Rebel with a Cupcake

by Anna Mainwaring

Jesobel Jones is bold and beautiful. The daughter of a hand model and a washed-up rock star, she sees no need to apologise for her rambling house, her imperfect family, her single status... or her weight. Jess makes her own cupcakes and she eats them, too. That is, until own clothes day rolls around. Jess and her friends dedicate the required hours of planning to their outfits. But a wardrobe malfunction leaves Jess exposed, and a mean girl calling her the one thing that's never bothered her before: fat.

• ISBN13: 9781913102272
• Publish Date: 2 April 2020 (first published 3 April 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Firefly Press Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Jess was normally very confident, but after a run-in with the school mean girl and a crush leaving her feeling inadequate, she attempts to change her physical appearance. This journey with Jess was chuck full of humor and some astute observations, which filled me with glee.

•Pro: Jess was so awesome! Her observations and commentary were pretty hilarious. She was snarky and sassy, but also sweet and thoughtful. There was also something about her, that reminded me of Georgia Nicholson, who is one of my all-time favorite characters, and that just added to my love for her.

•Pro: Jess' house was inhabited by some quirky characters. Her younger sister was a total trip, and her grandmother had all these amazing hidden pieces to her. I really loved getting to know those two.

•Pro: I am always a fan of book with a little family focus, and I liked the way Jess' family was incorporated into this story. Mainwaring showed them with all their flaws, and I love that their relationship evolved as Jess changed over the course of this story.

•Pro: The author explored body image issues in such a way, that showed it's not just bigger girls who struggle with poor body image and low self-esteem, and I really appreciated her shining that light on it.

•Pro: The ending was really satisfying. Mainwaring did a great job tying up those loose ends, and I was please with the resolutions she reached for certain situations.

•Pro: There was some great food talk in this book. Jess loved to cook, and we often got to hear about her culinary creations, and yeah, you can never go wrong with cupcakes.

•Pro: Each chapter began with an observation or an "invisible rule". These bits were quite insightful and often amusing.

•Pro: Jess was far from perfect. She was a typical teenager. She made mistakes and sometimes, made poor choices, but she learned from these missteps, and was better because of them.

I am among friends. Who accept my weirdness. That is why they are called friends.

Overall: An amusing and heartwarming story about trying to fit in, while also retaining your identity, which left me in a happy state.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[katie]

Pros: Fat girl who loves herself and food! Has friends!
Cons: She still spends at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the book on a diet. Actually, you know what? Scratch that. She wasn't on a diet. A diet is literally what you eat, and she was starving herself. Not cool Jess.
Uses "cos" as a word (possibly related to the British thing?).
The romance aspect was the opposite of good. Maybe it's because I just came off of two very well done romances (four for you Ally Carter and Rachel Hawkins. you go girls!), but I just really did not like either romantic option for Jess. They felt forced (especially option #2), and ... I just really didn't like them.
Also this book is very British. This is perhaps not a big deal to some people, but there were words and phrases on like every other page that I had no idea what they meant. Is this what the rest of the world feels like when they read American lit?
Final review: 2.5/5 stars. Most likely will not read again or recommend.