Big Boned is a classic YA high school rom-com. Girl falls for guy, doesn't realise guy is falling for her too... you guessed the rest.
And while this plot is nothing out of the blue, this is special because here we have a fat protagonist, and an average weight, very good looking, very jocky and 'cool' guy who falls for her. The plot in this story wasn't exactly captivating and it was a little predictable but I still enjoyed it because it's so important to see fat characters getting the love they deserve, from themselves, but from other people too. It's important to see fat characters who don't lose weight or have that Hollywood makeover and are still worthy of loving and being found attractive and interesting.
I liked the romance aspect of this story and found the pairing cute. I also enjoyed the South Africa setting as I haven't read many books set there, and the storyline of Lori's art weaved throughout.

Big Boned - Jo Watson

I must admit at first I didn’t think I was going to like this book but as the story progressed it got better and better.

I loved Lori’s character, she had so much going on and still putting others before herself. Jake was her saviour and he helped her to find her herself.

i did like this one!
Overall, this story pleasantly surprised me and I think it is a relevant to story because of the many issues it tackles in a realistic and relatable manner. I loved reading Lori's growth and was so proud of her.

I really enjoyed the art theme filtered through the book, and you could really see the world through Lori’s eyes. Her relationships with others were well described. There were perhaps a few convenient plot points, but overall Big Boned was full of feel good vibes. I can already see it on the big screen

I love books that throw light and love over characters who would normally be hidden away or overlooked. Being a bigger girl myself, I have a particular soft spot for stories that celebrate bodies that fall outside of society’s idea of traditional beauty. So, Big Boned was ticked a lot of boxes before I even started it.

Lori is the new girl at Bay Water High in Cape Town, having recently moved from Johannesburg. In this new city, toned and tanned beach bodies are what really matters and it’s safe to say that Lori is never going to match up to that. But the beautiful, popular boy Jake is a volunteer at the special school that her brother Zac attends and apparently Zac and Jake’s sister Lisa are best friends. Therefore, Lori and Jake find themselves spending a lot of time together. Meanwhile, her relationship with her mother is rapidly declining and Lori is retreating into her beloved artwork more and more, which is about to make huge waves throughout Cape Town.

I think most people who have struggled to love the way they look will be able to relate to Lori. She is hard on herself but it’s clear that the world has forced her to do that. Now that she’s in this world full of beautiful people, she feels her differences more strongly than ever.

I loved the way that Lori sees the world and the people in it. She is an artist, so she tends to notice colours and shapes and she has a fantastic way of putting what she sees and how she feels about everything into words. Although Jake is apparently a very conventionally attractive boy, Lori sees him in a unique light and loves the parts that could be deemed as less desirable.

There is a mental health aspect explored in the book, as Lori sees a therapist and discusses her anxiety. I really enjoyed sitting in on her sessions because it let me know exactly what was going on with Lori and where her insecurities came from. The book seemed to be reassuring me that looking after my mind, by whatever means that work for me, is an essential part of living a healthy life and I really appreciated it.

Lori’s little brother Zac is autistic and I thought this was dealt with in a really lovely, sensitive manner. Zac made me smile, laugh and warmed my heart every time he was on the page and the relationship between him and Lori is really beautiful to watch. There is no question that she would do absolutely anything for him and it’s because of how great Jake is with Zac that accelerates her attraction to him.

Big Boned is full of real, true appreciation for art and the process of creating it. I assume that the author is also an artist because I’m not sure that the heartfelt way that it’s spoken about can be fake. Lori is a very talented artist and for her, it’s the perfect method for expressing herself. She makes sense of herself and the messes that land in her life by pouring them all out on the canvas. I’m not a great lover of art but I couldn’t help but be drawn into Lori’s vivid world of colours and brushstrokes.

South Africa isn’t a place that books and films take me to very often and I know very little about the culture and reality of what it’s like there. I knew that it has a very high crime rate for a country of its size but I had no idea that the number of missing children there was as high as the book suggests it is. I loved being educated in this very unfiltered, honest manner. Watson could have chosen to focus on showcasing the beautiful landscapes, warm sunshine and unique wildlife that South Africa enjoys but she chose to show her readers the darkness and corruption.

