Rating: An honest look at the harsh turns we can take in life when tragedy hits and the people you’d normally depend on are unable to be there for you. For Isabelle, it’s her mom. Ever since her father died suddenly a couple years past, her mother has become a different woman. An English Professor, she’s dropped to teaching part-time, no longer seems to care about her appearance, and does not discuss her late husband. In fact, she’s taken all of his pictures off the walls. For Isabelle, this only makes things harder.

To make matters worse, she hates the way she looks. An issue severely aggravated by the fact that her younger sister has dubbed her “Belly.”

After being caught throwing up by said younger sister, Isabelle is forced to go to Group. She hates the idea, but has no choice. And is caught totally off-guard when the most beautiful girl in school walks through the door.

Soon Ashley and Isabelle bond, and start spending more time together. Ashley, often left home alone, has a huge house with no end of food, and the binge-purge fests that take place there leave Isabelle feeling off-kilter for days afterward. It seems great at first–no hiding, no lying. But soon the novelty starts to wear off.

Time spent in Group, and also solo therapy sessions, is starting to impact Isabelle. She’s beginning to realize she eats when she feels bad. That maybe this is a coping mechanism gone horribly wrong. At home, her mother’s fits of mood start to anger her. At Ashley’s the un-ending food starts to grow old. It isn’t the same.

Once she first gets the words out of her mouth, about how her dad is gone and how much she misses him, everything starts to get easier. Not simple, not fun, but possible. Like asking to celebrate Hanukkah. Going ahead with it even when their mother says no. Asking for her aunt’s help to set up the decorations, and the family tree April did for school, using pictures of their dad they found hidden under their mother’s bed.

Bulimia is a hard cycle to break, but with a support network slowly forming, and a better understanding of herself and her motives, Isabelle begins to see a light that had been hidden from her. And suddenly “fine” doesn’t seem only a lie. It seems within reach.