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A review by fangslibris
I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee
3.0
3? 3.5?
I was obsessed with the idea of this book, and I still recognize it as important. Fat rep, Asian rep, queer rep, all wonderful and meaningful. The execution just didn't measure up.
Aside from things like clunky dialog, a bland romance, and an overwhelming desperation to be modern and relatable, the MC just feels so much like a skinny person imagining what being fat is like.
Every single conversation Skye has, every experience she goes through, every thought that occurs to her, is written with an immediate follow-up of being fat, looking fat, or thinking about how fat she is. Even when she is being body positive in a relentlessly shallow way, the obsession with her weight is too much. It makes the whole book hard to get into because she never really goes anywhere, and she never ends up feeling like an actual person.
As a Certified Fat Person, I am here to tell y'all that we do all think of things other than being fat, if you can believe it! We don't all just walk around with fat, fat, fat running through our heads. Fat people are just humans who are alive, and have thoughts and goals that don't always have to be accompanied by kitschy thoughts on the plus size experience. Sure, it influences our lives in numerous ways, but not every conversation boils down to BUT I'M FAT, as this book would have you believe.
If you're a person who's just now realizing what fatphobia looks like, you'll probably love this book and find it very #inspo. If you're fat, you're probably going to roll your eyes the whole way through. But it's a quick read and the K-Pop competition setting is fun, so YMMV on this one.
I was obsessed with the idea of this book, and I still recognize it as important. Fat rep, Asian rep, queer rep, all wonderful and meaningful. The execution just didn't measure up.
Aside from things like clunky dialog, a bland romance, and an overwhelming desperation to be modern and relatable, the MC just feels so much like a skinny person imagining what being fat is like.
Every single conversation Skye has, every experience she goes through, every thought that occurs to her, is written with an immediate follow-up of being fat, looking fat, or thinking about how fat she is. Even when she is being body positive in a relentlessly shallow way, the obsession with her weight is too much. It makes the whole book hard to get into because she never really goes anywhere, and she never ends up feeling like an actual person.
As a Certified Fat Person, I am here to tell y'all that we do all think of things other than being fat, if you can believe it! We don't all just walk around with fat, fat, fat running through our heads. Fat people are just humans who are alive, and have thoughts and goals that don't always have to be accompanied by kitschy thoughts on the plus size experience. Sure, it influences our lives in numerous ways, but not every conversation boils down to BUT I'M FAT, as this book would have you believe.
If you're a person who's just now realizing what fatphobia looks like, you'll probably love this book and find it very #inspo. If you're fat, you're probably going to roll your eyes the whole way through. But it's a quick read and the K-Pop competition setting is fun, so YMMV on this one.