Book Review: Big Bones by Laura Dockrill

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Content Warning: Mentions of food in detail and one scene that describes induced vomiting.

This was awesome! I was worried when I saw it had a plus-size main character, would it be focused on dieting and wanting to lose weight? How wrong I was to worry!

Bluebelle or BB to her friends in the fat positive (screw this thin person only 'body positive' bullshit) heroine that teen girls need! Even her thin younger sister Dove doesn't fit conventional feminine stereotypes of boys and make-up either. Instead she is a badass free-runner.

The side characters were an interesting bunch as well, Alicia was a nightmare, exactly the sort of person you don't want as a friend or boss. Max was a sweetheart. Dad seemed kind of useless but at least he was there for his daughters.

I loved that the book focused on the joys of food, both preparing and eating it. I thought the fact that it wasn't in traditional food diary format was a good thing. I feel like for a book about weight acceptance that the traditional format (e.g. breakfast - cereal etc) might be triggering for some people. I guess the mentions of food in general might be but at least it was pretty much all positive. There were maybe one or two foods that Bluebelle mentioned she didn't like but that was it. Oh the walkthrough on how to make yourself vomit in a childhood flashback was highly problematic in its detail.

Otherwise I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of numbers talk in general and Bluebelle's eventual gym attendance is for strength not, I repeat NOT weight loss. In fact on a return visit to the nurse at the end of the book Bluebelle is told she has lost weight and she replies that she doesn't care or that it doesn't matter, a scene that I absolutely love!

Laura's writing is fabulous though, it flows well, is beautifully descriptive - even foods I don't like/haven't tried I wanted to - and so so funny! Be careful reading the post Shepherd's Pie scene in a public places, you'll probably laugh out loud, it certainly had me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

5/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

OMG this book! So current, so important, so so needed! I was just constantly going "Yes! This!" throughout. I have never read a book that hits the mark so completely and it was just brilliant and incredible!

I loved the characters, Izzy is fantastically written, as is Ajita. I even liked Danny - at the start - Laura's characterisation is that good! Carson was sweet, Grandma Betty was awesome and I would have loved to have seen more of Meg, she seemed lovely. I loved the flow of the story and the way everything develops, it all felt so real!

This book seriously needs to be a must read in schools, the discussions around consent, slut-shaming, the friend-zone, double standards, revenge porn and race (mainly regarding Ajita) are so important to have.

5/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Thoughts on 'Lady'

So my job is a retail assistant which means I get called a lady quite a lot e.g. mothers to their kids "give your toy to the lady" and for some reason it makes me feel uncomfortable.

I am a cis woman - for those who don't know cis or cisgender is when a person identifies with the sex they were born, I was born female and I identify as female. Someone who doesn't may be Trans*, Genderqueer, Agender or any other variation. At least I 99% identify as cis, some days I feel a bit more masculine or fluid but on the whole I am woman hear me roar (but not really because roaring in public sounds terrifying).

I think part of the problem is that I feel too young to be a lady, the usual term is old lady. It's also to fancy. It also to me sounds a little sexist and condescending i.e. "hey, little lady" usually said by some vaguely pervy looking geezer in old movies.

One way to get round this is for people to use my name but I HATE that because the ones who do use it are always way too familiar and "do I know you?" about it.

I have the same akwardness around pet names. Babe - never, Love - depends who it is and how it's said, Hun - maybe from young females it sounds more matey then, Pet - quite sweet especially from older people.

So in summary I don't much like being called a lady but I don't have much clue as to any alternatives.

P.S. Book reviews may be becoming more regular as I seem to have a format that works. I probably won't review every book I read as it will rather overwhelm this blog.