Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Every Body Shines: Sixteen Stories about Living Fabulously Fat by Cassandra Newbould

3 reviews

vaniavela's review

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I came here looking for happy, body-positive stories, and ended up consuming a book full of body-shaming stories.  Most of the characters deal with fatphobia and body shaming on an ongoing basis, when we were promised stories that celebrated body diversity and fat acceptance.

Guilt Trip by Claire Kann

Fifteen-year-old Mia has struggled with her weight her whole life, but now she has the opportunity to perform with her favorite band. 

The main character is manipulative and treats people badly.  I understand that it was an important day for her, but there are things people can't control and she didn't seem to understand that. However, the story arc was good despite being a short story. 

Rating: 3/5

Shatter by Cassandra Newbould

Bri has died seven times. Each time she was saving her sister Rae's life from Rae's ex-boyfriend Adrian, who tries to hit her with his car. 

Bri has died seven times. Each time saving her sister Rae's life from her ex-boyfriend, Adrian, who tries to run her over with his car. 

There were a lot of elements, which makes this confusing. The concept is similar to "Happy Death Day," but it's not entirely clear what happens. The ending was unsatisfying. 

Rating:2/5

Prom Queers by Alex Gino

Sam, a fat, non-binary high school student, has been asked by her best friend to go to prom with them. Now the problem is finding an outfit they feel good in. 

The portrayal of fat people is better than the previous one, as the characters love their bodies. This story highlights the problems fat teens and children face when looking for clothes in a society that praises thin bodies. This book has a non-binary and demiromantic representation, which I really appreciate. 

Rating: 4/5

Dupatta Diaries by Nafiza Azad

Jamilah, a fat desi girl, has been shamed by her mother her whole life. 

I have mixed thoughts about this. I understand that being bullied as a child can affect your life, but why put someone else through what you went through?  

Dupatta Diaries talks a lot about dieting, body shaming and fatphobia, which can be a trigger for some people. This could have had better execution, but instead we get a lot of fatphobic interaction among the family. 

Rating: 3/5

Food is Love by Chris Baron

Josh has spent his entire childhood cooking with his grandmother. But now that her mind is slowly fading, Josh's grandmother feels that the only way to express her love is through food, which Josh dreads eating.  

This story is similar to the previous one, with main characters having a bittersweet relationship with their family members. This time we don't get a message at the end, which is disappointing.  

Rating: 3/5

Orion's Star by Catherine Adel West

After Orion's father abandoned her family when she was a young child, her mother seems to hate Orion.

This is an emotional read about healing from broken relationships and grief. It is a realistic story about a complicated family dynamic.

Rating: 4/5

Weightless by Sheena Boekweg

A fat girl, who after spending her whole life feeling guilty about her weight, is now needed to save the planet. 

Set in space in a futuristic setting, this science fiction story would have made a perfect novel. The romance and characters were interesting to read and I would have liked this one to be longer. 

Rating: 4/5

Outside Pitch by Kelly deVos

Hayley's mother catfishes a teenage boy, Jett, posing as Hayley.  

Why is mothers pretending to be their daughters on the Internet popular now? Why does no one in this story find it problematic that a 40 year old woman catfishes a 17 year old online, pretending to be his girlfriend?

Rating: 2/5 

Filling the Net by Monique Gray Smith

After Jacqueline's father passes away, her grieving mother moves the family across the country to a small town. 

With a total "She's the Man" vibe, I don't understand why the mother has to move to cope with the situation. Her daughter has lost her father, an important figure in her life, why take the rest away from her? Besides, the guy did the bare minimum, not being sexist. 

Rating:  3/5

A Perfect Fit by Jennifer Yen

Elodie is humiliated by her family and friends about her weight, supposedly done for "her sake".

I appreciated her cousin's support in finding the dress. I would have liked this story to focus even more on the mother-daughter relationship. 

Rating: 3/5

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire by Rebecca Sky

A girl struggles to get her dream job, which unfortunately comes with a BMI elimination criteria.

I liked how it talked about Australian wildfires, which is important as it is an ongoing issue. 

Rating: 3/5

Letters to Charlie Brown by Francina Simone

A girl who feels disoriented by life, and confides her problems to her fictional friend, Charlie Brown. 

Writing fictional characters is an interesting coping mechanism and I liked the premise. I didn't like that our protagonist blames the girl in the Scarlet Letter for what happened to her. There are a lot of sexist comments in this story. 

Rating: 2/5

love spells and lavender lattes by amanda lovelace

Set in an alternate reality, a girl tries to undo a love spell cast by her friend.

To begin with, I'm not a big fan of the writing style. I love lyrical writing, I find it beautiful, but this story just didn't sit well with me. The use of no capitalization and the substitution of the word "and" for "&" bothered me.

Rating: 2/5

Breathe You In by Hillary Monahan

This was an interesting retelling of The Little Mermaid.  I liked the concept of how the earthmakers should die with increasing pleasure, not increasing terror. 

Rating: 4/5

Unpleasant Surprises by Linda Camacho

Olivia's life is turned upside down when her best friend suddenly loses weight and becomes more popular.

Advocating against fatphobia in no way excuses body-shaming. Girl-on-girl hatred is normalized here and is utterly devastating. 

Rating: 3/5

Letting Go by Renee Watsonp 

4 cousins empower each other to stand their ground and take on the world.

I loved the lyrical way this mini story is written. This was heartwarming and so beautiful.   

Rating: 4/5

Overall, I would not purchase this book, but it was an interesting read. 

TW: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, Eating disorder, Genocide. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Car accident

Minor: Eating disorder, Racism, and Genocide

sarahaf712's review

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Medical content, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Vomit

Minor: Genocide, Racism, Abandonment, Car accident, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Dementia, Dysphoria, Grief, and Sexual violence

CW: colourism

themixedpages's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Eating disorder