Trigger Warnings for “Hungry Ghost” – Eating Disorders, Fatphobia, Death, Depression, Grief
Valerie Chu is intelligent, determined, friendly, pretty, and most importantly, thin. Trying her best to juggle her life while managing an eating disorder, Val believes she is doing what is best for her and what her mother deems best. Mild Spoilers
Cover by Victoria YingWritten, Illustrated, & Lettered by Victoria Ying
Colored by Lynette WongAuthor/Illustrator Victoria Ying (“City of Secrets,” “Diana: Princess of the Amazons”) shows us less than a year of a teen girl’s life that is both heartbreaking and relatable for many reasons. The story of “Hungry Ghost” follows a girl named Valerie Chu through the ups and downs of life all while she keeps the secret of an eating disorder from her family and friends.
One of the best original graphic novels of 2023 was released just a little over one month ago and it is a powerful and unflinching look at emotional turmoil, loss, and eating disorders. Ying gives us a brief look at Val’s childhood and how it relates to how she thinks and sees herself into her older teen years. She is never not focusing on what and how much she is eating. Her parents’, especially her mother’s approval is always on her mind. A lot of this comes down to her mother always checking in on what she’s eating and reminding her endlessly that she doesn’t want to be fat. These verbal reminders and jabs come at an even quicker pace and greater quantity because Val’s best friend Jordan, from the time she was a young kid, is overweight. And for all intents and purposes, her weight comes down to a big appetite and no real regard for what she eats, as there is nothing within this story that would suggest it has been caused by anything else.
Fairly early on we learn that Val binges and purges, or at least purges, basically every bit of food she eats; all the while calculating calories and fat in her head. What is so haunting about this book is how realistically her entire mindset and disorder are portrayed. We are with Val every moment of this book so when she’s sitting around laughing with her friends at a burger joint, we see and feel that, and when she rushes to public restroom, crashing through a stall door, to throw up everything she has just eaten, we are with her through every painful moment of that as well. And for a lot of this book, she doesn’t feel that pain, she just sees it as any other part of her day; as typical as having to pee or brush her teeth. But we see it all. We know that damage that this is doing to her body and mind.
The fun and humorous parts read like any teen dramedy. These are friends that love each other. There are crushes and young heartache. There are exams and class trips. If you are 16 or 60, you understand these moments, these people, these emotions. Val has a family she feels bonded with and loves in various ways. A father she reveres and admires, a little brother she jokes around with and picks on, and a mother she respects and, truthfully, fears. And it is, clearly, the interactions with her mother that causes the most pain throughout this entire book. Every single time food comes into play her mother is watching what she is eating and making infuriating comments. Whether it be dinner at home, or at a family party, or hanging out with her friends, especially when Jordan is around, which is almost all of the time. The things her mother says to her, which apparently come from a place of love, cut deep.
I love this book for never looking away from any of it. We feel the stings that Val feels. The second-hand embarrassment is almost overwhelming at times. Although this is just a glimpse into this life, the characters are fleshed out in a way that makes them perfect mirrors for so many people. There are a few things that occur that are either tied in some way to Val’s Chinese/American heritage, and the pain she goes through, both from her eating disorder and another unrelated tragedy are specific to her and this story, but at every level there is something for the reader to latch on and relate to. I don’t want to discuss any other specifics from the story as to stay away from spoiling it, and the details I have mentioned are not major spoilers for this graphic novel, and really just set the tone for the entire thing.
Continued belowAlong with her exceptional and naturalistic writing, Ying also illustrates this graphic novel in a way that works at every level her writing does. The art is soft, welcoming, and captures what seems like a worry-free young life. But even from the first page darkness creeps in, but the art style never changes as a reminder that while everything can look good from the outside, some of the worst pain imaginable can be churning out of sight. The line work is really gorgeous and you can see hints of Ying’s Disney work throughout, but settings and thorough details are kept out of the work, keeping things minimalist to an extent. We are given everything we need to see and understand each scene, but purposefully kept at arm’s length as though we are stealing glimpses into Val’s most private moments. It can’t be understated how well the almost cutesy quaintness is juxtaposed with the bleak narrative material. Paired with Ying is colorist Lynette Wong, who is also working in an understated fashion. Splashes of color, a minimal palette of just a few colors; it all adds to that feeling of peeking into Val’s life and only getting the visual information that is absolutely necessary.
The power and pain of this story is something that needs to be experienced, not simply praised or discussed in a review or forum. It is probably one of the most important works of fiction released this year and I would put it in the hands of as many people as possible because, while Val is of Asian descent and her problem with bingeing and purging is specific to her, neither of those things stop this story from being relatable to anyone, of any race or nationality, going through any emotional pain. Her story can be anyone’s story; her pain is anyone’s pain. “Hungry Ghost” is tragic, heartbreaking, charming, funny, and an incredible work of art that could truly turn lives around.
“Hungry Ghost” was released April 25, 2023, and is available anywhere comics and books are sold.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a teenaged girl, nor am I someone who has been officially diagnosed with an eating disorder. However, as someone who has a “healthy” appetite and has gone through major weight swings from around age 19 to 36, I saw a lot of myself in Val. I saw the self-disapproval, the calorie counting, and the urge to want to eat what I want, when I want. All those internal arguments are hers and mine. I am thankfully not surrounded by people who constantly judge me about how skinny, or not skinny I am at a specific moment in my life, because if I had a mother like Val’s I do not know how or if I could live my life that way and there is a good chance I would turn to a negative life choice that could horribly effect my physical and mental health. I’ll be completely honest, I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it out to review it, it could have been a haunted house story for all I knew, and it kind of is, but not in the way I was thinking. That said, I am lucky to have picked it up and have thought about it every day since reading it and will continue to do so often. It is a beautifully necessary painful read.
