Donna Cooner
272 pages
Released: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Point
Source: won from the author
★★★★★
You can read the Goodreads summary here.
I'd been wanting to read Skinny since I first heard of it, but for some reason it never made it into my hands. So I was happy to see Donna announce a giveaway on her Facebook page because she had an extra copy that her dog had also "signed" (aka, tried to eat.) I had a strange gut feeling I would win... and I did! Thanks so much, Donna!
And Skinny was everything I hoped and knew it would be. I absolutely loved this timely, poignant, realistic novel. "Skinny" is the invisible voice that accompanies Ever wherever she goes, constantly reminding her of how fat she is and how others see her. Ever is 302 pounds and horribly depressed over her weight and inability to control it. Skinny's invisible taunting doesn't help matters at all so Ever finally makes the important decision to have gastric bypass surgery. But when the surgery's done, things don't get immediately better as Ever hoped.
Gastric bypass surgery - now there's an important topic that I don't think the YA genre had tackled until this moment. Donna Cooner did a fabulous job, probably because she herself has gone through the surgery. On the one hand it was interesting to learn to about the science behind the surgery and what can happen medically-speaking afterwards. But what made Skinny so realistic is the internal struggle Ever had before and after her surgery.
Ever's was really a journey of self-discovery. Before the surgery she thought everyone refused to talk to her because of her weight, but as the pounds drop off she learns it's not nearly that simple. Suddenly some of the most popular girls (and boys!) in school want to talk to her, but her new friendships aren't what she dreamed they would be. On the other hand, her relationship with her step-sister also evolves, and I felt like that was a very touching part of the story.
Five stars! Whether you've been 302 pounds or not, I think there's a part of Ever that every female reader will identify with. This was an extremely realistic novel, significant to today's obesity crisis. It's a must read for contemporary fans! Pick up a copy soon, you won't regret it.
Im glad you enjoyed this book! Sometimes, Ever annoyed me.. but I also liked her relationship with her stepsister evolve.. Great review!
ReplyDelete- Farah @ MajiBookshelf
This sounds really good! I've had Skinny on my TBR for awhile!
ReplyDeleteWow. I've been wanting to read this, but for whatever reason, I didn't even know it was about gastric bypass surgery. That's really interesting, something YA hasn't done yet. I loved your review and I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy ASAP!
ReplyDeletethanks for review and skinny sounds good, I want to read this :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this book before, but it sounds like it'd be interesting. There aren't a lot of YA books out there that have tackled this topic, which makes me even more interested. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the first that I have ever heard about this book. I'm glad that I know about it now because it seems like something that I would really like. I'm definitely going to pick this up in the near future. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteIt's on my TBR list..I really want to read it!Great review,as always!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this one. I will have to check it out now. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI heard of this book but wasn't sure what to think of it. Glad you ended up liking it. I might give it a go, but perhaps borrowed haha
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!