Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Big Girl

Big girl is a beautiful story about a young black girl growing up in Harlem in a body that is not universally accepted in the 90s. I think any girl who grew up in the 90s can relate to the hyper scrutiny on young girls bodies. But this book takes that experience and multiplies it by 10. As a morbidly obese young girl, everyone is constantly trying to shame her into being more healthy and losing weight.

As the story unfolds, Malaya begins to learn to love herself and find motivation outside of the shame that is constantly thrust upon her. I love seeing her come into her own and become such a strong, inspiring character. I also love the setting in Harlem and the way the author portrayed gentrification there. Beautiful and important story!

Content Warnings

skudiklier's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I kind of expected more from this to be honest, but it was still pretty good. I don't really have anything to say about it.

Content Warnings

bostonienne's review

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emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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krin's review against another edition

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slow-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

5.0

Rounding up to five stars. Big Girl is a compelling coming of age story following Malaya through two time periods (around 8 years old and then mid teens). The book brings readers to Harlem in the 1990s up through the earlier periods of gentrification. I guess technically that makes it historical fiction but since I grew up in the nineties that seems wild to me!

The writing is lyrical, mostly narrative with minimal dialogue, giving us a deep insight into Malaya's experience from a close third person POV. This is definitely a low plot, high character development kind of book but the story carries you along beautifully. The most prominent theme of the book involves a lot of food and body shaming which can be hard to read, especially when Malaya was only eight. Yet, it all rings very true and it's an important story to hear. There are also themes of race, family, intergenerational trauma, community and the roles women are expected to play.

The author has the way of sticking in memorable little tidbits of wisdom that make you say "huh!" out loud. Often these tidbits come from secondary characters - all of whom are so brightly written and developed that I would read stories about any one of them!

It might be mildly spoilery to say this but, after dealing with a lot of heaviness throughout the book, it's a relief that it ends on such a hopeful note with Malaya finally being empowered to take up space.

The narrator is excellent with a melodious and captivating voice.

Content warning for all kinds of fat shaming, food shaming and the type of disordered eating that is the result of all the types of things you could imagine happening in the 1990s.

I received an audio Advanced Review Copy from Net Galley and HighBridge Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

kelseykreme's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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