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hannahsquid's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Grief and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent
jasannalise's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
selahbeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming and Bullying
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Death of parent
vvsmydiamonds's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Bullying, and Fatphobia
lily_298767's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault
There was a lot of talk about how she received hate mail with death threats, then there’s a part about fat girl rodeo and also Libby talks a lot about marathon sexmlovationer1's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Fatphobia, Grief, Bullying, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Death, and Body shaming
Minor: Alcohol, Racism, Drug use, and Cancer
_rubydodge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Minor: Death of parent
lottipop_105's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Infidelity
epeolatrist's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
The story was too predictable for me. Obviously, Jack and Libby were destined to fall in love. I mean, as soon as they have their first encounter, it's plain to see that they will "find theirselves in each other." It's a trope in YA romance novels, but there are many authors that have written the trope exceptionally.
In addition, the book focused completely on Libby and Jack's issues (obesity and prosopagnosia - AKA face blindness) instead of the two characters as PEOPLE. It's all they ever talked about???? I understand that the entire point of the book was the idea of two people with "issues" finding a place in the world, but a little bit of depth would have been nice.
My last critique that I'm going to talk about is the stereotypical high school scenario. I mean, honestly, does everyone have to be so awful?? This sort of writing never failed to anger me when I was actually IN high school and it still irritates me now. Jack is "popular" (sort of?), but he's also so self-absorbed and obsessed with himself and his illness. In a way, Libby is the same way. She's obsessed with her weight and yet she wants to rid herself of the title "America's Fattest Teen," yet she brings it up nearly every time that she speaks. When I had reached page 200, I was overwhelmingly tired of it. It took me WEEKS to trek through the rest of this book. I actually read other books while reading Holding Up the Universe to distract myself from how much I didn't like it.
I did enjoy a few things, however. I really liked learning a bit about prosopagnosia. I had never heard of it before. When Jack went to the doctor, it was cool to learn some facts about the condition. Other than that... there wasn't much that impressed me. Also, Jack's little brother carried a purse to school and it was pretty cool.
All in all, the book was a total miss for me. I really wanted to love this story. Honestly. Much love to Jennifer Niven because I love her, but this one was not my favorite and I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Bullying
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Eating disorder
rafacolog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Bullying