A review by lingfish7
Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

📖 This book is beautiful. Well written, emotional, woman centered, impactful. I didn’t know what to expect reading a book set in the 80’s and 90’s, focused on a morbidly obese black girl in Harlem. What surprised me was how this book is a commentary on all women: the ways in which body image and the patriarchy force us to both belittle women and diminish our self worth. The ways in which the measure of a woman isn’t in her weight and diet but in her confidence, spirit, and self-love. 

Big Girl is so well written and engaging that I finished it in under 3 days. I read the first 100 pages in a single session. It was a book that made me think, increased my empathy, and altered my perspective; a powerful book. There are so many quotes that I want to keep re-reading just to let the message of the book marinate in my mind. 

Big Girl should be a must-read for every woman, big or small, tall or short, large or thin. It asks us all to consider the important questions. What does it mean to be a woman? To feel comfortable in our bodies? To confidently assert our autonomy, independence, and freedom? What does it mean to be free from shame, to shout shamelessness from the rooftops? What would happen if we focused less on our bodies and more on our souls? The soul of a woman is more than what she eats or her pant size. 

📚Themes: depression ~ obesity ~ grief ~ racism ~ neighborhood gentrification ~ womanhood ~ diet culture ~ bullying ~ body shame

✨“In that moment, Malaya chose shamelessness.”