Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Does My Body Offend You?

I can't believe how many important themes are presented in this book: feminism, race, class, being a refugee, body autonomy, sexual violence, family relationships across generations, allyship—that's not even a full list. At the same time, the story never reads as a pamphlet on these topics or anything. The characters are fully realized, relatable, and easy to root for, even when they make the kind of messy mistakes that are inevitable when you're a teenager faced with all the complications of the world around you. It was great to see how each of those mistakes made Malena, Ruby, and others around them, like Carlos and Saraida, actually think, analyze, and grow from the experience. I also really liked how the plot beats were distributed across the two POVs, such as showing Ruby's big apology at the end through Malena's POV—it felt important somehow.

One thing I especially enjoyed was the inspection of the intersections of privilege and marginalization; how someone can have more privilege than another person in some situations, but also face the kind of struggles the other person never has to come across. It was shown very well with the relationship between Ruby and Carlos. And something I enjoyed even more was the whole subject of allyship, and how important it is, when you're trying to help somebody to be heard, to amplify their voice instead of crowding it out with yours. No one is better at explaining a struggle and the ways to help with it than the person who's actually facing it.

One thing that made the book a bit difficult to read for me personally was the amount of Spanish. Objectively speaking, I really loved it, because it's genuinely important to the plot that centers on Latinx characters. On the other hand, since I don't know Spanish, it also made it harder to get immersed in Malena's chapters—the number of Spanish words without translation made me acutely aware I was reading about people who are foreigners for me, if that makes sense? I absolutely wouldn't want to lose a single Spanish word from this book, but I would have appreciated it if there were footnotes with translations included. A lot of the time, it was easy enough to fathom out the meaning of most words based on context, but sometimes I felt like I was missing out on some important meanings and I had to stop reading and google. On the plus side, I now feel like my knowledge of Spanish is sliiiiiightly above zero! :D

Content Warnings

katiescott's review against another edition

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inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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averyjane's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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pawprintsinthesink's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Does My Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt is a fantastic YA novel that tackles tough, relevant topics in an engaging and engrossing way. Full of visceral moments that will pull you right back into those high school days, where at any moment you could be forced to stand and have your hem measured in front of the entire class.

Malena has already had her life turned upside down by Hurricane Maria. When a severe sunburn prevents her from wearing a bra, a teacher at her high school flags her for a dress code violation, leading to Malena being shamed and admonished by the school nurse and secretary. Ruby is new at this school, too, but knows that what she sees happening to Malena in the nurse’s office is wrong. Ruby and Malena team up to fight the sexist dress code, but starting a revolution has unexpected consequences.

What makes this novel so impossible to put down is the combination of spectacular character development and the natural, organic intersectionality of these issues. Does My Body Offend You? doesn’t shy away from any topic, but it also doesn’t stretch to try and pack in non-related issues. Is this book totally relevant and relatable? Yes. Does it feel like these issues are forced and the book is just trying to talk about hot button issues? Not even a little bit.

Ruby’s experience in social activism has her primed for a fight, but she struggles to recognize her privilege. Malena feels as though she has lost her voice since her displacement from Puerto Rico, but can’t seem to bridge the gap between who she was there and who she is perceived to be in the U.S. Each will have to face their shortcomings and blind spots head on in order to heal.

Each character in this large cast is incredibly well developed. Malena and Ruby aren’t the only ones facing up to their own problematic perceptions. Malena’s cousin Carlos is a baseball superstar, and gets his own special privileges. Ruby’s sister wants so desperately to change the world, she forgets who she’s wanting to change it for. And Malena is so tired of being adrift, of being looked upon with pity, that she loses sight of what made her, her to begin with.

I loved how each time Malena and Ruby made a poor choice, it made sense for their character. This isn’t one of those books where everyone is perfect, but the characters are flawed in realistic and relatable ways. It never felt like the authors were manipulating the characters to make a point or include another hot take. Instead, each scene feels organic and natural.

This novel should be required reading for every high schooler, as it so accurately reflects and acutely pinpoints how we can be blind to our own issues and privileges. It also shows constructive ways to make a positive and lasting change, regardless of your age.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and the authors for an advanced ebook such that I could write this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Does My Body Offend You? is available now.

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catladyreads's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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