Title: Skinny
Author: Donna Cooner
Release Date: October 1, 2012
Source: ARC from BEA
Find your voice.
Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.
But there is another voice: Ever’s singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical—and partly to try and save her own life—Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.
With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.
Nancy’s Review:
I was excited to read this book because it was a completely new concept in a YA book. I had never heard of another book where the main character undergoes Gastric Bypass surgery. It was a much more serious subject than the usual type of YA books that I read. I remember the line that I waited in to get this book from the author at the Book Expo America, so I figured I might as well read it.
I thought it was going to be so much better than it was. In fact, it took me a long, long time to finish this book because I wasn’t really into it. It was sort of slow and nothing really big was happening. Once Ever, the main character, got the surgery it didn’t get much better. She was very superficial and selfish. The author briefly touched upon the issues that led to Ever becoming obese, but I thought that there would have been more of a focus on it. There wasn’t. Ever spent most of her time complaining about the boy she couldn’t get, her friends, and her step-sisters. As I said, it wasn’t as good as I thought it could be.
Though she managed to lose a large amount of weight and she got everything she wanted in the end, I still felt that Ever had unresolved past issues that were never really dealt with. Skinny would have seemed much more personal and “deep” if these things had been discussed. In the end it ended up being (as I said) superficial and very similar to every other high school story out there.
Great review! My kids and husband and I like to read the same books; it’s like our very own little book club. We just finished reading a great book called “The Gilded Butterfly” by Sergei Selivanov. You can check out the book and get it right off the website, http://thegildedbutterflypage.com/index.html. I’ll have to suggest this one to my family. Thanks for the post and the suggestion!
I agree with you. The book didn’t really attempt to understand her issues. I was also really disappointed how easy it seemed for her family and doctor to let her do this. Shouldn’t they have attempted to resolve the issues she has BEFORE doing that kind of surgery? It was a little disappointing. Great review.
Em @ A Beautiful Madness
Em recently posted..Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa
Hi Em, I’m glad you agree! I wasn’t sure if other people would feel the same way. Like you said, they should have tried to resolve all her problems not just decide to open her up like that. Eh… it wasn’t great.
I have this one and I was hoping to pick it up soon. I heard some great reviews of it but also some meh reviews. I’m intrigued so I’ll still read it but thanks for your honest thoughts!
Jamie recently posted..Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil
I’m glad you liked my review! Thanks! I feel like it’s one of those books that aren’t really bad, but I felt that there was more missing. You might actually really like it. Like you said, it has had mixed reviews.
I’m glad I read this review before purchasing the book. I would have really been looking for the same things from it that you were — a deeper understanding of the mc’s problems. And the fact that she couldn’t get what she wanted without resorting to a drastic (and, let’s face it, dangerous) surgery…well, what message is that sending readers? Do anything you can to be beautiful? Take the easy way out?
Thanks for reviewing.
Cassie B. recently posted..Adults Reading YA Fiction — What It’s Not
Hi Cassie! I was disappointed by the book because of exactly what you said. It’s sending a bad message to the readers, especially because this book is marketed towards teen girls. It just didn’t sit well with me. It wasn’t that the book was completely bad, just its “message”. Thanks for reading the review (and commenting).