Big Boned is a warm-hearted novel with courage and self-love at its heart. I wasn’t completely convinced on the authenticity of the romance but I loved Lori as a protagonist. There are a lot of unique themes included such as the use of art to trigger change and shunning conformity that I think the setting lent itself to. Full of humour, inspiration and bright colours, Big Boned is a YA novel that I know will touch so many readers’ hearts.

I love Lori as a character, she has so much on her plate that your head is spinning just keeping up with everything she has going on. Her parents have divorced and her mum has decided to reinvent herself as an A-list house seller, she is so focused on her new image and business that she neglects Lori and her brother Zac, leaving all his care to Lori. They have moved to a new town as part of mum’s re-brand, so Lori and Zac have to start new schools, which is hard for Lori as a teen but possibly worse for Zac as his autism means he finds change difficult. So we have a teen dealing with a new school, being a carer and bitterly divorced parents, which is hard enough but Lori also has a lot of baggage to do with her own identity and image. As a 'big boned' girl she finds it impossible to fit in with the seemingly perfect pupils at her new school and can't help but see their 'skinny perfection' and compare it to her own, very imperfect body shape. Lori can only see things from her own perspective and pushes away anyone who tries to get close to her. The resolution for Lori starts when she is suspended from school, leading to a brutally honest conversation with her mum, and from here on Lori starts to learn to trust those around her and accept that they like the person she is.

I. found this a difficult read with our main protagonist finding herself so flawed. She was full of hatred for herself and that made for an upsetting book. Sadly, I found this book too distressing to finish.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

I DNF this at 11% in. I get this is a ‘body acceptance’ novel, and so the protagonist has to start at the bottom, but their world view of the girls around her is so negative I just can’t read any more.

You don’t have to slate someone to feel better about yourself. The scene in the bathroom with the soup slogan T-shirt was just painful. The scene picking clothes to wear. Even more painful.

I went into this one with high hopes, but sadly I really struggled to connect with Lori (the main character) and ended up not finishing this book. From what I’ve seen many people found this book to be emotional in learning to love oneself (mainly further on in the book). However, I found it difficult to get past the self loathing content towards the beginning and chose to not continue this book.

While it perhaps wasn't my cup of tea, others may find this to be something they really enjoy, and it definitely does delve into conversations that need to be had.

(Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review).

Well... What can I say about this book?

For starters, the first 50 pages of this book were really triggering for me.. the self-loathing was so intense that it actually made me feel bad about myself. So that wasn't a good start.

After that though, I actually started to get invested in the MC's journey and was rooting for her. I enjoyed the disability rep and found that a very emotional element to the story. I also found the social justice elements captivating and really interesting.

However, the book lost me again at the end because it seemed very generic and predictable.

This book was a real rollercoaster for me but in the end, I just found it ok hence the 3 star rating.

Lori is a plus sized aspiring artist who puts herself down non stop.

She is incredibly talented, she sacrifices everything for the happiness of her little brother, she’s a great friend - yet all she sees is FAT.

However, as you can imagine we get to see Lori grow into a confident young woman. Her friendships and relationships with loved ones blossom. But most importantly so does her relationship with herself.

A great story with a really relatable narrator. The book reads as an encouraging and motivating story.

I did feel like it was a little long so some parts did drag on a little for me and the ending was all wrapped up a little too neatly.

Being a ‘large’ or ‘big boned’ teenager is pretty tough and too little is written about this experience in a positive way so I was really attracted to the theme of this story.
This is the story of Lori Palmer, a talented artist, ‘big boned’ and the new kid at Bay Water High which is full of beautiful beach types. She has left behind her Dad, her old home and school, friends and her counsellor. Her Mum is totally distracted building up her career after the split with Lori’s Dad and looking for love and Lori is left to look after her young brother who is autistic. Things are really tough for Lori until she meets the gorgeous Jake, most popular boy in the school, who also has a sibling with special educational needs and suddenly things look brighter…
This is a feel good story with some really positive messages about body size, special educational needs and being popular in a good way and I think that it will really appeal to the young adult audience. I loved the depiction of the two siblings which portrayed them as unique and beloved children., full of character. I also loved Lori’s art which set her apart as a really talented young woman and was integral to a theme which showed that everyone had their own unique talent. I also really liked the fact that happiness is not secured through major weight loss - Lori eats plenty!
I felt that this is a young adult book which sits very firmly within that genre and might not appeal to readers outside that category, partly because of the dialogue which I could not always follow, but for big boned girls this will hopefully be a story which encourages self belief. Would the big boned airl really wow the handsome prince…I don’t know but I would like to believe that she did!
With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for a digital copy of this uplifting read.

