Bluebelle, a.k.a. Big Bones, wants to leave school and get an apprenticeship. In order to do this, she's made keep a food diary and join the gym. Instead of just documenting what she eats, BB uses the food diary to as a general diary and writes not only about the food she loves and hate, but also about her life, her job, her crush and her family.

I was excited to read the book going into it, I thought it would be full of body positivity and about being yourself. Instead most of it is BB talking about food. Which I got why she was doing this (fat people are allowed to enjoy food and talk about enjoying it and shouldn't be judged in doing so) but it slowed the book right down and the plot dragged. In fact, there wasn't much a plot as it was mainly about food, something that felt cliched at times in a 'of course the only thing fat people think of is food' kind of way. Two thirds of the way through the book changed, there's a big life event and it causes BB to reevaluate herself and she starts going to the gym and losing weight. Which again, I can understand (growing up, taking responsibility for yourself, not giving up etc), but it also left me a bit confused. Bluebell is this fiery, in your face, take it or leave it character who doesn't care if you think she's fat but she ends up losing weight at the end of the book. It felt a bit cliched, a fat girl losing weight. Though like I said, I can also see that the message was about Bluebelle growing up and taking responsibility for her health and well being. Overall, it wasn't for me on a lot of levels, it was promising but fell flat

I've been looking out for more YA contemporary books about fat girls... Or even girls who aren't comfortable with the size of their body or how they look. Because, I'm one of those girls, so I'm always on the lookout for good representation of this in YA. I'd heard a lot about Big Bones throughout the blogosphere and I was interested to see whether it was the type of book that I was looking for, so I decided to request a copy and see what I thought.

A heart-warming teen story from the unique voice of Laura Dockrill, about Bluebelle, aka BB, aka Big Bones - a sixteen-year-old girl encouraged to tackle her weight even though she's perfectly happy, thank you, and getting on with her life and in love with food. Then a tragedy in the family forces BB to find a new relationship with her body and herself. Moving, memorable and hilarious.

To be honest, I have no idea what I think of this book. Part of me thinks that it was an enjoyable read, but then part of me thinks that it was just strange and it did take me a very long time to read. This is actually quite strange for me because contemporaries take me a matter of hours to read, but I think that I was reading this for about a few weeks? Or something like that, anyway.

When I was talking about this book in one of my wrap up videos, I felt like I couldn't explain my thoughts about this book in a very cohesive way, and I think that's because I liked it... And I didn't like it...



“I don't mean to scare myself but leaving school is like leaving the womb for the second time.”

― Laura Dockrill, Big Bones



As aforementioned, this book is about a girl who identifies as fat. One day, she goes to the doctors for her monthly weigh-in, and the doctor says that Bluebelle has to lose some weight and really look after herself. Bluebelle then strikes up and agreement with her Mom. Her Mom says that is Bluebelle goes to the gym and keep a food diary for the doctor, then Bluebelle can drop out of school and start an internship.

The concept of the book is very interesting, but I don't think that it was executed in a particularly amazing way. During the first.. 10% of this novel I really wanted to DNF it. For the first 70% of the novel, it was just Bluebelle keeping her food diary and not really doing anything exciting. It wasn't until AFTER this 70% point that she started looking after herself. There was also the problem with the CHARACTER of Bluebelle. She she was funny at first because she was so confident in who she was and she didn't care what other people thought of her, but then as the story carried on, she started to become really annoying and I found her to be quite unlikeable.



“People look at bigger people and assume we shouldn't feel the need to ever get hungry because we have enough fat stored up to last us until our dying day. As if we can nibble off our sides like we're made of peach.”

― Laura Dockrill, Big Bones



On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Dove (Bluebelle's sister), who is just amazing. She does parkour and is so brave. She has brilliant banter with Bluebelle which gives them such a nice relationship to read about, and I just think that she's a much more interesting character.

One of the positives about this book was that, even though Bluebelle had to keep a food diary, she treated it like a PROPER diary where she would be telling the doctors about her day and her crush on a boy... her personal feelings... So technically, this whole novel IS her food diary, and I thought it was such a unique way of telling the story, because it fitted in with what the character had to do in the story but then also acted as the way of telling the story. Bluebelle loves herself, she loves her fat, loves her food and she's proud of it. She shows us that it is okay to love food, to love to eat, and to try and feel comfortable in your body and to not feel pressured by society to look a certain way. However, she also teaches us that even though you might be overweight, you still have to take care of yourself and your body. It's such an important message to add and it's what made this book so special to me.



