Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by

Diary of a Mad Fat Girl (A Mad Fat Girl Novel)

Graciela "Ace" Jones is mad-mad at her best friend Lilly who cancels their annual trip to Panama City for mysterious reasons; at her boss Catherine for "riding her ass like a fat lady on a Rascal scooter;" at her friend Chloe's abusive husband; and especially at Mason McKenzie, the love of her life, who has shown up with a marriage proposal one year too late. Ace is never mad, though, at her near-constant companion, an adorable chiweenie dog named Buster Loo.

Ace's anger begins to dissipate as she takes matters into her own hands to take down Chloe's philandering husband-and to get to the bottom of a multitude of other scandals plaguing Bugtussle, Mississippi. Then, she starts to realize that maybe Mason deserves a second chance after all.

With a sharp and distinctive voice, Stephanie McAfee delivers a hilarious and fast-paced tale about Ace Jones and her two best friends-thick as thieves and tough as nails-navigating Southern small-town politics and prejudices, finding love, and standing up for each other all the way.

Reviewed by layawaydragon on

4 of 5 stars

Share

→ Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence, Cheating,
→No holds bar against female predators, fuck yes!
→"Cooter" Really? Ugh, not a fan and made me eye roll sigh every time.
→Called the affair from a mile away on both accounts.
→ Dick shaming. While I get the impulse do it, especially when the man is such a piece of shit, it isn't right. Body shaming is wrong, no matter the morality of said person. See: Trump *sigh*
→Made me laugh out loud several times.
→Ace and Co. hook up with a Golden Girls like group and I am here for it!
→Don't think Ace has to apologize to Mason about the biker AT ALL and didn't have to tell him shit.
→Fades to black for sex scenes


Ace talks a lot of shit, but she chickens out when it comes to doing most things where Lily Lane has to kick her ass along. She does excel at speaking her mind against fucked up people and is a major smartass. Part of her defense mechanism and insecurities. Her students love her, but teaching was never her dream job. She's drifting along until shit goes down for her friends and Mason comes storming back into her life.

Ace's dialogue about being with a man like Mason and the insecurities, the women on the hunt who prey on you, and how none of her friends fucking get it was FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. And her crying at the end? I almost joined her even though I was at my desk at work. I've never read anything that explains the insecurities of bigger women that I have felt so damn well.

I was so irritated with her friends being assholes about it and all the “Why does she stay with him?!” about Chloe. I've been there for both issues, and had wanted to smack each woman over these issues at least once. But the DV issues are handled well enough and Chloe setting up a shelter is perfect.

The romantic ending was rushed and unsettling for me. If your partner has issues, you're supposed to understand and work with them to get better, not make them submit and roll over. It's going to be hard for her going forward and he could make it so much easier by being more communicative and keeping her in the loop. Why not just tell the woman instead of keeping it to yourself? I don't fucking trust him.

I'm #teambiker all the way. *swoon*

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 13 April, 2018: Reviewed