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marzipan9's review against another edition
2.0
this book tries just a little to hard to be a good book.
yourbookishgamermom's review against another edition
5.0
This book really touched me. It was very beautiful and so well done. Knowing a couple people with anorexia and struggling with eating and such has really made this book hit home for me. This book was really well done and shone a light on eating disorders and a struggle in many teenagers these days. *cue sadness*
Anyways. This book was absolutely fantastic and a well written, thought provoking, novella. Once again, Laura Smith’s writing is amazing and really draws me in instantly!
Melissa was such a sweet, adorable character who struggled with her weight. She constantly compared herself to her friends and those around her and that didn’t help with her insecurities. As Melissa went through everything and started (eventually) on her road to recovery my heart just went out to her. At points it just screamed reminders of someone I know who was going through the same thing and at points I was afraid to admit that my line of thought and such were the same as the characters. Laura did a fantastic job of really making the characters relatable (Whether or not you struggle with an eating disorder or anything like that) This book was beautifully done and a great read that I finished very quickly indeed.
Anyways. This book was absolutely fantastic and a well written, thought provoking, novella. Once again, Laura Smith’s writing is amazing and really draws me in instantly!
Melissa was such a sweet, adorable character who struggled with her weight. She constantly compared herself to her friends and those around her and that didn’t help with her insecurities. As Melissa went through everything and started (eventually) on her road to recovery my heart just went out to her. At points it just screamed reminders of someone I know who was going through the same thing and at points I was afraid to admit that my line of thought and such were the same as the characters. Laura did a fantastic job of really making the characters relatable (Whether or not you struggle with an eating disorder or anything like that) This book was beautifully done and a great read that I finished very quickly indeed.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Skinny by Laura L. Smith: I had picked up this YA book on a whim and found it to be something I would recommend to both mothers with teenage daughters and their daughters. It was a good reminder on how overwhelming teenage life can truly be and also how hard it is to talk to your parents about some things. I found the story to be believable but tied up rather quickly. It does deal with a subject matter that has become all to relevant in today's world: eating disorders and body image issues. You get to see the girl's struggle and how she got to that point in the first place. While I don't think a majority of girl's have eating disorders almost all have body image issues of some sort.
Author Website: http://www.lauralsmith.net
Author Website: http://www.lauralsmith.net
jesslyntimm's review against another edition
1.0
I often read books on self-help and disorders because I'm curious about them. I work at the library and always find books that I want to read (And then never get around to) and this was one of the books that caught my eye.
My first impression? The cover is amateur-ish (watch, that's probably not even how you spell it. Now I look like the dumb ass.) I just felt like I was looking at a book that had been published by a high school aspiring writer. I'm one of those people so I know what kind of work those aspiring writers are capable of. ;)
I'm usually not into books with religion woven into it. I'm a Catholic but I don't like to read books where everything relates back to God. Melissa, the main character, talks about "having a date" with her bible and the book contains bible passages. It's not that I found it pointless.. but Smith wrote the passages in the book and it just felt like she only put it in so she could fill up more pages.
Skinny wasn't even 200 pages long. The actual writing was not good. At all. I kept thinking about how I could write better. There were lines like, "The girls just had so much fun!".
I had a lot of problems with Skinny. Sorry if this review is quite annoying, choppy, and blah.
Smith definitley could have written more in some scenes. I felt like she didn't really have a grip on what teenagers are really like. I found myself scoffing at certain parts.
Sure, girls paint each others finger nails and eat popcorn but it bothers me how she wrote it. It just felt like it was me writing one of my stories back when I was into Twilight and wanted to be a writer. Back in like the 6th grade. . . .
Overall, I know this review didn't say a whole lot. But I wouldn't tell anyone to read this book. It's a huge waste of time and extremely annoying. Just put it down and read the other book Skinny with the green popsicle on the front. I promise it will be a helluva lot better.
My first impression? The cover is amateur-ish (watch, that's probably not even how you spell it. Now I look like the dumb ass.) I just felt like I was looking at a book that had been published by a high school aspiring writer. I'm one of those people so I know what kind of work those aspiring writers are capable of. ;)
I'm usually not into books with religion woven into it. I'm a Catholic but I don't like to read books where everything relates back to God. Melissa, the main character, talks about "having a date" with her bible and the book contains bible passages. It's not that I found it pointless.. but Smith wrote the passages in the book and it just felt like she only put it in so she could fill up more pages.
Skinny wasn't even 200 pages long. The actual writing was not good. At all. I kept thinking about how I could write better. There were lines like, "The girls just had so much fun!".
