Dietland

Dietland by Sarai Walker, 310 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin.

Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.” At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group called “Jennifer” begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

Dietland is a bold, original, and funny debut novel that takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight loss obsession—from the inside out, and with fists flying. 

I appreciated Plum's voyage of self-discovery and transformation but I was actually drawn more to storyline of the guerrilla group that runs parallel to Plum's storyline. However, I was unsatisfied with the ending to that storyline. While the women Plum is with reject the tactics of the guerrilla group there is no discussion of why they do. The author was inspired by the movie Fight Club and you can see how it influenced the book. I would recommend this book to those that like fiction.

The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty

The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi
 332 Pages


"In the heart of New York City, a group of artistic friends struggles with society's standards of beauty. At the center are Barb and Lily, two women at opposite ends of the beauty spectrum, but with the same problem: each fears she will never find a love that can overcome her looks. Barb, a stunningly beautiful costume designer, makes herself ugly in hopes of finding true love. Meanwhile, her friend Lily, a brilliantly talented but plain-looking musician, goes to fantastic lengths to attract the man who has rejected her--with results that are as touching as they are transformative. To complicate matters, Barb and Lily discover that they may have a murderer in their midst, that Barb's calm disposition is more dangerously provocative than her beauty ever was, and that Lily's musical talents are more powerful than anyone could have imagined."

This book had some glimmers of brilliance about but was in serious need of an editor's touch.  There were too many characters who never were fully developed and the whole murderer portion of the book was an unnecessary tangent that really never added anything to the story.  I only would give it two stars even though I stayed up to finish the book because I wanted to see where the author took the ideas. 

If He Had Been With Me

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin, 330 pages

Have you ever just... gone into the bathroom and punched yourself in the chest 330 times? No? Well... me either, but I'm pretty sure I know what that feels like now. But this is a positive review! And I promise I'm not a masochist!

Almost from the title alone, you can tell where this book is headed. I feel like I can only diminish it by going into too much detail. Instead, I'll say this: while the story is simple, the writing is superb. Being able to sneak incredible insight (almost unnoticed) into scenes that feel perfectly real is a rare skill, and Nowlin does it flawlessly on many occasions here.

There's a four-page chapter almost squarely in the middle of the book that perfectly encapsulates not only what the book is about, but also why it's great. As much as I'd like to block quote all four pages, I'll just say "sometimes sad things are beautiful." This story is an experience that is often difficult to push through - for the most part, I read it in small pieces - but is worth the struggle.

It should be stated that this book fails the Bechdel test about as badly as it is possible to fail. But in a story about obsessive unrequited introvert love, it's understandable.

This would never be a novel I could recommend to everyone. But if you're wearing a breastplate, then you might be okay.

The Ugly One

The Ugly One by Leanne Statland Ellis                     245 pages

Set in ancient Peru, Micay is called Millay, the ugly one, by most people in her village.  She has a scar that runs down one side of her face.  Ironically, her name actually means beautiful round face.  Micay spends most of her time hiding.  When she can’t keep away from the village entirely, she uses her long hair to hide her face so no one will see her scar.  One day a stranger comes and leaves Micay with a baby macaw.  Because of her love for the bird, Micay begins to find her voice and to stand up, if not for herself, at least a little bit for her bird.  As Micay’s life begins to change she begins to think that her future may not be as bleak as she thought.  A quiet story, this book speaks to universal truths and many kids might like the story.  Despite its historical setting, kids today can appreciate and relate to some of the themes in this story.