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Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family by Rabia Chaudry
27 reviews
dorklene's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Body shaming
kassiereadsbooks's review
funny
reflective
medium-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, and Addiction
Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
I didn’t know anything about Rabia Chaudry going into this book (I didn’t listen to Serial and I hadn’t heard of Adnan’s case). I left this book thinking she’s not only extremely funny but also brilliant at what she does, however I feel like I have to leave this review because it’s what I needed before I picked this book up. Chaudry dedicates this book to “all those who have spent their lives being judged — and judging themselves — for their weight, who have struggled between deprivation and depravity, and who deserve like anyone else to live an abundant life full of great food.” I feel my issues with this book are summed up with the direct contrast between that dedication and the final sentence in the book: “But I am and will likely remain, by the standards of many, fat. But that’s okay, because I’m not that fat.” The pros: I loved Chaudry’s narrative voice and her stories of Pakistan. I listened to this on audio and I really loved my reading experience. The cons: I felt this book did not “show us how freeing it is to finally make peace with the body we have” as the inside cover states, but reiterates the stance that the author is finally okay with her “not that fat” body and she has achieved being not that fat through lots and lots of diet and exercise (6 days a week, one “cheat meal”), lots of money spent on personal trainers, as well as two surgeries. Again, I left this book really loving the narration and wanting to know so much more about Chaudry’s work, however the marketing surrounding the book and the some of its stances invited criticism given the nature of the subject matter. TW: uses specific weight numbers, ascribes food with morality, descriptions of binge eating, EDs, and the o-wordwatson_my_shelf's review
medium-paced
2.0
Thank you to Algonquin for a review copy of this book.
I do not recommend this book, as it is full of fatphobia, body shaming, dieting, restriction, over-exercising and self loating. And not in a good, redemptive way that the author feels good about themselves at the end. CW for weight loss surgery on top of all of that.
I do not recommend this book, as it is full of fatphobia, body shaming, dieting, restriction, over-exercising and self loating. And not in a good, redemptive way that the author feels good about themselves at the end. CW for weight loss surgery on top of all of that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
Weight loss surgery, dietingelchiang78's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Minor: Domestic abuse
grise's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Pregnancy
rmgilchrist's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Minor: Domestic abuse
katiemack's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I, like many readers, know Rabia Chaudry from her involvement with the Serial-famous case of Adnan Syed. But she is highly successful in her own right, and I enjoyed not only reading about her career path, but also her life growing up in Pakistan and the U.S.--and how much food played into it.
Along with a compelling narrative drive, Chaudry's descriptions of food are the highlights of this book. My mouth watered any time she painstakingly described how her mom cooked the perfect shorba or the journeys she and her uncles went on to get pulao and pakoray. (It made me long for my mother-in-law's cooking.) Equally as visceral are the times she describes her binging American fast food and treats and the hold it had on her.
There are obvious TWs for eating disorders and fat-shaming here as well as one for domestic abuse--Chaudry's first marriage is a toxic one that she spends little time on, for good reason--but her memoir is unflinching and feels incredibly relatable.
I, like many readers, know Rabia Chaudry from her involvement with the Serial-famous case of Adnan Syed. But she is highly successful in her own right, and I enjoyed not only reading about her career path, but also her life growing up in Pakistan and the U.S.--and how much food played into it.
Along with a compelling narrative drive, Chaudry's descriptions of food are the highlights of this book. My mouth watered any time she painstakingly described how her mom cooked the perfect shorba or the journeys she and her uncles went on to get pulao and pakoray. (It made me long for my mother-in-law's cooking.) Equally as visceral are the times she describes her binging American fast food and treats and the hold it had on her.
There are obvious TWs for eating disorders and fat-shaming here as well as one for domestic abuse--Chaudry's first marriage is a toxic one that she spends little time on, for good reason--but her memoir is unflinching and feels incredibly relatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Eating disorder
Moderate: Domestic abuse
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