Depressing

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Mona Awad — 2016

"This book sparkles with wit and at the same time comes across as so transparent and genuine--Awad knows how to talk about the raw struggles of female friendships, sex, contact, humanness, and her voice is a wry celebration of all of this at once." --AIMEE BENDER, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake "Hilarious and cutting . . . Mona Awad has a gift for turning the everyday strange and luminous, for finding bright sparks of humor in the deepest dark. She is a strikingly original and strikingly talented new voice." --LAURA VAN DEN BERG, author of Find Me and The Isle of Youth Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks--even though her best friend Mel says she's the pretty one. She starts dating guys online, but she's afraid to send pictures, even when her skinny friend China does her makeup: she knows no one would want her if they could really see her. So she starts to lose. With punishing drive, she counts almonds consumed, miles logged, pounds dropped. She fights her way into coveted dresses. She grows up and gets thin, navigating double-edged validation from her mother, her friends, her husband, her reflection in the mirror. But no matter how much she loses, will she ever see herself as anything other than a fat girl? In her brilliant, hilarious, and at times shocking debut, Mona Awad simultaneously skewers the body image-obsessed culture that tells women they have no value outside their physical appearance, and delivers a tender and moving depiction of a lovably difficult young woman whose life is hijacked by her struggle to conform. As caustically funny as it is heartbreaking, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl introduces a vital new voice in fiction.

Reviews

Alla Dumnych@doomnitch

Apr 10, 2024

Вирішила нарешті почати давати чесні оцінки, навіть якщо мені це не дуже приємно, тому ставлю чесні 3 🌟. Я дуже, дуже люблю “Bunny” цієї авторки, яку я проковтнула з надзвичайним задоволенням, але що стосується “13 ways…”, то, на жаль, я такого сказати не можу. Все ще чудовий стиль оповіді, цікава ідея, але щось пішло не так. В цілому, прочитати раджу, вона непогана, проте виявилась не моєю.

Amulya Garimella@agarimella

Jan 10, 2024

fuck. i think itsy-bitsy, the word "yummy," and liz's quinoa and sprouts might live in my mind rent-free forever.

Alexa M@alexasversion

Feb 6, 2023

if you get it you get it if you dont you dont if you know you know, you know?

aem@anaees

Apr 16, 2022

This book gutted me. So much of it was hard to read and it makes you want to look away from the unhappiness that's there, the unhappiness that you know when you are constantly told your body is too much and not enough and the way others (and then you) relate to it seems distant and foreign. Things about this book were uneven but it creates a real feeling of loneliness and mistrust for your own physical self that is too common. It broke my heart at so many points. Lizzie's mom was so much like my mom, in pain and self soothing and trying so hard to live vicariously through her daughter, not even realizing the way she is making it apparent that her love is very conditional. It is eerie and dead on.

shalee olsen@booksworthmentioning

Nov 24, 2021

I don’t honestly know how to feel about this book. I obviously get why people would hate this book with the fire of a thousand suns. But I found the harshness to be refreshing. It is sadly reality. It took my way longer than I want to admit to understand the title of this book and how it works within the actual book. So if you are like me... this book is written in 13 ways of looking at a fat girl. Her at different times in her life. Parents seeing her, boyfriends/lovers/husbands. Strangers, friends, enemy’s etc. I see myself re reading again in the future very thoughtful.

Jayarna La Bozzetta@jayarnareads

Nov 17, 2021

I can totally see why people don't like this. It's confronting and awful and some of these people are so easy to hate. But it's well written and evocative. Just because you don't like the content doesn't make it a bad book.

Chelsea White@itschelseaw

Sep 26, 2021

Quick read, but I didn't really enjoy it. It was a struggle to get through the last 20 pages, especially since the self hatred Lizzie-Beth-Elizabeth-Liz had for herself was nearly palpable. It was uncomfortable, but maybe that was the point?