Fat Girl on a Plane

by Kelly deVos

[Sam@WLABB]

When I heard this book was about fashion and a fat girl, it had my attention, but this was not just a story about a fat girl on a plane, it was about the pursuit of her dreams and her journey to loving herself.

• Pro: Cookie was by far the very best thing about this book. Her voice immediately took me hostage, and I found myself so invested in her story.

• Pro: The story was told via two timelines - fat and skinny. Fat followed Cookie during her pre-diet and early dieting days, while skinny followed her once she had achieved her goal weight. I thought the dual timeline was utilized quite well, and deVos did a great job contrasting Cookie's life before and after the weight loss.

• Con: I struggled a little with the "skinny" romance. I totally understand what deVos was going for here, but I just couldn't get fully onboard with it.

• Pro: All the fashion and construction stuff was fun to read about. My daughter has a BFA in costume design, so it sort of brought me back to that world for a little bit, and I was happy to visit.

• Pro: We had a little trip to Argentina, and I have never been there before in a YA book.

• Pro: deVos highlighted a lot of issues with a focus on body image and the fashion industry's bias against larger women.

• Con: The ending made me want to throw the book out the window. I was enjoying this book so much. I was smiling, laughing, tearing up a little, raging when it was appropriate, and then the ending happened. It didn't ruin the whole book for me, but I really didn't feel like it accomplished anything. I was definitely not sated by that ending.

• Pro: This book featured a fantastic grandmother, who I will adding to my YA-grandmas-I-love list. She loved Cookie with all her heart and made so many sacrifices for her, but she also called Cookie out when she was wrong, and challenged her to be a better person.

• Pro: There was a lot of times in this book, where I found myself getting really emotional. Cookie's life was no cakewalk, and she had experienced many disappointments. All that plus the way society treats overweight people made my heart ache for Cookie, who was brilliant, smart, talented, witty, and just had so much to offer. I rooted for her to find her happy.

Overall: An entertaining and sometimes emotional look at one young woman's journey to learning to love and value herself.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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