I had a lot of problems with Skinny. Sorry if this review is quite annoying, choppy, and blah.
Smith definitley could have written more in some scenes. I felt like she didn't really have a grip on what teenagers are really like. I found myself scoffing at certain parts.
Sure, girls paint each others finger nails and eat popcorn but it bothers me how she wrote it. It just felt like it was me writing one of my stories back when I was into Twilight and wanted to be a writer. Back in like the 6th grade. . . .
Overall, I know this review didn't say a whole lot. But I wouldn't tell anyone to read this book. It's a huge waste of time and extremely annoying. Just put it down and read the other book Skinny with the green popsicle on the front. I promise it will be a helluva lot better.
liralen's review against another edition
2.0
Teen-issue Christian fiction is almost uniformly terrible. I say 'almost' because I'm sure there's something out there that isn't. Somewhere. Maybe. (I will note that I am not even remotely the target audience for this. But still.)
Imaginary shelf: why-do-i-read-this-crap
The predictability is kind of off-the-charts here. Melissa gets stressed, loses a lot of weight very unhealthily, is dumped, is diagnosed with an eating disorder, and realises that Jesus loves her and the Lord doesn't want her to starve. Oh, and her boyfriend wants her back.
Imaginary shelf: jesus-saaaaves
On the subject of the boyfriend: Making a sloppy cardboard cutout, painting it with a football uniform, and pasting a southern accent over its lips does not an interesting boyfriend make.
Imaginary shelf: cardboard-boytoy
One of the plotlines involves Melissa trying out for dance-team captaincy. None of the other characters are fleshed out enough to give any idea of who might be likely candidates, and we don't find out in the book who is named captain or lieutenant. (Imaginary shelf: farrier-my-plot-needs-shodding) Perhaps there was originally a sequel planned? At a guess, it would go something like this: Melissa is named lieutenant, despite being a lowly freshman. But being lieutenant is hard, and some of the girls don't respect her because she's only a sophomore, andwill she ever be as good as Jesus? (Oops, sorry, that was Elsie Dinsmore.) Anyway, the captain breaks her ankle or something, and Melissa has to take over, and her boyfriend's talking about dumping her again until football season is over, oh noes -- and then Melissa has a chat with God again and writes out some Bible verses and realises that God made her lieutenant for a reason and suddenly everyone respects her. And her cardboard boyfriend comes back. The end.
Imaginary shelf: what-the-hell-am-i-doing-i-have-work-to-do
Imaginary shelf: why-do-i-read-this-crap
The predictability is kind of off-the-charts here. Melissa gets stressed, loses a lot of weight very unhealthily, is dumped, is diagnosed with an eating disorder, and realises that Jesus loves her and the Lord doesn't want her to starve. Oh, and her boyfriend wants her back.
Imaginary shelf: jesus-saaaaves
On the subject of the boyfriend: Making a sloppy cardboard cutout, painting it with a football uniform, and pasting a southern accent over its lips does not an interesting boyfriend make.
Imaginary shelf: cardboard-boytoy
One of the plotlines involves Melissa trying out for dance-team captaincy. None of the other characters are fleshed out enough to give any idea of who might be likely candidates, and we don't find out in the book who is named captain or lieutenant. (Imaginary shelf: farrier-my-plot-needs-shodding) Perhaps there was originally a sequel planned? At a guess, it would go something like this: Melissa is named lieutenant, despite being a lowly freshman. But being lieutenant is hard, and some of the girls don't respect her because she's only a sophomore, and
Imaginary shelf: what-the-hell-am-i-doing-i-have-work-to-do
paulainbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I expected a little too much from it, I hoped it would help me with some of my problems but it made me feel even lonlier without amazing parents and God. I think it is good shorty story which has happy end after all, that's all.
nikkioxen's review against another edition
2.0
Ending of the book was kinda meh, mainly due to the unrealistic view it has to eating disorders. All she did was read the Bible and pray and all a sudden she could eat...sadly thats not how it works in most cases..
thereadingknitter's review against another edition
2.0
Teenager Melissa Rollins has got the eye of the cute new guy in school. The one thing Melissa doesn’t have is a perfect body. Strict dieting and throwing up can’t be all bad, can they?
My Review - this was a pretty good book. For sure a read for young girls. I liked that it was short and sweet.
My Review - this was a pretty good book. For sure a read for young girls. I liked that it was short and sweet.
hipaulina's review against another edition
3.0
I expected a little too much from it, I hoped it would help me with some of my problems but it made me feel even lonlier without amazing parents and God. I think it is good shorty story which has happy end after all, that's all.