingly affecting illustrations have gained her blog, Hyperbole and a Half, a cult following... I defy anyone who has suffered from depression not to cry at her stark account of suffering from the illness

—— Sharon Wheeler , Times Higher Education

Hilarious… I love the intersection of things that are as dark as they can be and as funny

—— Elizabeth McCracken , Boston Globe Sunday

It’s impossible not to warm to cartoonist and blogger Allie. If she doesn’t get to you with her funny childhood anecdotes (eating an entire birthday cake) then her honest reflections on depression will

—— Grazia

Brosh fills her comics with heart, boldly tackling subjects as different as dog-ownership and depression

—— Guardian, *Top 10 Funny Comic Books*

A playful yet wise graphic novel.

—— Paul Gravett , ArtReview

The storyline is exciting and well thought out to give a wide overview of the suffrage movement. I was very pleasantly surprised.

—— Lattice , Guardian

A seamless blend of historical fact and fiction ... The illustrations are full of energy and expression.

—— Jacqui Agate , Independent

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