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nitya's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Read for MLIS elective
4 stars alone for the LJ mention in the author's thank yous tbh ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
This book was fantastic, and I loved the plus size rep, strong female friendships and romance!!! I just wish there was more depth to Mrs. Vega's redemption, she really didn't apologize enough for her abuse.
4 stars alone for the LJ mention in the author's thank yous tbh ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
This book was fantastic, and I loved the plus size rep, strong female friendships and romance!!! I just wish there was more depth to Mrs. Vega's redemption, she really didn't apologize enough for her abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Death of parent
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Alcohol
anika222's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Death of parent
Both the fatphobia and racism is challenged by the characters and dealt with in anti-racist and fat positive ways by the author. The parent death is in the past in the book but is mentioned.ashleycmms's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Grief, and Alcohol
Really great book. Realistic and difficult, but still light and enjoyable. I loved the diversity in sizes, races, and sexualities in this book. I love that it impacted everyone, but wasn’t overdone just for some quick rep. You still get to know everyone for who they are and learn to know what they are dealing with, without them becoming just a commodity. It was really emotional reading where Charlie is in her journey, but I loved how much you see she’s trying to unlearn these toxic ideas, change her behavior, and allowing herself to take chances by the end. The relationship between Charlie and her mother, Jeanne, was also ridiculously well written. As someone who has a strained relationship with their mother, I understand how you can long for a close bond with someone who simply may not be treating you the best. I also understand the constant fighting, the put downs, and being told that they want you to be better when you feel like you just want to be yourself. Things with Charlie and her mom didn’t end perfectly, but I loved that they were in a better place with no big talking about it, but just some better acceptance on both sides. Things aren’t perfect, but there’s definitely room to carve out happiness where you can.bexdubyah's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Racism
its_me_kitty_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
stubbornjerk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia
Minor: Racism
themixedpages's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Racism and Death of parent
cko's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This YA romance was just the dash of love and warmth and giddy teen romance excitement that I needed in my life. Cute and heartwarming and wholesome and so, so relatable. I found myself squealing at the end of so many chapters. Love the diverse cast. Love the tough and honest conversations about relationships, body shame, fat acceptance. Love the humor. Love the friends supporting friends.
This book is for anyone who lives with a loud inner critic, who struggled with fat acceptance or body shaming, who has ever thought that they are not enough, who has idolized their best friends, has fought with their parent about their appearance, or struggled with parent expectations.
Some of the dynamics with the mom didn’t completely track for me; the shift from loving food and shopping at plus size stores to being completely oblivious and cruel, and then the banter at the end was so different from how they interacted for the majority of the novel— it was kind of... jarring? I don’t know. I felt like I wanted more explanation and insight into the mom’s issues, because it was so hard for me to see the different versions of the mom as the same character.
Also never understood guys calling girls "kid," especially when they're the same age.
This book is for anyone who lives with a loud inner critic, who struggled with fat acceptance or body shaming, who has ever thought that they are not enough, who has idolized their best friends, has fought with their parent about their appearance, or struggled with parent expectations.
Some of the dynamics with the mom didn’t completely track for me; the shift from loving food and shopping at plus size stores to being completely oblivious and cruel, and then the banter at the end was so different from how they interacted for the majority of the novel— it was kind of... jarring? I don’t know. I felt like I wanted more explanation and insight into the mom’s issues, because it was so hard for me to see the different versions of the mom as the same character.
Also never understood guys calling girls "kid," especially when they're the same age.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism, Grief, and Death of parent
imstephtacular's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
I really loved a lot of things in this book. I loved the fat representation and the questioning of society and its obsession with thin-ness. I liked the exploration of friendship and the difficulties of navigating high school. I read this in a day- it was so compelling. However, I really wish there had been more about the mother-daughter storyline. I felt like it didn't get properly resolved and the trauma and emotional abuse from Charlie's mother gets excused way too easily. This was my one big gripe with the book overall. I'm glad this book is in the world, but I wanted more from that piece of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Racism
Minor: Grief and Death of parent