Genre: YA, contemporary fiction

Stars: 5

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

 

The Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Virginia feels like a fat, awkward outsider in her perfect family, especially next to her golden-boy big brother Byron. She’s got a lot to deal with – her weight, her best friend moving away, the mean girls at school – not to mention a boy who seems to like her! To survive, she decides to follow the ‘Fat Girl Code of Conduct’ to make herself acceptable, unnoticed … invisible.

It seems to be working until something unthinkable happens and, before her eyes, Virginia’s flawless family begins to fall apart. As her world spins out of orbit, Virginia realises that breaking the Fat Girl Code might be the only way to create a life that belongs to her.

Carolyn Mackler’s acclaimed book has been updated for a new audience and is as relevant, funny and full of heart as it was when it was first published fifteen years ago.

 

My Review:

Balancing heart-warming with heart-wrenching, comedy with drama, and light-and-fluffy with dark, this YA read has it all.

Virginia is a normal, confused adolescent. She’s not thin, not stunning, and not perfect like the rest of her family. She’s also missing her best friend, has to deal with nastiness at school, and is struggling with weight and boy problems. But when her family start to fall apart, she realises that she may be the most perfect one of them all…

The language was bubbly but transfixing, the plot heavy but deftly and lightly dealt with, and the whole package superb. Pace, reality, laughs, and interest all woven into a wonderful book. Highly recommended.

*Thank you to the publisher and to Faye Rogers PR for my free review copy.