Reviews

Another reviewer said "this is not a book i would recommend widely, but i think its 1000% worth reading." Malaya suffers a lot of cruelty in this story and the transformation of her voice from observer of life to active participant was an emotional one to follow - be sure to check content warnings.

Content Warnings

nelkenbabe's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

emdollar's review against another edition

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4.0

i really liked this book. the writing is so gorgeous and evocative; the descriptions of food tasted better than some of the food i’ve had in my life. the only thing is the story was pretty fast paced after the family tragedy mentioned in the blurb and the effect it had on malaya didn’t feel super connected, but overall loved this and how positively it turned out :)

loreads's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0

I appreciate the story here and got the ending I wanted but I'm not sure I completely loved how it was told. I was rooting for Malaya but I do think her story could've been less grueling and more engaging. It was hard to appreciate other characters and I thought they would've benefited from a bit more development.

archiebb's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

The dynamics of this book are really hard to read in some ways but also important. Definitely a good read for anyone who hasn't experienced this level of fatphobia to learn where it shows up.
The mom and dad do not agree on how to treat Malaya but their consistent arguing the dad doesn’t really end up protecting her like he thinks he is trying to do. There is SO MUCH fatphobio from the mom and then when the grandmom is introduced you can see how generational this is.

Malaya eventually grows to see this as well.

There are multiple showings of how horrid the doctors are

and I was so relieved for M that she didn’t end up getting pressured into surgery.

Percy dying was unexpected (to me as well as the characters) and that really encapsulates the Brooklyn being gentrified plot line that he was very vocal about. I don’t know what I think about the mom saying she’ll write the book he wanted to write after he died.

I made a playlist for this book too based on the music she name drops and I really loved to see the parts where she got confidence listening to Biggie or other music and tuning out the rampant fatphobia directed at her.

It was kind of the author to show us Malaya growing in confidence about her body, her sexuality, her art, her future at the end of the book.

I loved Malaya.

Content Warnings

lbolesta's review against another edition

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4.0

I was terrified that the ending would be bad but it was perfect

andreiaoh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

i have such complicated feelings regarding this book eee (hence my rating is not really set in stone - really do think i need to step away from rating books next year as i overthink it toooo much)

the writing is gorgeous, sullivan is clearly an incredibly talented author. no notes regarding the writing. there really wasn't much plot here so to speak, it was very much a character study, but i also think that was done impeccably. despite malaya really not having much dialogue, her character felt SO real and her entire personhood really came across to me whilst i was reading; her interests, her mannerisms, her personality. quiet as she was, malaya was not voiceless in the narrative. this goes for the other characters too - as the novel unfolded, the interiors of the other characters revealed themselves to us through malaya's perspective. this book clearly looks at black womanhood, fatness, and generational trauma as its central theme, but weaved delicately throughout the narrative are also themes exploring queer identity, desirability and respectability politics, colourism, classism, and gentrification. despite not seeming like big parts of the novel, once you step back and think about the book as a whole, these more subtle elements of the story shine through. sometimes i find that when so many themes are explored in a single story, it can feel heavy-handed or clumsy, but it was balanced well here, a testament to the author's skills.

despite that, sometimes i think this felt a bit tooo meandering, and i found myself losing interest quite a bit. this book wasn't disinteresting or dull per-se, but i was often quite bored (even though those sound like contradictory statements!), teetering on not enjoying. even considering this, i never once wanted to dnf the story. i was so interested in how the rest of malaya's adolescence would unfold, and how she would grow into herself, and how that quiet confidence and self-assurance bubbling under the surface would emerge (i was satisfied at the end of this read :>). i do think this had a profound impact on me, and i think this is a story that will stick with me for some time.

this is not a book i would recommend widely, but i think its 1000% worth reading.

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