A Heart-felt Review

The Fifth Floor receives a touching review.

Family, Friends, and Fans,

Once again, I want to thank you for your support in reading and reviewing The Fifth Floor. June 1 will mark three months since its release. Last week, I received a very special email from one of my readers. (I have made some slight changes in content to protect the person’s identity and location.)   I am a junior in high school. My school’s social worker recommended I read your book to help aid my recovery. I was diagnosed with anorexia last August, and I've been in and out of treatment facilities since. I am currently back in school and seeing my outside therapist and dietitian after living in a residential treatment center for 3 months. I picked up your book at the suggestion of my school’s social worker and once I started, couldn't stop. The way it is written is so accurate; I could relate with almost every aspect of it.

The similarities I could draw between my own struggle and Anna's were eerily similar. From the treatment center and the Ensure, to the depression and (most surprisingly) the weight, my journey in recovery has almost paralleled that of the main character. The only glaring difference being the tragic event in Anna’s childhood.

I wanted to contact you to say thank you for writing this story. It is the first eating-disorder book I've read that truly tells the story of how torturous and insidious this illness is. It has been so reassuring to me knowing that I am not alone in my particular struggles and reading your book has confirmed this. I also wanted to help spread word of your book in any way possible. I want others like me to be able to read this book and feel how I did. If you have any ideas, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.   I am truly inspired by this courageous young adult. The Fifth Floor was not only written for my coming-of-age and general fiction audiences, but also for young adults who face mental health challenges and for their families to understand what facing these challenges entail. I am thankful The Fifth Floor has made a difference, as has the young adult who wrote this beautiful review. 

All the best, Julie Oleszek