Although Jasmin Singer says her journey toward health and self-actualization "started with juice," it is the wisdom of her grandmother that suffuses and illuminates each page of this memoir: "You are exactly where you should be." From the earliest scenes describing her parents' divorce and revolving step-parents--when food became the one constant Singer could control--to a painful moment in a San Francisco bathroom stall avoiding her own reflection in the mirror, she is unflinchingly forthright and refreshingly authentic.
For years Singer felt "simply too much... too needy, too clingy, too desperate.... It seemed I took up too much space wherever I went, not just physically." However, each stage of her journey has a significant and crucial role in her identity. When a friend introduces her to a vegan lifestyle, food becomes about more than just herself and she permanently transforms her relationship with what she eats, eventually finding her life's work in animal activism. When she and her partner attempt a juice fast, the detox is much more than physical. Singer realizes "that food is indeed the most personal political act there is," and this change in perspective is as life altering as the 100 pounds she sheds. Dedicating herself to a cause creates an impetus for self-care, while her new physique creates a profound understanding of how people are treated based on appearance. Singer's memoir is a testament to how the greatest transformations are often intangible. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics