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lindsayclaire's review
5.0
Oh how I wish I had this book when I was a teenager. But the message and importance is not lost on adult me: I need to remember to love my body every single day. And this book is the best beautiful reminder.
limonik's review
slow-paced
1.75
This was… boring. I really thought this was going to be a fun and inspiring read about self-love, self-image and positivity. However, the main character BB was very depressing and also depressed. Leaving school to work at a cafe, making too much of a deal out of her parents’ arguments, having delusions about being positive and loving herself, and being bitter about most stuff going on around her. I’m so glad that the book is over.
pancakeducks's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
noukzzz's review
2.0
DNF. Eerste honderd pagina’s gelezen. Het gaat echt alleen maar over eten en gebeurd verder niks. Verveelde me dood en kon mezelf er niet toe zetten om door te lezen en te wachten tot er wel iets ging gebeuren. Maybe I’ll try again someday... maar die dag is niet vandaag.
wordsofclover's review
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
16-year-old Bluebell or 'BB' as she's know to friends and family is fat, and she's pretty okay with this. BB loves her food, really loves it and she also loves herself and her body -however issues arrive after BB has an asthma attack during school exams and is instructed to keep a food diary by her doctor, which turns into a bit more an everyday diary as BB talks about her experience living in a bigger body in a world that has been programmed to think thinner is better.
This is a book I honestly wasn't sure about when I started it as I think I felt a little overwhelmed by Bluebelle's personality at the beginning of the book - there was definitely a personality clash but the more story went on, and the more the reader saw the softer, quieter and more insecure sides of BB than than public persona she parades around in, I liked her a lot more.
This is a book I wouldn't recommend reading if you're hungry or if you're dieting as there are so many food descriptions from yummy shepherd's pie with cheesy mash on top, to mushy, vinegary chips, YUM. There are also some gross food descriptions I could have done without to be honest as well, and there were times BB ate or thought about eating some things that really made me wonder.
I love BB's body confidence and how beautiful she knows she is. She does tend to focus on other people's size, especially if they are smaller like her sister Dove and her manager Alicia - she uses descriptions like bony and sharp to describe these people to over emphasise how thin they are in comparison to her. I was a bit iffy about her lackadaisical attitude towards exercise and her overall health, especially given her asthma, but I'm glad this was sorted by the end of the book and we see BB find joy in moving her body in different ways alongside joy of her curves. As someone who generally hates exercise, I understood her reluctance about it but have to admit that some kind of movement most days is better for us in the long run - and you can be fat and fit!
One of the things I loved most in this book was BB's relationship with her little sister Dove who is very opposite of BB in many ways. The way they looked after each other and had little moments together in sisterly companionship was just very nice, and every time I think of Bum Tills now I will probably laugh out loud.
This is a book I honestly wasn't sure about when I started it as I think I felt a little overwhelmed by Bluebelle's personality at the beginning of the book - there was definitely a personality clash but the more story went on, and the more the reader saw the softer, quieter and more insecure sides of BB than than public persona she parades around in, I liked her a lot more.
This is a book I wouldn't recommend reading if you're hungry or if you're dieting as there are so many food descriptions from yummy shepherd's pie with cheesy mash on top, to mushy, vinegary chips, YUM. There are also some gross food descriptions I could have done without to be honest as well, and there were times BB ate or thought about eating some things that really made me wonder.
I love BB's body confidence and how beautiful she knows she is. She does tend to focus on other people's size, especially if they are smaller like her sister Dove and her manager Alicia - she uses descriptions like bony and sharp to describe these people to over emphasise how thin they are in comparison to her. I was a bit iffy about her lackadaisical attitude towards exercise and her overall health, especially given her asthma, but I'm glad this was sorted by the end of the book and we see BB find joy in moving her body in different ways alongside joy of her curves. As someone who generally hates exercise, I understood her reluctance about it but have to admit that some kind of movement most days is better for us in the long run - and you can be fat and fit!
