Jo Watson

Can she be herself in a one-size-fits-all world? Lori Palmer is the new girl at Bay Water High, where students prize glossy hair, beach bodies, and school spirit above all else. She misses her old school—where her talent as an artist carried more weight than she does—and longs for her old family life, before her parents got divorced and her mom reinvented herself. So Lori decides that the only way to survive the rest of the year is to blend into the background, but her plans go awry when she discovers that the most popular (and hottest) guy at Bay Water High, Jake, is a volunteer at her brother’s school. When her brother befriends Jake’s sister, Lori is suddenly thrust into his unfamiliar and exhilarating world of water polo, parties, and stargazing. But with her relationship with her mother deteriorating, old anxieties resurface and Lori finds a new artistic release that unknowingly ignites a powerful movement. When the authorities start asking questions, Lori realizes that finding her voice might have gotten her into a world of trouble...but sometimes standing up for what you believe in is as important as standing up for yourself.

Big Boned

Phee

** spoiler alert **
           *4.25 stars

"I was going to make sure that the world knew that I was here too."

As a "big boned" girl, consuming any source of media often comes with an expectation for the lack of plus size representation told in a realistic and honest way. As a "big boned" person, I have also never been able to relate to any character in any book I have read, nor have I felt connected to a character; not in the way I did with Lori in this story.

Lori is a teenage girl who has dreams, and insecurities and family struggles. 
Lori is a big boned girl who struggles with the pressure of being a fat girl surrounded by people who don't look like her. 
Lori is a character of strength and growth.

There were many things I loved about this book, so I'm going to list them, just as Lori would:
1. The plus size representation (obviously)
2. The ASD and ADHD rep; (though I cannot speak on ASD from a personal point of view and I won't) there was a lot that I could relate to being an older sister to a younger brother on the spectrum, which I deeply appreciated.
3. Jake Jones-Evans, the 'hottest guy in school slash jock' who is actually the sweetest (and respects pronouns. I love him so much)
4. The humour, some parts had me actually laugh out loud (Shark, iykyk)
5. The ROMANCE !! 
6. Did I mention Jake Jones-Evans ???
7. The way it doesn't shy away from Lori's family struggles, or her relationship (or lack thereof) with her parents.

Overall, I really loved this book, the only 'fault' I'd give it is that I would have loved chapters in Jake's pov too, but that wasn't the aim of the story, so I digress. It was fun, romantic, real and finally having a character I could relate to was so refreshing. I hope others can read this and feel the same way

Salam Kabbani

Big Boned is a staple that should be part of every school library. 

Jo Watson was able to take many profound topics, dissect them, and empower the reader through them in this light and breezy read. 

Our protagonist Lori Palmer's entire life has been uprooted when she is forced to leave her hometown of Johannesburg following her parents' divorce. She finds herself in a picture perfect beach town, with the small problem being, she does not fit this picture. Everyone here is so polished and thin and "perfect". She is big, has a special needs brother, and is not someone that people want to hang out with. Especially not people like Jake, the hot athlete from school. 

Except maybe she is. Except maybe Jake volunteers to help kids with special needs, because his sister falls in that category and he is actually more than a shell of a human. 

Lori learns so much on her journey of self-love. She learns her self worth. She learns about her needs that have been neglected through the divorce, and finds her voice to express those needs. 

While the story is focused on Lori discovering her own voice, the author touches on many issues such as neglected needs of children that can happen through a divorce, autism, mental health, psychiatric diagnoses in general at a young age, alcoholism, the nasty shaming and bullying that accompany fat phobia, the dearth of resources for prototypical siblings of those with special needs, and the political issues that are part of South Africa. The author also touched on really important topics like safe sex in teenagers. 

The only thing I wish was different was the need for a guy to really show Lori her worth. It seems like even the greatest of stories still require a guy to rescue the heroine. I also wonder if this is because the main character is a teenager, so perhaps I wouldn't have minded that as much if I was closer to that age group. 

Overall, this was a great read and I highly recommend it!

Elizabeth Waybright

(Review is of the ARC edition)

The first thing I think you need to know about this book is I didn’t just like this book: I adored it. The second thing I think you need to know about this book is that it isn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be for me to adore it just how it is. 

The third you need to know? Don’t be fooled by this book being listed as a YA rom-com. Because I didn’t feel that’s an appropriate category label for this book and I think it does the book an injustice. 

“Big Boned” isn’t a YA rom-com. It’s a YA coming-of-age tale, sure. It’s a fish-out-of water trope, yes. It’s a story about the type of love only siblings can share, yes. It’s a story about a broken family and broken lives, for sure. It’s about how some kids have to learn to deal with too much too early and how it changes them, for sure. And, of course, it’s a story about learning to love and accept yourself, who you are, the power you wield, and the lessons you learn along the way more than anything else. 

Were there bits of levity to the book? Of course there were. If there weren’t then this book would’ve fallen into full-on drama or outright tragedy. But there is nothing light and fluffy about this book. It has weight to it. It has gravity to it. But that weight and gravity is there to serve a purpose, because this book deals with some rather complex issues, and it deals with them deftly and with a great deal of sensitivity. There is nothing in this book that feels like it was written without a great deal of thought given to it. Ms. Watson obviously took a great deal of time and care planning, researching, plotting, writing, and editing this novel, because in the end the whole thing just shines. 

I’m always interested in seeing how an author will approach writing about a topic such as autism or ADHD. Ms. Watson has one major character with autism and one minor character with ADHD in this book. The reason I care so much about this is because my older son has ADHD and my younger son has autism. And I must confess: the way in which Ms. Watson’s autistic character was written absolutely blew me away (and also made me cry at times, I won’t lie), because my son’s autism presented very similarly when he was younger (right down to similarly colored foods) and she handled the subject so well throughout the book I was a little choked up just by the fact that she made that effort. She did that work. She put in the time to write a realistic, wholly realized autistic character and didn’t then make him the center of the drama like so many other authors might be tempted to do. It was just so lovely that, as a mom of two special needs children, I want to thank Ms. Watson from the bottom of my very black heart. 

You guys, this book is fantastic. It has heart. It has a huge heart. It isn’t perfect. I think it could be trimmed up just a touch. I think the artistic references could be toned down just a little. But the writing is top-notch. The characters are endearing and realistic. The book has a voice and it has a lot to say. The cast is diverse and beautiful. Ms. Watson obviously has talent and I hope she keeps writing and writes more books like this, because I know I’d gladly read them!

Yi Yaw

Zoe Smolen

A brand new novel by bestselling author of Burning Moon, Jo Watson. A story of body-positivity and self-love, perfect for fans of Dumplin' and Leah On The Offbeat. Can you truly be yourself in a one-size-fits-all world? Lori Palmer is the new girl at Bay Water High, where students prize glossy hair, beach bodies, and school spirit above all else. She misses her old school-where her talent as an artist carried more weight than she does-and longs for her old family life, before her parents got divorced and her mom reinvented herself. Lori decides that the only way to survive the rest of the year is to blend into the background. But her plans go awry when she discovers that the most popular (and hottest) guy at Bay Water High, Jake, is a volunteer at her brother's school. When her brother befriends Jake's sister, Lori is suddenly thrust into his unfamiliar and exhilarating world of water polo, parties, and stargazing. But with her relationship with her mother deteriorating, old anxieties resurface and Lori finds a new artistic release that unknowingly ignites a powerful movement. When the authorities start asking questions, Lori realizes that finding her voice might have gotten her into a world of trouble...but sometimes standing up for what you believe in is as important as standing up for yourself.

Big Boned

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