I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So. I’m not much of a poetry reader, and I’m trying to change that, so when I saw this book and its themes and its author I went all “yassss my kind of read, I gotta”.

Poetry is a hella weapon for speaking up and this book DOES THAT. Racism, fatphobia, misogyny, gender roles, social expectations. Womanhood. Abuse. It touches everything, and it does it beautifully.

(It even mentions KFC chicken. And like.. maybe I need to read more poetry to understand why there’s a poem about that. Or why the vegans are terrorist (I’m vegan, so maybe that’s why if a place runs out of chicken I may only tweet about it, but go off and write a poem, I guess)).

Anyway, the poems that more resonated with me were those about LIVING IN YOUR BODY like, GOD YES, GIRL. I felt lifted up after reading this work. I kinda felt validated which is sad because I know I don’t need permission to eat a bar of chocolate but… the chocolate I ate while reading this tested sweeter than ever. Thanks for that, Rachel <3

I was given a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

It's very hard to correctly review a book of poetry, but if I had to give this a review it would range from 1 3.5-4.
Wiley is a popular poet in the smash scene, so it makes sense to me how some of these poems are better heard, not read. Regardless, many of these poems are written with a brutal honesty and transparency. The themes can range from love, to sex, body image, feminism, hope and the lack thereof of hope.

In her poem, "Demeter," Wiley accurately depicts America's fascination with labeling its female icons to fit its image:

America,
I birthed you a daughter once.
You did not let me name her.

The poem accurately demonstrates the female labor that goes into building the country, with Wiley doing the work of handing America a daughter only to not be allowed a role in her destiny.

Other poems bring light-hearted humor to the collection, highlighting even the most trivial as a source of commonplace annoyance and creativity,

I will forgo the how's and whys
and simply remind you that when KFC
runs out of chicken, the terrorists win.
And by terrorists, I of course mean vegans, Tammi.

Overall this collection is very solid, but do leave you looking for more. Can't wait for the poet's next collection (this was a reissue of sorts, if I'm correct). Thank you again for the publisher, poet and NetGalley for the free copy.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I liked that this was written in verse and a nice read overall.

As with most poety anthologies, some poems fall flat, or don't resonate. But my GOODNESS when one of Wiley's poems resonates, it's RESONATES.

This was a super vibrant collection of poems. Its intimate and memoiric--capturing the multiple selves through time and interaction and experience. Wiley is a fierce and tender voice that has such a high frequency of kinetic pulsatio. It was a reclamation declarative of sound and language and the way to disrupt how people talk about fat bodies and the layering of fatphobia that stems too from racism and misogyny. It was dope is all I gotta say.

I don’t normally read poetry but was intrigued enough by the cover and title of this collection to want to explore and I’m really glad I did. If all poetry was like this, I’d read a lot more of it.

The depth and the imagery speaks to me. The poems are no holds barred and I appreciate that. As a reflection on gender, colour, size and many other social issues it’s not an easy read at times, but in that regard it’s reflective of a time and place and has many things that need to be said.

The collection is very accessible even if you don’t normally read poetry so I’d encourage anyone to give this a try.

If you want to read poetry with a strong and different use of metaphors, this is your collection! Also, if you are interested in body-positivity, poems written from the perspective of a fat person, and some poems on unusual topics!

Best things about this poetry collection (and what I have learnt from it):
-Rachel Wiley has very different and unique poems on topics I usually don't read about, there's situations that inspire her poems that we usually don't see that often (like a poem for Amy Whinehouse, or a poem about the murder of an elephant, or a poem inspired by a blogger). She has inspired me to try new things in my own poetry and not be scared to go to different and unusual topics.
-Metaphors, metaphors, metaphors as adjectives, strings of metaphors, everything is metaphors.

Things that made me give this book only 3 stars:
-Too many metaphors. I get it, it's part of her unique style, but many times it made reading the poems super tedious, and sometimes I felt the metaphors didn't enhance the poem or nouns she was using/describing, but rather it was just something she felt she had to do. At first the metaphors were really powerful for me, later on in the collection I felt they weren't even real.
-Don't tell me you are an activist and then write a poem low-key trashing vegans. It's not cute. If you want respect how come you are disrespecting others? (Honestly, it would've been way more interesting to see a poem talking about the real issues of veganism, or some problematic things vegan influencers promote, not a poem about how annoying vegans are complaining about fast-food chains).

This is one of those poetry collections that make me go: certain poems are fucking awesome, the rest of the poems...not so much. So I'll probably keep an eye for her performances, but I don't think I'll actively try to read another poetry collection by her.

Thoughtful and well done. I especially liked the poems titled Love Letters to My Body. Rachel Wiley covers a wide range of themes, involving self love, race, body positivity, love, and feminism. Overall a good book of poetry.

