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A review by aformeracceleratedreader
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I didn't love it like I was hoping to which meant it took me a longer time to finish it than I had hoped, but it was still enjoyable enough. I loved all the representation that was included in the book and I liked the ending.
I would've liked to see more conversations between Charlie and Amelia and Charlie and her mom about the issues Charlie had with them and the issues she had with herself because of what she perceived of them. It seemed like Charlie would just have to suffer the constant low-key emotional abuse from her mom and no one was going to do anything about it.
The characters themselves- some I really liked some I had mixed feelings on. Loved Charlie's cousins. When she said how they would kind of make fun of her for not knowing Spanish reminded me of my cousins making fun of me for not knowing Indonesian. Would've liked to see how Charlie interact with her mom's side of the family though! I overall liked Charlie but there were so many moments in the book where I got annoyed or frustrated with her and rolled my eyes at the things she said/did. Same goes for Amelia but to a lesser extent since she wasn't the main character/focus. Brian was def the most consistently liked main/minor character for me although there were times I was like "he's TOO sweet/perfect/understanding" and i would've liked if Charlie could've gotten out of her own head and realized that he probs gets a lot of her body insecurities because he's chubby/fat too. But she's a teen and I remember when I was a teen and wrapped up in my insecurities. I think I'm just getting old haha
I would've liked to see more conversations between Charlie and Amelia and Charlie and her mom about the issues Charlie had with them and the issues she had with herself because of what she perceived of them. It seemed like Charlie would just have to suffer the constant low-key emotional abuse from her mom and no one was going to do anything about it.
The characters themselves- some I really liked some I had mixed feelings on. Loved Charlie's cousins. When she said how they would kind of make fun of her for not knowing Spanish reminded me of my cousins making fun of me for not knowing Indonesian. Would've liked to see how Charlie interact with her mom's side of the family though! I overall liked Charlie but there were so many moments in the book where I got annoyed or frustrated with her and rolled my eyes at the things she said/did. Same goes for Amelia but to a lesser extent since she wasn't the main character/focus. Brian was def the most consistently liked main/minor character for me although there were times I was like "he's TOO sweet/perfect/understanding" and i would've liked if Charlie could've gotten out of her own head and realized that he probs gets a lot of her body insecurities because he's chubby/fat too. But she's a teen and I remember when I was a teen and wrapped up in my insecurities. I think I'm just getting old haha
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol