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A review by taliabasma
Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
3.75
Hmm. Lots of bookish friends on IG raved about this book so I was pretty excited to read it. It wasn't bad but I don't think it quite lived up to what I was expecting. I think if you like Women's Fiction and self discovery with a arguably sprinkle of romance, this is good for you. It read more along Chick Lit than Romance and I guess that tracks because it's comped with Bridget Jones which I personally also don't like. I did like the witty back and forth as well as the way the FL GROWS so much. I'm not a size 20 but I have truly dealt with "people that care" making very unsolicited comments about my body (uncle included) so all of that was well done and so relatable. I also really enjoyed that this WASN'T the expected *fake dating* trope I thought it would be even though I am 100% a fan of fake dating - points for creativity.
I want to give this book a 4 star because it was good overall but here are what I didn't like and in retrospect 3.75 is more in line with my actual opinion bc I usually have less to say about 4 stars.
1. The FL refused to communicate with Ahmad in full sentences. She took bits and bobs of statements to make full on conclusions and even after it embarrassingly blew up the first time with her ready to fight him only to learn about the trauma of him losing his fiance she still goes ahead and jumps conclusions about where Ahmad's head is at
2. This book was verryyyy redundant. I enjoyed the variety of loser men, but it became pretty boring how much of a loser all of them were. I did like that the last guy had actual promise but I wish more of the guys had less obnoxious flaws and more subtle ones because I think those are the more frustrating dates – they aren't bad but the vibe isn't there for one reason or another.
3. The FL's second friend with family issues, while I respect her story, sometimes the context felt unnecessary and/or incomplete. Are we going to be getting the friends' romances? I just felt the pockets of information made me want to know more but we never do so most of it feels entirely irrelevant.
Nit-pick things that are 100000% personal and not really part of the rating decision:
4. The sex scenes did not land for me. I have already been losing interest in sex scenes in romance so I am usually skipping them regardless and they don't really have an affect on my review, but the opening scene in particular already set a idk the right word but "silly" tone is the best I can do right now.
5. I was pretty excited when I saw the ML's name was Ahmad. I will say Ahmad Williamson is def not a combo I have ever heard before but I thought his "origins" would come up and it didn't. I know Arabs do not have a claim on names but it was very disorienting for me as an Arab with family whose name is Ahmad to hear an audiobook read it "Aohmad", his name was just something else entirely for me. I did look it up and learn that about 11.0% of "Ahmad"s in America are Black so I did learn something new with that!
I also do not drink like at alllll so I think this book being in a bar for 70% of the setting probably didn't help me with "connecting" to the story. I would still 100% check out other books by this author though.
I want to give this book a 4 star because it was good overall but here are what I didn't like and in retrospect 3.75 is more in line with my actual opinion bc I usually have less to say about 4 stars.
1. The FL refused to communicate with Ahmad in full sentences. She took bits and bobs of statements to make full on conclusions and even after it embarrassingly blew up the first time with
2. This book was verryyyy redundant. I enjoyed the variety of loser men, but it became pretty boring how much of a loser all of them were. I did like that the last guy had actual promise but I wish more of the guys had less obnoxious flaws and more subtle ones because I think those are the more frustrating dates – they aren't bad but the vibe isn't there for one reason or another.
3. The FL's second friend with family issues, while I respect her story, sometimes the context felt unnecessary and/or incomplete. Are we going to be getting the friends' romances? I just felt the pockets of information made me want to know more but we never do so most of it feels entirely irrelevant.
Nit-pick things that are 100000% personal and not really part of the rating decision:
4. The sex scenes did not land for me. I have already been losing interest in sex scenes in romance so I am usually skipping them regardless and they don't really have an affect on my review, but the opening scene in particular already set a idk the right word but "silly" tone is the best I can do right now.
5. I was pretty excited when I saw the ML's name was Ahmad. I will say Ahmad Williamson is def not a combo I have ever heard before but I thought his "origins" would come up and it didn't. I know Arabs do not have a claim on names but it was very disorienting for me as an Arab with family whose name is Ahmad to hear an audiobook read it "Aohmad", his name was just something else entirely for me. I did look it up and learn that about 11.0% of "Ahmad"s in America are Black so I did learn something new with that!
I also do not drink like at alllll so I think this book being in a bar for 70% of the setting probably didn't help me with "connecting" to the story. I would still 100% check out other books by this author though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Alcohol
Moderate: Car accident