One of the things I loved most in this book was BB's relationship with her little sister Dove who is very opposite of BB in many ways. The way they looked after each other and had little moments together in sisterly companionship was just very nice, and every time I think of Bum Tills now I will probably laugh out loud.
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder
ps_a22's review
3.0
The way Bluebelle got treated because of her obesity really bothered me. Our behaviour and how we treat someone shouldn’t change based on how much they weigh. That is stupid and dogmatic. We are better than that. Also, this book was WAY too long. It was fun reading about BB’s passion for food and the elaborate description of the things she ate but the book lacked a key plot to give it a backbone and hence became tedious. It was 400 pages. That's at least 100 too many. All in all, it was an interesting read but lasted way longer than it should’ve.
apireading's review
3.0
Porté par un excellent premier personnage, ce livre n’arrive cependant pas à répondre à toutes les promesses qu’il annonce. Les jolies réflexions sur la grossophobie et la confiance en soit sont vite gâchées par les énumérations incessantes d’aliments.
Plutôt feel good, ne vous attendez pas a beaucoup de péripéties, il ne se passe quasi rien. Heureusement que Bluebell sauve la donne par sa personnalité.
Plutôt feel good, ne vous attendez pas a beaucoup de péripéties, il ne se passe quasi rien. Heureusement que Bluebell sauve la donne par sa personnalité.
alishaduh's review
2.0
Okay so this book's story was generally okay and I liked the message of getting healthier that went with it. However, virtually everything else I was either 'meh' about or 'no.' about.
I'll start with something good. Some of the descriptions about fat-phobia (for lack of a better word) and what it's like to be fat were so spot on I really really related to them!! It felt like I was the one writing the book at those moments and they were so well written.
But those mere 5/6 paragraphs throughout the whole thing were really the only decent bit of writing.
Let's talk about the writing (!!!) in general. It was honestly so bad. The constant use of capitals WHERE THEY WEREN'T NECESSARY!! And the use of exclamation marks in every 5th sentence was !!!! Annoying!!! Also, some of the thoughts that were supposedly going through BB's (which is a silly nickname in my opinion because no one's going to call someone BB which takes more effort than saying Bluebelle) were so... All I can say is it's exactly as if an adult, who's forgotten mostly what it's like to be a teenager, would've written. E.g 'GRRRR!!!!!' no, no & no.
The romance was rushed as well. Like yeah, they may've had secret crushes on each other and may have shown it a tiny bit but like... Wheeling her out of work and then asking 'lol do u wanna be my girlfriend?' was so damn fast... I was not about that.
Also, the way they talked about Dove after her accident?? It was like she'd died or something! And being confined to a wheelchair for six months is not the worst thing in the world and you don't need to live life 'recklessly' because your sister can't for a couple of months...
I don't know, I just don't think this book lived up to my expectations.
I'll start with something good. Some of the descriptions about fat-phobia (for lack of a better word) and what it's like to be fat were so spot on I really really related to them!! It felt like I was the one writing the book at those moments and they were so well written.
But those mere 5/6 paragraphs throughout the whole thing were really the only decent bit of writing.
Let's talk about the writing (!!!) in general. It was honestly so bad. The constant use of capitals WHERE THEY WEREN'T NECESSARY!! And the use of exclamation marks in every 5th sentence was !!!! Annoying!!! Also, some of the thoughts that were supposedly going through BB's (which is a silly nickname in my opinion because no one's going to call someone BB which takes more effort than saying Bluebelle) were so... All I can say is it's exactly as if an adult, who's forgotten mostly what it's like to be a teenager, would've written. E.g 'GRRRR!!!!!' no, no & no.
The romance was rushed as well. Like yeah, they may've had secret crushes on each other and may have shown it a tiny bit but like... Wheeling her out of work and then asking 'lol do u wanna be my girlfriend?' was so damn fast... I was not about that.
Also, the way they talked about Dove after her accident?? It was like she'd died or something! And being confined to a wheelchair for six months is not the worst thing in the world and you don't need to live life 'recklessly' because your sister can't for a couple of months...
I don't know, I just don't think this book lived up to my expectations.
hannahrox23's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-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
5.0