DNF-6%
Awww I’m so sad, I really wanted to like this. But I just couldn’t get past 6%. The voice of the narrator was too informal and Lori just sounded like a brat. Lori Patty Palmer? Really 🤣
I don’t think I’ll be picking up this again or buying any another books from this author, which is such a great shame. This is the first book I’ve ever rated below 3 stars on here :(

Lori Palmer is a plus-sized artist from bustling Johannesburg where she attends an art school, to a quiet coastal town in Cape Town which is filled with beautiful, thin and athletic students. She instantly misses her old school, her two best friends and her life before her parents got divorced. The move also exasperates Lori’s ongoing anxiety and hatred of her own body.

It was Lori’s mom who moved her and her brother Zac to Cape Town; leaving behind her Dad and new girlfriend, so that Zac can attend a specialist school, and also so she could expand her real estate business. Unfortunately for Lori, her Mom’s priority is definitely her business and Lori is left to look after Zac most of the time. She definitely doesn’t mind, but it is a lot of responsibility for a teenager.

The last thing Lori expected was to find out that the hottest boy from school; Jake, volunteers at Zac’s school and he actually has a sister with her own social difficulties. When the siblings become friends Jake and Lori agree to support them to have play dates and develop their own friendship which blossoms. However, Lori’s own low self-esteem prevents her from being able to see their relationship as anything more than a forced upon friendship.

Lori is working on her own anxieties and self-worth by visiting a psychiatrist. Her psychiatrist encourages her to acknowledge that although her issues stem from being bullied she is continuing to bully herself; which I thought was such a poignant thought. Although she has always been an artist, Lori identifies a new outlet for herself; spray painting.

So many different themes are addressed in this book but the most important thing is definitely acknowledgement of self-love and self-worth. As a YA novel I think this is so important! I did enjoy this book and it felt so fresh that it was set in South Africa instead of England or USA; usually when I read something based in Africa it is very much about the location which this wasn’t really. I would recommend picking this up and definitely sharing it with younger readers to remind them about acceptance and making a positive impact on those around them.

Lori Palmer has just moved schools in South Africa and she looks totally different to all the others in the school. She becomes friends with the top sportsman in the school through her brother and his sister and will this help her to fit in. Where to start on this book? i absolutely loved it! It was your typical story of high school in that there is mean girls and shows typical teenage life very well. It is also very modern with mentions of things like Tik Tok which would really give the modern reader a lot. It also tackled the autism subject matter very well and explained it very clearly. Its the first book that I've read set in modern south Africa and i really enjoyed it. This book gives a massive message that its what is inside that counts more than what you look like. I loved this book!

I loved this book. Even as an adult it still taught me a lot about myself. I see a lot of myself in Lori. Absolutely amazing

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for the eARC of this book in return for an honest review,

I was initially drawn to this book by its adorable cover art and the description which screamed out coming of age YA (which I love!) and I wasn’t disappointed at all. While yes, it’s littered with cliches and you can kind of see where the ending is going before it’s even half way there, I found this to be a really fun and easy read with the outline of an important message around it.

This is a really witty, encouraging and entertaining book.

3.5 stars

I was really looking forward to this as I've always been a bit overweight and never felt entirely comfortable in my own skin. It is also so great to have all kinds of representation in books.

Unfortunately I found the setting of this book quite extreme which put me off in the beginning, i.e. Lori appeared to not only be the fattest person in her high school but seemingly the only fat person in a place where people walk around in skimpy outfits non-stop.

Lori also judged everyone based on the way they looked and if it wasn't a judgement, it was a concern about her own weight and it felt quite one dimensional. For this reason I didn't really develop a connection to Lori and found it quite hard going. It's a shame because I had high hopes for this book and was disappointed in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

As YA books become more representative, books about fatness and body positivity seem to be one of the last frontiers. But Watson explores the issue sensitively and engagingly in this novel, as well as dealing with issues of mental health and disability. It was interesting to see autism explored from the angle of a young carer, and the narrative felt realisitic at all times. A definite one for the school library bookshelves.