Book Reviews : Narratives with curvy protagonists.

This list has the coolest female protagonists line up. An anorexia survivor turned curve model, the former fattest teenager in America fighting back against bullies, a beauty queen trying to show every body is a swimsuit body and a curvy Slytherin bisexual. A group of ladies who are all about body positivity and not letting the opinions of others get in their way. 

1. Misfit by Charli Howard.

My first memoir in years and it was honest, raw and beautiful. Charli Howard is a misfit. She does not always fit in and goes to drastic lengths to achieve her dream of being a model. Charli develops an eating disorder while attempting to toe the line of her modelling agency and their unrealistic view of what a model’s body should look like. Charli is a rebel and a warrior. Every single time I see her pop up on my  Instagram I feel better knowing there are people like her to support survivors and fight for change. Charli wrote a viral post on social media calling out the fashion world for all the pain and hurt it has caused many people. In doing so she became part of a movement to ensure more diversity in modelling. She is every bit a hero and a misfit. 

Charli may still be young but her life journey is gripping. Our life journeys have been similar. I worried that reading her memoir would cause me pain as I would be forced to face my difficult past. I didn’t want to remember what it felt like to wake up in a hospital too sick to move or even that nervous, excited feeling before walking out onto a runway. I didn’t even want to have admit publicly that I still remember the kind nurse who sat with me and told me I would be okay, or the runway director who got really excited I fit into a size 4 dress no other model could. Reading this book I realised I was not alone and my experiences are all too common. I am so glad I picked up this book even though I hesitated because it brought me comfort and made me realise that remembering is okay. 

2. Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven. 

I fell in love with Libby. I wish I knew her when I was 11 years old. I wish I knew her last year or the year before. My adolescence would have been easier if I would have had a fictional friend like Libby. Libby was once the ‘Fattest Teen in America’. Neighbours looked on with curiosity as first responders swarmed Libby’s house as she was rescued by a crane airlifting her from her home due to being too large to leave her bed. Libby is living with the grief of losing her mother and working hard to be okay. Libby decides she has had enough of everyone staring at her so she constructs a brilliant plan that involves a brilliant outfit to call out her ‘haters’. 

Jack has prosopagnosia, which means he cannot recognise faces. Jack can’t even recognise the faces of his family. Jack attempts to remember identifying characteristics of the regular characters in his life. The issue here is he can’t tell the difference between two people who are similar. He would not be able to tell the difference between me to another girl with long, messy, Hermione Granger hair. Jack is trying to keep his prosopagnosia a secret and refuses to seek medical help to receive an official diagnosis. One day Jack decides to do something terrible to fit in at his school. I mean something REALLY terrible. Jack decides to make up for the terrible thing he does by befriending Libby. 

The story of Jack and Libby was unique and I wish I picked it up years ago. I hesitated reading this novel because of how much I loved Jennifer Niven’s pervious novel All The Bright Places. There are times you don’t want to pick up another work of an author because you don’t want to be disappointed. I was not disappointed here. Both novels are beautiful and unique and most importantly… the characters were brilliant. 

3. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli.

This is the sequel to one of my most favourite books of all time - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. This book follows the journey of Simon’s best friend Leah. Unlike the other books in this list, the protagonist’s body is not a major aspect of this novel. Leah is comfortable with her full figure and does not care what anyone else thinks. Leah is blunt, sarcastic and cool. Leah is not ready to come out of the closet despite the fact her best friend is gay. Leah has always known she was attracted towards both girls and boys but when she falls in love with the one person she probably shouldn’t, she doesn’t know how to accept her feelings.

Leah is a proud Slytherin while Simon is a Hufflepuff. Their house loyalty shows through their personalities. Leah being so cold towards people in her life meant I found her difficult to like. It soon becomes apparent that Leah believes she needs to protect herself from getting hurt. This novel is primary a story of sexuality and life in transition. Leah is beautiful and I really enjoyed the aspect that body positivity is not something that she struggled with to great lengths. Of course everyone has days where they feel like their body is not enough and it takes time to learn how to be comfortable but Leah has mastered this. In the movie Love Simon, Simon tells Leah that she is the coolest person and he was not wrong. Once you get to know Simon, get to know his best friend. 

4. Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. 

Tiaras, glitter and Dolly Parton! Willowdean Dickson hates beauty pageants on the account her mother is a former beauty queen and current president of the biggest teenage beauty pageant in Texas. Willowdean knows her mother would never consider her for the pageant because she does not have the ‘perfect’ swimsuit body. Willowdean decides that any body can be a swimsuit body and enters the pageant in protest. Soon a group of unlikely suspects join her to take over the pageant with a little help from some glamorous drag queens and Dolly Parton tunes. 

This is a Texas tale filled with big hair and big heart. Once you finish the book make sure you watch the excellent movie on Netflix. Jennifer Aniston was born to play a sassy beauty queen. At first I was rolling my eyes at all the country slang but maybe that is because I’m a farm girl myself. I soon started loving everything about this book and I wanted to travel back to Texas. This book is a cute, light-hearted read that is filled with love and body positivity. Seeing all the girls who are usually forced into the background in tales become the shining stars was spectacular. My favourite character by far was Millie so good news the sequel Puddin’ tells her tale! I have already ordered the book and I’m going to sit by the window till my parcel arrives.