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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I’m obsessed.
I could read about Rory & Beckett’s story forever. I felt like I was reading a story about my own HS experience , minus “ the guy” , such a beautiful story , so well written! From bullies , worries over weight gain, period issues, health issues and generally just trying to fit in, this covers everything, it definitely deserves to be read by many !!
I could read about Rory & Beckett’s story forever. I felt like I was reading a story about my own HS experience , minus “ the guy” , such a beautiful story , so well written! From bullies , worries over weight gain, period issues, health issues and generally just trying to fit in, this covers everything, it definitely deserves to be read by many !!
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
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
Ok positive things first: this was wholesome and something I might have enjoyed when I was a chubby high schooler.
Moving along: We start off with essentially "I'm plus-sized, uwu" and like a page later she's describing her 1X uniform? Which is a 14/16? The average American woman is a size 16?? That's mid-sized at best. If one of the major selling points of the book is that it's about a plus-sized character, I feel like it's reasonable to expect them to be actually plus-sized?
If this wasn't an audiobook I could put on in the background, I wouldn't have finished it. None of the characters were interesting, and no one developed. Rory is irritatingly perfect and well-rounded, and her only "flaw" is her weight, yet she doesn't have any friends? And the friends she does make during this bet to get Beckett to like her stop talking to her unexplainably once he asks her out, and I still don't understand why at the end of the book. The mom in particular was awful, and she only accepted her daughter's weight and PCOS after being diagnosed with high cholesterol herself and realizing eating healthy and exercising doesn't fix genetics. The dynamic between Rory and her brother is written in a way that makes me suspect the author doesn't have siblings. Allegedly, the dad even stood up for his daughter in a scene we didn't get to see entirely, but the mom brushes it off and all that comes from it is the family giving each other the silent treatment. The peak of the "plot" made no sense to me-- Rory really liked Beckett and had a crush on him for years, so why couldn't she tell him about the bet earlier? It shouldn't have been hard. And why did the whole town blame her for hurting his feelings and losing the game?
Maybe my brain has just developed too much in my twenties to be able to understand high school drama.
Moving along: We start off with essentially "I'm plus-sized, uwu" and like a page later she's describing her 1X uniform? Which is a 14/16? The average American woman is a size 16?? That's mid-sized at best. If one of the major selling points of the book is that it's about a plus-sized character, I feel like it's reasonable to expect them to be actually plus-sized?
If this wasn't an audiobook I could put on in the background, I wouldn't have finished it. None of the characters were interesting, and no one developed. Rory is irritatingly perfect and well-rounded, and her only "flaw" is her weight, yet she doesn't have any friends? And the friends she does make during this bet to get Beckett to like her stop talking to her unexplainably once he asks her out, and I still don't understand why at the end of the book. The mom in particular was awful, and she only accepted her daughter's weight and PCOS after being diagnosed with high cholesterol herself and realizing eating healthy and exercising doesn't fix genetics. The dynamic between Rory and her brother is written in a way that makes me suspect the author doesn't have siblings. Allegedly, the dad even stood up for his daughter in a scene we didn't get to see entirely, but the mom brushes it off and all that comes from it is the family giving each other the silent treatment. The peak of the "plot" made no sense to me-- Rory really liked Beckett and had a crush on him for years, so why couldn't she tell him about the bet earlier? It shouldn't have been hard. And why did the whole town blame her for hurting his feelings and losing the game?
Maybe my brain has just developed too much in my twenties to be able to understand high school drama.
Cute YA novel that highlights PCOS and the issues teenage girls take on with it.
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As a heavy girl in high school who had an unexplainable thing for jocks and bro-type guys, WHERE WAS THIS BOOK HIDING!?!?! Ok, ok, it hadn’t actually been written at that point (now I just feel old…), but for real, this book is fantastic!
What I liked about this book:
1. I love the group of girls. Kelsie Stelting does a great job of really giving each one a unique personality, so you can tell who is who without getting confused (a task much easier said than done). It definitely makes me want to ready their stories as well. P.S. Callie and Carson are GOALS and I’m slightly upset that I have to wait until book 5 to see all that work out
2. I love Rory’s sarcasm and odd humor. She totally has dad jokes and I’m here for it.
3. I love Bennett’s confidence and sweetness. The whole book I was waiting for. But nope, my insecure brain was wrong, wrong, wrong about him and I love that.
