I... have a lot of hot takes to unpack here.

The big one is this: I think that there are books about marginalized people (in this case, fat people) that are for that community and books that aren't. I've talked about this before with regards to books with queer characters who are outed and then have bad things happen to them because of it: these, to me, feel like LGBTQ books that are for straight people. They teach compassion and help those who might come from a less diverse environment to broaden their experience. But for me, as a queer person who lives that fear of coming out to family members and facing those repercussions, its not something I ever want to read about.

This book felt like a book about a fat woman that wasn't written for fat people (at least for most of it). There are endless fatphobic monologues, too many scenes of Bea being made to feel repulsive, and just overall so much fatphobia across the board that I really struggled to enjoy this book - too much of it is (like the above example) the same stuff I've been hearing my entire life, the same fears I face every single day. I don't want to read about my actual struggles as escapism, and I've seen other reviewers say similar things about this book.

There's nothing inherently wrong about this phenomenon and nothing inherently wrong about this book -- just like with my "queer books for straight people" theory, I think there's value in books like this, particularly for thin people, and I don't think that every book has to be written with my enjoyment or comfort in mind. I would just far rather read a book about a fat woman who is loved than one who is insulted.

(I also want to note that this isn't the entire book, there are plenty of moments where Bea stands up for herself or where she is loved and desired and validated. The ratio was just skewed so much that it didn't matter so much for me)