With a Girl Interrupted feel, this memoir is beautifully crafted and will appeal to many readers who enjoy the ‘misery-memoir’ genre. In this engaging, raw memoir, Nicole Johns documents her battle with an eating disorder. Focusing primarily on her three months in a treatment facility, Johns translates her experience directly to the page. Her prose is lucid, and she seamlessly switches tenses and moves through time as she unearths several important themes: body image and sexuality, sexual abuse and relationships, and the struggle to piece together one’s path in life.While other books dealing with this theme may sugar coat the harsh realities of living with an eating disorder, Purge does not hold back. Johns’ presents an honest, detailed account of her experience with treatment, avoiding the happily-ever-after while still offering hope to the millions struggling with these devastating disorders. Purge sends a message to those who are fighting an uphill battle with an eating disorder: though the road may be rough, ultimately there is hope.