|I was sent this book in advance in exchange for my honest review|
I’ll be totally honest, I didn’t like this one much. I almost didn’t finish it because the first half was just not my speed. A Great Big Love Story is about two people who are falling in love who happen to be fat. But the characters have almost no personality aside from being fat. The female character, Michelle, was really boring. She seemed like the idea of what skinny people think bigger bodied people think about themselves. Don, does have a tragic backstory of a dead wife and unborn child, but then it feels reduced down to just the “reason he is fat.” TW: diet culture, weight loss, scales and calorie counting, all the diet culture tbh
It was really frustrating to read, because any of the love story between the two was lost in the constant diet talk and weight loss talk and all the sudden they have sex and you barely even notice it. I saw someone on bookstagram (I’ll tag if I remember) talk about how much steam do you want in a romance.. and I’ll be honest I want a little more than most! This book has zero. The whole plot to me was just a little boring until the very end where the tone of the diet culture changed to be more about the scale not reflecting your happiness, and setting health related goals UNRELATED to weight since health is found at every size. From there the plot picked up and I started to enjoy it but it really was almost 70% of the way through. I’ll give this book ⭐️⭐️ 💫 stars for the end!
As someone who is a fierce member of the body positivity movement and a VERY anti-diet person, it was hard to read this book. Getting through the first half was extremely difficult and as someone recovering from an eating disorder, very triggering.
Health is found at EVERY SINGLE SIZE. Fat does not mean you are unhealthy or unworthy. The number on the scale or the size of your pants means NOTHING in the weight of your worth and value on this earth.
My six word review:
Fat is not a personality trait
