Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - No Big Deal

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

gillyreads's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Really enjoyed this one. Adorable but heart wrenching.

Content Warnings

lolasbooks12's review

Go to review page

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

chalkletters's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful 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? No

3.75

After being slightly disappointed in Dumplin' (though I do love the film adaptation), I've been low-key on the lookout for other books with positive portrayals of plus-size main characters. I picked this up at my local station's free bookshelf (whence it shall probably return) and have just been waiting for a gap in my reading schedule to read it.

First, and most important, things first: Emily is so much more consistent than Willowdean! She does go through ups and downs in terms of her self-image, but those always follow on from events in the plot, making them logical, and she's much more coherent in her narration about why she feels the way she feels, even when she knows her feelings aren't 100% rational. Emily's character developments follows a genuine trajectory, one which is satisfying from beginning to end.

Perhaps the price of all this internal consistency and self-focus is that No Big Deal's secondary characters aren't drawn as strongly as they could be. Emily has friends, characters that don't feel like cardboard cutouts and that do have their own lives and their own stories happening in the background, but they just don't get enough attention to have particularly developed personalities. Abi is positive, Camila is calming, Ella and Sophia are girlfriends — that's about it. Emily's family fares better, perhaps because their lives don't markedly change during the course of the story. (Sidenote: Emily's mum's story is just heartbreaking. Sequel?)

The romantic plot line works very well: the turns it takes feel realistic, without being so predictable that you can see them coming a mile off. The climax evoked the brutal plot twist in Girls Out Late, or the moment in Hairspray when Link tells Tracey the adventure is 'a little too big'. (Plus-size readers, what are the moments in fiction that hit you in the solar-plexus like these?) As in It Only Happens in the Movies, the ending is more complicated, but feels more rewarding, than a simple happily-ever-after.

The whole of No Big Deal feels like Bethany Rutter's love letter to teens and young adults struggling with their size in society. At times, that did mean that it came across just a little heavy-handed, but in a way that felt worth it, and wasn't unpleasant to read.

I'd thoroughly recommend No Big Deal to anyone interested in this style of book!

Content Warnings

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

4.75 stars. This book felt so nostalgic for some reason. It definitely reminded me of Jacqueline Wilson's Girls series so if you've read that, I definitely recommend this. I usually dislike reading series of books but I really want Emily to make a return, preferably as a uni student navigating young adult life. I could read a whole series of this.

Content Warnings

kirstenf's review

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

Content Warnings

rb26's review

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring 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

4.0

Reaaaaally loved this book and wish I had found it sooner. Loved Emily’s confidence and her rage against a world that was telling her to hate herself, and the ending is fantastic. I think my only niggle is that Emily seems wiser than her years, but that’s being quite nit-picky.

Content Warnings

terrabby's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

We finally got a confident fat girl as a mc and I loved every second of it! Very cute, I wish I had this as a teen and it makes me so happy that teenage girls (and not just girls!) are reading this now. I wish it mentioned fatphobia as a systematic opression directly, but considering the context of a ya short novel it does a good job.

Content Warnings