Lia had been doing so good. Since she had moved in with her dad, her step mom, and step sister, she had really gotten a handle on her weight. The new environment combined with her experiences at the clinic really helped. But that all seems to change one Saturday night when her best friend Cassie tries to call her 33 times in one night.

Cassie and Lia had sort of lost touch six months earlier. They just seemed to grow apart. Lia just couldn't answer the phone. The problem is that Cassie is found dead in a hotel room the next day. All the details about what happened are very hush-hush. Some people suspect and overdose while others think she committed suicide. Lia think she knows what really happened, and it probably all had to do with a bet they had made years earlier when they were in the 8th grade. Who could be the skinniest.

After Cassie's death, Lia blames herself. If only she had answered the phone ... would things have been different? As she feels the world tripping away, she finds herself once again focusing on her weight. She finds way to hide how little she is eating and starts losing weight as her anorexia comes back in full force. Her step-mother Jennifer weighs her once a week, but that doesn't prevent ways of getting the scale to read what everyone wants it to say even as those around her start to wonder if she has fallen into old habits.

Her parents seem to care a great deal, though their careers can definitely be a distraction. Her mother, who she usually refers to as Dr. Marrigan, is a well-regarded heart surgeon. Lia has always been pressured by her. Lia's father is a Revolutionary War specialist who is known for writing books and is a professor at a local college. He sometimes overlooks things because he cares too much.

As Lia's health grows worse while her weight drops, Cassie's ghost starts to visit. The ghost starts to apply a combination of guilt and a request to not be left alone during her visits, which feeds right into Lia's mania. The reader can't help but hope that Lia will be able to come to terms with her illness before she follows in Cassie's footsteps.

Lia is a great narrator. She tells her story with honesty. Her tale is not told in the form of a journal, but it has a sense of one as Lia often crosses out statements/thoughts that she initially has before she realizes she wants to say something else. This is often done in relation to her being hungry or wanting to eat. It is the first time that I read a book for teens about anorexia in which I really felt that I was seeing how someone suffering from this disease. I can't say that I really understood how it works, but I can say I can see how their logic is functioning.

Anderson has already proven she can capture the harsh realities that many of our teens face. The best example is Speak, in which she brings readers into the mind of a high school student who has blocked out the fact that she was date raped at a party before the start of the new school year. This book is really up to the level of that book. Fans of that book, and girls who read Perfect by Natasha Friend when they were younger will definitely want to pick this one up. I have a feeling they won't want to put it down until they are done.