Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

10 reviews

moriahleigh's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Outing

thatenbyisisreads's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book highlights the unfortunate reality of black queer kids not being able to express their unique, authentic selves due to overbearing, strict, and religious parents. I saw a lot of myself through the lens of Ada. 

Especially, within this quote of being expected to learn the duties that come with being a "future wife/mother". "The sixth grade was already impossible without Aunty's return to change everything/ now I can't eat without permission/ I can't watch tv without permission/ It's now my job to clean the kitchen/ as the oldest child/ as the first daughter/ learning her duties as a future wife/ and mother/ who was going to understand/ all I wanted to learn/ was how to make friends/ at school." Growing up, I didn't have a safe space anywhere, including my own home due to this similar situation. 

Overall, It's important to have more young adult books to highlight topics like these because young, queer me would've felt so seen and heard. I love that this generation has the ability to have this representation readily available to them!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Cursing

moniipeters's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Alcohol, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Lesbophobia, and Toxic relationship

tallybae's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, and Rape

remie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Body shaming, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

rillastone's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

leekaufman's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming and Racism

thechiaraface's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a young adult contemporary coming-of-age story written in verse (novel-in-verse). This follows Ada as she graduates high school and goes off to college, learning how to live on her own and how to balance her wants and dreams with what her family wants from her. Parts of this book really resonated with me (I loved the dancing scenes!) and made me think back to being that age. A chunk of it though I just didn't really connect with. The ending was too rushed and the story did not get resolved in a way that felt satisfying to me which made the pacing feel off overall. This is also a very small, character-driven, slice-of-life tale which in general are not my favorite and I've read a lot of those type of books lately, so I think I'm just over that type of story right now (which may not be fair to this book). I think folks who enjoyed and related to The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo might like this book as it has some similar themes (some different ones too). This book just didn't quite resonate with me overall, but I think this might be a wonderful mirror book for some young adult readers. Read this for The Stacks podcast bookclub March 2021 pick.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, and Sexual assault

sarahaf712's review

challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia

whatannikareads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this is such a love letter to those who find themselves through dance and may not have been able to tap into that side of their passion due to parental and societal expectations. i really appreciated this as first-gen as well. it's really a talent that candice was able to encapsulate the memorable moments of our youth that shape who we are. it also really captures the adapting to new life as a college freshmen. i can only imagine that it'd be so impactful if read by a black girl as well, especially if she's heading to an hbcu. ada feels like a real person—either someone you live vicariously through or someone you can observe but still relate to. as someone who has always been insecure about dance because my parents never let me pursue it very diligently, this is such a testament to the liberation a dancer feels when they're allowed the space to cultivate their talent. such a beautiful coming of age ode.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault