Diana Spechler

I read this after reading Roxane Gay's compelling essay about this book and the tortures we Western women inflict on ourselves around body image. Of note, I'm interested in something she identifies about novelists of realistic fiction: how much we trust them based on who they are.

For instance, after reading Skinny, Gay says that she googled the author to find out whether she were a fat woman. Gay notes that when she found out that the author is thin and seems to have always been thin, she trusted her less. I don't think it's this alone -- the author also seems to believe that her character being 30 pounds overweight constitutes "fat" which I'd argue it doesn't. Gay believes this is because that's fattest the character could be before ceasing to be likable to a broad readership. Sad, if true.

To me, the greater crime is that the author thinks being 30 pounds overweight is some sort of extreme situation. Perhaps this is because she has never been fat, but I think it's likelier that her imagination failed. This to me is the greater novelist's crime. This novel was fine, but it could have been better.… (más)

This book was picked by my Chick Lit Readers group. I'm not alone in saying I found it very disappointing. The cover and blurb made it sound very interesting, but in the end... The plot wasn't one, the main character was an unlikeable, self-absorbed bitch who really didn't seem to grow or learn anything throughout the course of the novel.

Gray signs up to be a fat camp counselor because she wants to get close to a girl she thinks is her half-sister, then pretty much ignores this troubled teen so she can bang the camp phys ed instructor. Despite having a boyfriend at home.

The closest thing to a likeable character is Bennett, the hot and studly phys ed instructor, but even as Gray is in his bed, he is reinforcing her eating disorders by complimenting her on her own weight loss, which she achieves basically by starving herself. Spechler does an excellent job of portraying the sensual feel of binging, and the high of starving oneself, but she doesn't model any good eating and exercise behaviors of anyone in this book. Most of the characters, from the sleazy, unqualified camp founder (really, would any parent drop $11k to send their kid to fat camp for 8 weeks where NOBODY was credentialed in any way?) to the kids themselves, were portrayed in an unflattering light. There's supposed to be a big mystery about the death of Gray's father, but in the end, the pay-off just felt... weak and rushed.

I hate to bag on any author - writing a book is hard, hard work. This is not the worst book I have ever read. But, if you have issues centered around body-image, binging, anorexia, or other eating disorders, this book will neither help you learn new ways of dealing with life, nor help you feel better about yourself.… (más)

Ellie - the mother, Bits - the daughter and Ash - the son narrate their lives chapter by chapter for the duration of almost a year and a half. Could their lives be reflecting the anguish and blame they feel about the kidnapping of their daughter/younger sister thirteen years ago?

I just don't get it. This book is rated a 5/5 with 40 reviews on Amazon. There are only 4 that rated it something other than a 5. Well . . . I'm standing with the lonely 4. I actually struggled reading approximately 75% of the book! It seemed like everything that happened was to the extreme, and I didn't like any of the characters. Then when I thought something good happened - I was way off base. ??? Grrr - another book bites the dust.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy… (más)

I think I'd give this novel 3.5 stars if I could. It was an interesting read, and I definitely was interested in seeing how the story unfolded, but there were a few times I found certain parts slow as well. I thought the author did a great job of giving each of the three narrators a distinct voice and showing how each reacted to the same family tragedy in a very different way. This is also a good book for people interested in understanding Orthodox Jews and how they perceive the world -- I see why Orthodox Judaism is so appealing to Asher int he book. All three characters definitely evolve throughout the novel, and there is a very interesting twist which I didn't see coming.… (más)