"If they don't want to be skinny, that's just as offensive as calling somebody fat. Funny how people think it's rude to go round calling people fat but not skinny. Skinny people get self-conscious too."

- Laura Dockrill, Big Bones



As for the actual content: it broke my heart at times. Some situations, memories, trains of thought were so familiar to me as for 10 years, I have suffered with anxiety about my body.. It reminded me of everything I had to go through. I do love how there isn't any actual mention of bullying in Big Bones since it isn't only the bullying you struggle with when you're overweight. It's so much more than that.

Overall, Big Bones was an ok read. It wasn't ground-breaking. But, there was something there that made me feel emotional, and even thought the story didn't start until 70% of the book, it was enjoyable.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Trigger warnings: fatphobia, anxiety, weight struggles

This book was brilliant. It was essentially a young girl exploring her relationship with food. It wasn't about comfort eating or junk food or any of the other things that a lot of people associate with fat girls. It was about a true foodie who wasn't ashamed of enjoying eating. The way she described food was beautiful and perfect and really summed up her character for me more than anything. As a bit of a foodie myself, I loved reading her thoughts on food.



And while this book is unashamedly pro-food, it also didn't shy away from the fact that being overweight is unhealthy. Although BB took a while to be convinced that her weight was a bad thing, it managed to balance the issues of weight and liking your body without glorifying the problem. There were no fad diets or extremes either way, it truly was just an exploration of how much we eat and exercise and finding a healthy balance. It makes a very good point that our culture makes it seem like exercise is uncool, while secretly most people are doing it behind closed doors.



This book truly touched me. BB is such a likeable character and it was fun to explore the issues through her eyes. The book devastated me with the downs and made me laugh and smile with it's ups as well as leaving me with just so much to think about.

A very character-driven story that engaged me from the first page. I was instantly drawn into BB's story, and throughout the story it really did feel like I was going on a journey with her, learning more about herself as she went along. The descriptions of food were also spot on, and made me hungry as I was reading through them. It was very refreshing to see a character like BB portrayed in a YA book, as more often than not plus-size body types are not represented to the extent that they should be. I was happy to find out that this book was not sending the wrong messages to young readers about their body image -- instead the book suggests that you embrace yourself, but also draws on the importance of still being healthy. By the end of the book, I felt BB had come to a place where she was aware of both of these things and understood how they could operate simultaneously, which is a great message to be sending out to young readers.
The main issue I had with it was that, while I was drawn into BB's story, I just couldn't feel myself connecting with her character in the way that I have with other characters in the past. I'm not entirely sure why, but that's why I would hesitate to give it a higher rating.

I found it incredibly hard to connect with Bluebelle at the start of the novel, she was sarcastic, selfish and ungrateful. But I soon realised this was a defensive mechanism to guard her heart against all the comments and looks she had received whilst being overweight.

Although BB is against the very idea of keeping track of her eating habits she concedes to write in the diary. Bluebelle fills the diary with her meals, snacks, activities, conversations, crushes and much more. Before she realises it, BB has filled her diary with all her thoughts, food related or not!

Just over half way through the book, when your starting to get antsy for more action and drama, the tragedy in the family occurs and BB's life is thrown upside down. Everything she was certain of is suddenly undecided and unsure.

The character progression in this novel is astounding. By the end of the book, I adored BB, she's a perfectly flawed human being. She is exactly the kind of young woman that we all need to be reading about. She makes mistakes, has arguments and even has a nasty bout of diarrhoea, sounds familiar right?

The only reason this book didn't receive a full 5 star review is because of two short but strange chapters, one of these chapters felt incredibly unnecessary, I didn't understand how it added to the story in any way. The chapter was uncomfortable and just plain weird!

So nice to read something new by Laura Dockrill after loving Lorali. This book is wonderful, original and fantastic in its representation of a bigger main character! Thoroughly enjoy Dockrill's voice, look forward to more from her!

In this novel a teen called Bluebelle talks about her love of food - good food, not junk food - and the problems society puts her in. She is over-weight, has some health issues and a beautiful and thin sister.
Forced to write a food diary she takes one of her favourite food each chapter and describes her life and the way she is seen by society and her fight against prejudices.
I love the strong and funny character of Bluebelle and she makes some interesting points that make you think about your own prejudices.

