A review by thazell
Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
When a group of five is sent to a fat camp, all having their own reasons, things seem to get out of hand with the suspicious cure to obesity that doesn't seem very trustworthy and some monsters lurking around the corners of the camp. This idea was incredible but many elements fell flat for me.
The main characters were literally sorted into archetypes from the beginning, and I found that made them feel flat, especially since they almost followed it to a T. I found myself not caring for them at all, even when they were hurt or dying. The relationships between them also felt superficial, especially the romance thrown in at the last moment that made zero sense and ruined some of the scenes for me. We definitely could have gone without that. I loved the messages of loving your body and how people who are fat don't need to be "fixed", there were many positive messages and I loved seeing different body sizes in fiction when the norm is often pretty thin women. The Multi-POV did not hit it for me, it felt messy in many spots and ruined those chapters that it did. And perhaps spinning around five, or six POVs, not well done, making it more difficult to connect with the characters.
The plot itself was interesting but not as thrilling as I would have expected from an apocalypse-esque story, and the ending felt completely rushed. The concept and body diversity however did make it a three-star.
The main characters were literally sorted into archetypes from the beginning, and I found that made them feel flat, especially since they almost followed it to a T. I found myself not caring for them at all, even when they were hurt or dying. The relationships between them also felt superficial, especially the romance thrown in at the last moment that made zero sense and ruined some of the scenes for me. We definitely could have gone without that. I loved the messages of loving your body and how people who are fat don't need to be "fixed", there were many positive messages and I loved seeing different body sizes in fiction when the norm is often pretty thin women. The Multi-POV did not hit it for me, it felt messy in many spots and ruined those chapters that it did. And perhaps spinning around five, or six POVs, not well done, making it more difficult to connect with the characters.
The plot itself was interesting but not as thrilling as I would have expected from an apocalypse-esque story, and the ending felt completely rushed. The concept and body diversity however did make it a three-star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Car accident
Moderate: Fatphobia and Death