Tell Me Im Not Broken

By Liliana Moro

You are not broken. You never were.

Tell Me I'm Not Broken is a raw, unfiltered journey through the mind of Liliana navigating anorexia, ADHD, trauma, and the impossible pressure to be "okay." At just eighteen, Liliana Moro has lived through the kind of pain most people don't speak about ~ and she's chosen to speak. Loudly. Honestly. Without shame.

A Blending memoir, mental health education, and self-help, this book offers more than just a survival story ~ but a lifeline. Liliana writes with fierce vulnerability and dark humor, exploring therapy, mental health, perfectionism, identity, and what it really means to recover when the world keeps trying to silence you.

If you've ever felt too much, not enough, or invisible in your pain,this book is for you.

If you've ever wished someone would just get it,this book is for you.

And if you're still here, fighting when it would be easier to give up,this book is proof you're not alone.

Whether you're a teenager battling your own mental health, a parent desperate to understand, or a professional craving a humanized perspective,Tell Me I'm Not Broken will stay with you long after the final page.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liliana Moro
• Release date: May 20, 2025
• ISBN: 9798231953950

Book preview

Foreword

This book is a map through darkness,though not the kind that promises a perfect path or glowing exit sign. It’s the kind that says, I’ve been there too, and offers a light to hold while you crawl.

Tell Me I’m Not Broken is not a polished survival story. It’s not a miracle turnaround. It’s the in-between. The almosts. The nights when you swear you can’t do it again,and still do. It’s for the ones who count calories like currency, who walk circles to feel worthy, who sit in sterile therapy rooms wondering if anyone sees them at all.

It’s for the ones who are exhausted from being high-functioning. Who carry trauma like it’s second skin. Who know what it feels like to want help and fear it in the same breath.

In this book, you’ll find medical records and mental spirals. Resistance and recovery. Rage and grace. You’ll meet the girl I used to be,and maybe, in parts of her, you’ll recognize yourself.

I didn’t write this to impress professionals or prove anything to the world. I wrote it to give voice to the pain I used to think made me unlovable. I wrote it so someone else wouldn’t have to feel so alone. I wrote it because healing is lonely, and no one tells you how often it feels like failure.

If you’re holding this book, I hope you read it slowly. Not to analyze it,but to feel it. To breathe with it. To walk alongside it like a friend who doesn’t try to fix you, but simply says, Me too.

And maybe, by the end, you’ll believe it too:

You are not broken.

You never were.

Preface

I never set out to write a book. I set out to survive.

There were years I lived in fragments,half-eaten meals, half-told truths, half-formed plans to disappear. I wrote in hospital beds and bathroom stalls. I scribbled in therapy notebooks, desperate to make sense of my mind. And somewhere along the way, those scraps became a story.

This book is not a recovery manual. It’s not clean or clinical or wrapped up in a bow. It’s messy. It spirals. It repeats itself. Just like healing does.

You’ll find pieces of a girl who tried to be perfect until it nearly killed her. A girl who didn’t know where she ended and her disorders began. A girl who clung to control, then to hope, then to language. Every page is a protest against silence.

I wrote this because I was tired of pretending to be okay. Because too many young people are dying quiet deaths inside their own minds. Because I needed to believe that pain could be repurposed into something that matters.

Tell Me I’m Not Broken is part memoir, part scream, part guide for anyone who’s ever felt like they were too much or not enough. If you’re reading this, maybe you’ve lived it too. Maybe you’re living it now.

You’re not broken. And even if you are, broken things still work. They still carry. They still shine.

This book is proof.

— Lili

May 2025

Acknowledgments

To my mum ~ You have been my constant. Through every breakdown, every silence, every moment I pushed you away,you stayed. Your strength has shaped mine. You held me through the impossible and loved me through the unlovable. I owe my life to you. I hope this book gives something back to you, even if it’s just proof that I kept going.

To my dad ~ Thank you for always showing up. You’ve been quiet, steady, and present in your own way, and that has meant more to me than words could ever say. I know I haven’t always made it easy, but I see your love,and I carry it.

To my siblings ~ My little lights. Your laughs, your hugs, the way you just are,it reminded me of everything good. Even when I was lost in my own darkness, you two pulled me back to life. I love you more than I can explain.

To my English teacher ~ You saw something in my writing before I ever did. Thank you for treating my words like they had weight. You made me feel capable. You made me feel heard. That mattered more than I can ever express.

To my school counselor ~ You were one of the first safe places I ever had. Thank you for making space for my pain, for never rushing me, and for seeing the person behind the panic. Your care helped me hold on longer than you’ll ever know.

To my CAMHS therapist ~ Thank you for showing up with patience, honesty, and empathy. You helped me find words for things I thought were unspeakable. You held boundaries and hope at the same time. This book wouldn’t exist without your part in my healing.

To my grandparents ~ Thank you for loving me with quiet constancy. For your gentleness, your warmth, your belief in me even when I couldn’t see past the day in front of me. You’ve always made me feel like I mattered.

To my cousins ~ Thank you for bringing joy into my life in the most natural ways. Whether you knew it or not, your love gave me breaks from the chaos in my head. You helped me remember who I am beneath the noise.

To my aunties and uncles ~ Your care, messages, and presence,even from afar,have meant so much. Thank you for standing with me and for loving me through the hard seasons. Family like you makes all the difference.

To my close friends ~ You saw me when I was breaking, and you didn’t turn away. You sat with me in the mess, made me laugh through tears, and reminded me who I was underneath the pain. Your friendship saved parts of me that nothing else could. I’m endlessly grateful for each of you.

and finally,

To the readers ~ thank you for being here. Thank you for making space for this story. If even one line makes you feel less alone, then every word was worth writing.

Introduction

Opening message - A letter to the reader

Dear Reader,

I’m not sure what brought you here.Maybe you feel like your life is unraveling and you’re barely holding on.Maybe you’re tired of pretending you’re okay when every part of you is screaming that your not.Or maybe you’re just searching for something,anything that might make you feel less alone.Whatever your reason, I need you to know this: I see you.And I’m so glad you’re here.