Bluebell (known as BB) is told by the nurse that she needs to lose weight. BB loves food and doesn't see anything wrong with her body. The nurse tells her to keep a food diary for the summer and she ends up writing everything about her life in it. Its a pleasant enough read but BB isn't a particularly likeable character, she's quite obnoxious. It touches on some interesting issues about weight but doesn't really delve into them.

I related so hard to this wonderfully written book and I wish it had been available when I was a teenager. Hugely important reading for our image-obsessed, instagram-like-addicted society. Five BIG BONED stars!

Finished Big Bones today. I ended up enjoying it. The storyline could have been a bit more exciting but the second half kept me more interested. I loved the message of body positivity, self care and keeping healthy too. I really hope I've learnt something from the book about being confident and not caring about what people think because I know I do that a lot.

When I saw the synopsis of this book, my toes practically curled with delight. I've recently finished re-reading Dumplin' and Julie Murphy's new release, Puddin' and I loved the way Murphy managed to fuse laugh out loud humour with a message about body-positivity. Her books are an ode to learning how to love yourself and be confident, regardless of shape or size. And I hoped, going into this book, that this would offer up the same kind of meal, something juicy and delightful and honest.

Unfortunately, that's not quite what I took away from this book. It's meant to be a kind of food diary, with main character Bluebelle explaining what she ate each day to the incredibly mean nurse at the start of the novel who bluntly tells her she is fat and needs to get her life together. Um... What we actually get is a kind of love letter to food, with entries about the glory of foods like crumpets and shepherd's pie which correlate to the events which are going on in Bluebelle's life. Which is fine, I guess, but the problem I have with it is that it seems to be promoting something that is less body confidence and more negative stereotypes of fatness. In Dumplin' Murphy's character enjoyed eating, and struggled to lose weight on diets, but it was also stressed that she was just not capable of losing weight. It was her body, and she was stuck with it, and so she needed to learn to be satisfied with that. Bluebelle, on the other hand, just enjoys eating. Not everything she eats is unhealthy, but she does snack a lot and resists demands that she exercise to balance this out. Obviously, this does reflect some people. I'm not saying it doesn't. A lot of people are overweight because they like to eat a lot. But it also doesn't do much for body confidence messages either, if the main character of Big Bones is trying to both have her cake and eat it. We already get enough fat-shaming from magazines and social media and on the street, and although Big Bones is trying to have a more positive outlook on it, it falls pretty short of the mark.

Particularly in the second half of the novel after Dove's accident. I get BB feeling guilty about telling her to be brave, and some of the guilt she must feel about being able to walk while her sister has to use a wheelchair, but I still feel like the novel falls flat somewhere along the line. After this huge event, Bluebelle decides to start going to the gym and be healthier, and again while I commend this whole argument for trying to be the change you wish to see, I feel it is also kinda reductive and too simplified. Bluebelle does also go through a loss of appetite here, which makes things a bit more complicated for me to understand as a reader, but I thought the fact that she started losing weight so fast was a bit problematic, since it suggests to anyone reading that literally all you need to do is not eat as much and work out and suddenly the pounds will start dropping off and you'll learn to love the gym if you just try it, because it really is easy and not all that intimidating.  Again, this might help some people. BB has just finished her GCSEs and it feels like she hasn't quite gotten her life together yet, so I guess maybe the whole thing about learning to be an adult and look after yourself might be a positive message to some people, but I still can't help but find it pretty reductive in terms of promoting body confidence and trying to explore why people might be overweight. Like I said, over-eating is a part of the problem for some people, but there's enough media out there trying to promote this one-size fits all myth that people only ever get overweight because they eat too much, and that dieting and exercise is a sure-fire way to get skinny again. Dumplin' did so well because it challenged this myth. I feel as though Big Bones tries to do the same thing, but doesn't really succeed, and it left me feeling a bit disappointed and frustrated because I could see the potential.

I'm giving Big Bones 5/10 stars. The book is pretty funny, and there's some awesome raw emotional moments too, but I don't like the stereotypes or the way food is shown in the novel and it seems as though it is a bit uncertain about what it is trying to say. The main character is reduced almost entirely to her obsession with food, and it seems as though there's not much more substance to the storyline beyond that.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book*. I loved the characters, particularly Bluebelle (imagine being called Bluebelle! a glamorous Hollywood of yesteryear name if ever there was one!) and Dove, and the interactions between them and the others of note (Max and Blue's parents).

