Nice Girls Endure

by ,Chris Struyk-Bonn

[liz089]

Read more about this review and others on my blog Freyja Eats Books

REVIEW.
“But I know the pain that you’re not speaking of. I know the embarrassment, the humiliation, the criticism we feel. We live in a world designed for small people, thin people, and we don’t fit.”

So, I really liked this novel. I read the description on NetGalley and hoped to be accepted. Luckily, I did ! So I started on this one and soon I was completely captured. The way she writes is very compelling and it really fascinated me.

We meet Chelsea, a teenager who has been overweight for most of her life and it’s defining her life. Even though she does not see it as a problem, the rest of the world does. She prefers to stay home because of that and is bullied a lot, but nobody seems to notice the real her. All they see is an overweight kid, like that is who she is, instead of a real human being. All they are really saying is that it is her own fault, that she should lose weight. Because that’s her problem, the fault in that lies in her, not in the people who bully her. But well, the bullying gets worse and worse, onto the point of her being assaulted and things start to spiral down. Now she has to learn how to get up again and live her life.

It is a difficult topic, with a lot of different opinions. On one side yes, when people get so big that they start to develop health problems, than yes, they should lose weight. When people hate their body and have no self-esteem because they find themselves too big, then I completely agree they should do something about it.
On the other side, why should others get involved? It’s their own body and people should just mind their own business.

But the real question behind it all is; do they think that themselves, or is it because of the world says they are too fat ? It is a constant battle, trying to be who you want to be and feel comfortable in your own skin, and trying to pass the normal standard. Trying to live up to what the world says you should look like, and who others think you should be. Because in the end, it is your body.

Chelsea has a lot of issues with that, because she likes how she looks most of the time. But when others start to hurt her because she weights a bit more than the “normal” standard, she gets confused.

I love how she grows and develops herself during this book. It is not a large book or a huge story, but things go at the right pace and she learns more and more about who she is and how she wants others to see her. And not just that, but at the end she tries to show others who she really is, and that she is more than just a chubby girl.

“I still have beautiful feet, and I’m still overweight, but I’ve noticed that others see me for who I truly am. Somehow, through all the crap of this semester, not only did I make friends, and not only did they like me, but I was able to step outside and past my deficiencies and show the world my true self. This is me. All of me. And that may involve being overweight, but I’m more than a number on a scale and a BMI measurement. I’m more than a sum of my parts. I’m Chelsea Duvay; I sing, I love musicals, I’m going to open my own shoe store, I have friends, and I have beautiful feet. And that’s what truly matters.”

The thing I did not like was how her tormentors get away with what they did. I have this certain feeling for justice.. and when those guys don’t get punished for their horrible actions that just doesn’t sit right with me.

FINAL THOUGHTS.
I really liked how this book was not a standard fat girl book so to say. She does not go and lose weight to show others, but she tries to be comfortable with herself, in her own skin. And personally, I think that is a great concept. So I would like to give this book 4 Freyja’s, because the story was told very compelling and I felt with her throughout her search to self-awareness. Great story !