The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting: The Tragedy and The Glory of Growing Up; A Memoir

While I am not done reading this book and I probably don't fit in the targeted demographics, I must say this book is very well written and it really captures my attention. I have loved the Harry Potter books growing up and have followed all of the actors/actresses, so when I heard Evanna was releasing a new book, I knew I had to get it. The book, as Evanna states in her author's note, is very blunt and open. It is eye-opening to see the thought process of an anorexic and how it affected her life. I am impressed with how open she is with her struggles through childhood and growing up. Writing this book had to be tough for her and shows how brave she truly is. Once I am finished reading, I will come back to leave a longer review, but I recommend reading it!Edit: I forgot to leave a review, but I finished this book just 2 days after I left the first part of my review. As I said earlier, the book is just as good as it was in the beginning! I loved hearing about her experience on the set of Harry Potter and how she overcame her eating disorders with new passions in life. It was a fantastic book! Great job, Evanna! Thank you for sharing your story... it's incredible!

In "The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting," Evanna Lynch conveys, with evident loyalty to her younger self, the misery that adults inflict when they try to fix young people by stripping them of autonomy and denying them any respect for who they are as individuals. While many particulars vary from one case to another -- since I, unlike her, never had an eating disorder, I, unlike her, never had people forcing me to eat at levels I thought would destroy anything worthwhile about me -- I believe this is the essential evil of adolescent psychiatric hospitals like the one I was in decades ago as well as "troubled teen" programs and eating-disorder programs like the one that traumatized her.Those who are involved with any of those kinds of programs, or who think they might ever be in the position of sending someone to any of them, should read the book. I don't agree with Lynch that ignorance and good motives are an excuse.If you've been through such a hell, you may find a kind of visibility in this book. I know I did. I don't think I've ever wanted so much to reach through the pages of a book and hug its narrator.

I don’t know how to write a review really. But I will write a few things…..1. This book is sooooooooooooo well written.2. The first 9 or so chapters can be VERY TRIGGERING to those with mental health issues. Especially any kind of eating disorder.3. Also a self harm trigger4. Also a few words to describe bodies are not the stance I have on bodies. Or how I am learning to view bodies through a Health at Every Size lense. (Google HAES)5. It’s a memoir but written so well it could be fiction.6. I am MORTIFIED & HORRIFIED at the way Eating Disorders are treated & so grateful my time inpatient & residential and outpatient was not at all like Evanna’s traumatic experiences.7. Trauma triggers also - abandonment8. I loved reading her true struggle & how it was not magic 123 into Harry Potter and acting.9. I kinda hope Evanna tried to write fiction. So good. She is a great writer. Most memoirs are just filler.10. I relate to this book in so many ways & to Evanna. I plan to go back & highlight some helpful insights as I am not recovered yet from things.Really GREAT book.

I originally read this book because it popped up on a list of recommended books on my library home page and the blurb about it caught my attention. It's a little weird that I chose to read it because I'm neither a woman nor a huge Harry Potter fan, but I'm so glad that I did. Her raw honesty combined with the fact that she's worked so hard to process and work through her issues meant that her story really spoke to me despite the fact that on a surface level my issues are completely different than hers.The insight she conveyed that had the most impact on me was when she laid out the choice between optimism and negativity, between huddling into the safe dead end of pessimism about life and reaching out with big dreams while exposing yourself to the danger of the unknown and the possibility of failure. I am in fact an optimist by nature, but I sometimes question that optimism in the light of cold hard reality, and the way she delineated the choice between optimism and pessimism really helped me clarify exactly what I'm choosing when I choose to be optimistic. When I choose to view something optimistically, it's not that I'm saying that's the more accurate vision of life, it's that that is what I'm going to strive for and try to make a reality. This both grounds my optimism and encourages me not to give it up. If I choose to dream and hope, I will have setbacks, but that doesn't mean I should stop hoping and striving. Choosing to stay in negativity is choosing to limit oneself to what one can control and there is so little of that that ultimately it is a choice not to truly live.Evanna, you wrote a wonderful book. I'm rooting for you. Keep dreaming, and embrace all that life has to offer.

This book is a child’s trip through the complicated world of facing adulthood to figuring out “The Meaning of Life” traped inside a women’s body.Evanna,shares her experience with a disorder few understand and the inside of HP All of us have dreamed of. It’s wonderful 🦋

This book is beautifully written! It has been a long time since I read a book that I was unable to put down. I laughed out loud, I cried real tears. The book was profoundly thought provoking. This isn’t your usual memoir……. Evanna Lynch is a writer!!!The ‘Opposite Of Butterfly Hunting’ is the best book I have read in years.

Arrived Earlier than expected and the book came undamaged.

I had this book on pre-order bc of my obsession with the world of Harry Potter and my admiration for Evanna's story.I inhaled this book in 2.5 days. From a Friday evening to a Sunday noon.I found myself deep within the mind of Evanna, and found myself both shocked, compassionate, angry, proud, mesmerized, and troubled. I felt like I knew her. Her writing brings you with her down the rabbit hole of her world. And you find yourself trapped in awe and disgust of what she went through. Her life. Thoughts she wrote aloud that most of us whispered in the back of our own minds but never had the ghall to speak.My respect for her is tenfold and my I look forward to seeing her grow as a writer from producing something so intimate.My husband asked me now what am I to do now that this book is complete."I don't know." was my response. But reading this book has ignited a love of books I thought I had lost.So thank you Evanna for the struggles you lived and went though, and for learning to love your body. I hope writing is your next rush and the focus you need. I can't wait to see more.

Ich liebe Evanna Lynch, sie ist eine tolle Schauspielerin, Aktivistin und strahlt auch ihre positive Energie mittels dieses Buch aus. Nur zu empfehlen :)