I loved Bluebelle's confidence in her own body, and the fact that she refuses to feel bullied into conforming to the so-called "healthy" norms of today (as an aside, I would mention that when I was at my height's ideal BMI, I was told that I was anorexic and urged to put on a pound in weight every week by my doctor!) So good for her! I also liked that she knows how to keep healthy by exercising.

All in all, a damned fine read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

* The section about the stomach upset was gross and that is the only bit I didn't like!

I really enjoyed this book and thought the way that Dockrill had used character progression was interesting. The way that she presents the relationships and the familial connections was done well. I liked BB a lot but at times she came as being too immature.

As a fat girl I was really excited to read this book. A tale about body positivity without the fat shaming attached to it. And it didn't disappoint one bit, especially when it came to her relationship with food and her family. I honestly loved reading this book. It feels like a real lesson on self love and you feel like BB is really a part of your life for that short time. It was sad, happy, enlightening and heartwarming to read and I wish that I had read it when I was younger.

* i received a free E-Arc in return for an honest review through netgalley*
i loved this book! i can relate to BB in many ways, i also feel like i read this book at the right time to make an impact on my life, hopefully one day i can love myself, my fat self like BB does throughout this novel, she knows that it is okay to love yourself even if you are fat but also knowing to look after your body which i believe is the right message.
5/5 stars, i cannot wait to reread this book once i get a paperback copy!

*Big Bones by Laura Dockrill* .
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Bluebell (or BB as she is often called) is a big boned girl. She doesn't care if you describe her as fat because that's what she is. She loves her body and she thinks she is fabulous. But when she is asked to fill in a food diary over the summer holidays from school she starts to realise that there is more to her than just her appearance and her all consuming love of food. This story was laugh out loud funny and so totally relatable to anyone that suffers with self esteem when it comes to their body. There were so many times when I would think 'I do that.' BB's devil may care attitide and all round swag made her a bonefide girl crush character for me. She could teach us all a few tricks on upping our body confidence. It was a super quick read but I did find after a while that the writing became a little repetitive, which was a shame. The highlight for me was BB's come backs to 'haters' and her wonderful relationships, especially with her little Sister and best friend. I would recommend this book if you want a hoot of a read, look out for the chapter where Bluebell is caught short in the garden. Hilarious!!! 😆😉😂

This book is all about Bluebell aka BB, who is a 16 year old, who at the beginning of the book is encouraged to tackle her weight, even though she is perfectly happy as she is. This book is set up in the form of a food diary and takes you through a summer in BB's life, filled with best mates, boys and belly laughs.
Now due to the set up it can take a while to get into this book, but once you do it is worth it! Especially when you get to spin class. BB likes to speak her mind and say things that some people wouldn't dare. She is confident and knows what she wants in life.

This would be an amazing movie. blue belle speaks so many truths! So witty, fresh, and well written.

Bluebell is such a lovely, real narrator. So often I find first person narrators to be a bit cold, but she was warm and funny and relateable. I loved how body-positive the book was without shying away from the realities of being bigger - yes, she has issues with her weight and she does consider her health, too - but I also loved how the central concept of a food diary revealed that she had a real passion for all food and wasn't surviving on junk. Such a lovely read.

Actual rating 3.5 and this is one where I really wish there was a 1/2 star option. It's not quite good enough for the 4 but the 3 feels a bit harsh.

I have fairly mixed feelings about this book. I love the body positivity and the fact that Bluebelle didn't just eat junk food- which I think is a huge misconception about overweight people in general but especially teenagers. I generally enjoyed her voice and cared about her and her family. Also Max is lovely and there need to more love interests like him in YA.

I loved the food descriptions, the portrayal of family, work and the trauma of going to the gym for the first time. I also really liked the emphasis on going to the gym to get fitter and better yourself rather than going to get skinny.

One of my issues was that one of the main points of the book was to not judge people by appearances but BB does this all the time there are constant snidey comments about how other women look. Whether it's based on their appearance, their clothes or their size. I found this uncomfortable considering how much BB hates being judged by her weight.

Another small issue I had was that I really hate toilet humour- the entire chapter dedicated to diarrhoea was a big no no for me but I understand that there will be people who found it funny and/or relateable.

Overall, this is a solid 3.5, I'm glad I read it and will look out for more by Laura Dockrill.