Fat Girl Finishing School is a fantastic poetry collection. I think it embodies everything good about modern femininity: it questions traditional female roles, sexuality, relationships, faith, and encourages body positivity. I felt that the most powerful poems were those that regarded relationships and body positivity directly. In my personal opinion, the least effective poems were the ones trying to be funny (but that is almost certainly a personal preference thing). I loved the way that Wiley spoke to her body with honesty and promise. I loved that she reflected on past effects with clarity and vulnerability. There were many things about this collection that I really, really enjoyed.

Wow! This was simply amazing👌
I absolutely related to this. I never thought that poetry would make me feel so much emotionally, but it did.
This was so empowering, something I really needed to read.
It touches on topics such as
fatphobia, racism, misogyny, and shame. Each poem chooses self love, despite society’s expectations of conformity!
A must read. This is a definite 5 star recommendation from me.

#LGBTIA #poetry #fatphobia #racism #misogyny #shame #selflove #mustread #empowering #inspirational

Beautifully empowering written poems. I wish this book was written when I was younger and at the same time was exactly what I needed to read at this point of my life. Love and self love at that should be at every size. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It was a joy to pour over this poetry collection. Wiley has so many engaging and unexpected images and turns of phrases. I want more! I cant wait for what she does next.

I love this poet. Her work is extremely poignant and deeply personal while also feeling universal. She touches on so many different topics that women, especially fat women, can relate to. Highly recommend this collection!

I typically try to take poetry volumes a poem at a time, picking and choosing which I want to read, and often skipping entire poems altogether (this is, after all, I suspect the way most people familiar with poetry read poetry collections).

This collection, though, I read virtually uninterrupted. I did take a few moments to pause after several poems to digest what I've just read, but the poems here are truly raw and honest. Wiley discusses her experiences as a fat, biracial queer woman in America with moving words and frank emotion.

I've seen a few of Wiley's poems passed around in both text and video form, and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to read this collection.

This new edition of Rachel Wiley's Fat Girl Finishing School from Button Poetry could not have found me at a better time. It is feminist, fat positive and full of social commentary that feels just as valid today as it did in 2014 when the book was first released, if not even more so. The cutesy cover with its delicate pastel shades belies the powerful messages that almost leap from the pages. This is a book that I would encourage every young , and not so young woman to read. Among the issues touched upon are race, sexuality, body-positivity , growth and acceptance. There are moments of humour among the seriousness, including a mini rant about a KFC that ran out of chicken, but there are so many other poems that are memorable for their power and simplicity. Among my personal favourites were a Love Letter To My Body #3 " My excuse is that my body needs no excuse to be loved, no excuse to be seen, no excuse to be touched, enjoyed, celebrated." , 10 Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy , Naked Atonement " Let no man bury his shame inside us. Let no woman whisper her fear into our thighs. You are not a bank for the discontent of others. You belong to a bold heart. " , as well as the razor sharp Wife Material and the heartbreaking and powerful Blood Tongue which sadly is more true than ever before. " There is danger in being black in the wrong place , at the wrong time , Wrong Place : America. Wrong Time : all the time "
Overall this is a really strong collection and one that I am glad to have read.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

These poems were all very emotionally impactful with interesting similes and metaphors hammering themes of love (gay, straight, and self), body acceptance, race, feminism, and societal expectations. I enjoyed them, but it always felt like something was missing. Maybe it's that the author is an accomplished slam poet (see https://buttonpoetry.com/tag/rachel-wiley/ ) and the poems on the page miss her cadence? Maybe they are overwhelming to read all at once and they lose some impact that way? Either way, I thought these were quite good, but left me hungry for something else.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I don't read poetry. And I know that I should read poetry...I have just never figured out how (unless it has an obvious rhythm and it rhymes). And this isn't a collection written for basic readers like me. But still, I did enjoy it. I felt the emotion, the humour and the honesty in these poems and enjoyed them to the limit my experience enabled me to. It was the title of this book that grabbed me, being in a bigger body myself, and I appreciated the poems that related to that issue. But this collection covers so much more than the fat experience, and actually I think some of my favourite pieces were those which explored her biracial identity. This is a deeply personal collection and I feel touched that she has shared this with us.

A pretty light and sweet spot-on! This collection of poems reads like a positivist anthem for all young girls out there.

I really enjoyed this. There were some I didn’t enjoy as much as others but I really liked the honest vulnerability of the poems. She’s unapologetically queer and fat and chooses self love in the face of racism, misogyny, and body shaming.
I highly recommend this.

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this book because I found the poems to be very weak and surface level. This is a collection that could have been much stronger with better editing. I appreciate the idea behind this collection and I love that the author seeks to focus on topics such as fat shaming and body diversity. Unfortunately, as a poetry collection, I do feel it lacked depth and substance.