4. I love how the author handled the very touchy situation of being a heavy girl in high school. Rather than people telling Rory “You’re not fat”, it was talked about and her body was embraced for what it is and what it can do. On the flipside, as someone who specifically was made fun of for making the bleachers shake when they went up or down them in high school, THANK YOU KELSIE for showing the little things that people who aren’t heavy might not even think about, let alone worry about.
5. The writing was great, but I especially enjoyed the short chapters. It definitely helps with the start of a new series that you aren’t sure if you’ll like and it definitely gets me in the situation of “Ok, just one more chapter” until I find it’s 2am and I’m still reading.
What I liked about this book:
1. I don’t like her mom’s approach to PCOS and her weight. I get that as a mom she wants the best for her daughter, but I think that as a thin person, she really didn’t understand how to go about things the best way. However, I think she is a realistic character, so it isn’t that I don’t like her because I can’t connect with the character, it’s because the character is so real and feeds off my own insecurities. She’s not blah, she’s raw, and that’s fantastic writing.
2. I wish we could have seen more about Bennett’s father being critical of him. I feel like we hear a bunch about how he is overcritical, but we don’t see much of it.
3. What was with the parent’s fighting? Was her dad standing up for her and we just missed it? I want to understand what was said like the nosy middle-schooler I am on the inside.
4. Did I miss a backstory for Casey? Like, did she have her own book or novella? It feels like there is more background story there than was in this book, and I’m legitimately going to be sad if we don’t get to know more about her.
Fantastic read. 4 stars!
What I liked about this book:
1. I love the group of girls. Kelsie Stelting does a great job of really giving each one a unique personality, so you can tell who is who without getting confused (a task much easier said than done). It definitely makes me want to ready their stories as well. P.S. Callie and Carson are GOALS and I’m slightly upset that I have to wait until book 5 to see all that work out
2. I love Rory’s sarcasm and odd humor. She totally has dad jokes and I’m here for it.
3. I love Bennett’s confidence and sweetness. The whole book I was waiting for
Spoiler
there to be some twist where he was in on the bet or there was another bet or something evil4. I love how the author handled the very touchy situation of being a heavy girl in high school. Rather than people telling Rory “You’re not fat”, it was talked about and her body was embraced for what it is and what it can do. On the flipside, as someone who specifically was made fun of for making the bleachers shake when they went up or down them in high school, THANK YOU KELSIE for showing the little things that people who aren’t heavy might not even think about, let alone worry about.
5. The writing was great, but I especially enjoyed the short chapters. It definitely helps with the start of a new series that you aren’t sure if you’ll like and it definitely gets me in the situation of “Ok, just one more chapter” until I find it’s 2am and I’m still reading.
What I liked about this book:
1. I don’t like her mom’s approach to PCOS and her weight. I get that as a mom she wants the best for her daughter, but I think that as a thin person, she really didn’t understand how to go about things the best way. However, I think she is a realistic character, so it isn’t that I don’t like her because I can’t connect with the character, it’s because the character is so real and feeds off my own insecurities. She’s not blah, she’s raw, and that’s fantastic writing.
2. I wish we could have seen more about Bennett’s father being critical of him. I feel like we hear a bunch about how he is overcritical, but we don’t see much of it.
3. What was with the parent’s fighting? Was her dad standing up for her and we just missed it? I want to understand what was said like the nosy middle-schooler I am on the inside.
4. Did I miss a backstory for Casey? Like, did she have her own book or novella? It feels like there is more background story there than was in this book, and I’m legitimately going to be sad if we don’t get to know more about her.
Fantastic read. 4 stars!
This was a short cute read! I appreciate the representation and could relate to some of what Rory felt. This was just a bit young for me, I know it’s more YA but I didn’t realize how much. It was a bit too cheesy, Beckett came off as quite unrealistic and the tiff between Rory and her friends was completely unavoidable and silly. It was nice that Rory had other people like her brother and his girlfriend who were really supportive!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
Screaming, crying, throwing up 😭 I’m kicking my feet like a high schooler while reading this. Seeing something written about curvy girls so poetically is something my 16-year-old self dreamed about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Abandonment
Self-image problems that are more than just negative but destructive. It’s YA, but I wouldn’t want a teenager to read this because there are no healthy relationships in this book.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes