Skinny by Diana Spechler
Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 2011)
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Formats Available: Paperback, Kindle
Format Read: Paperback
Synopsis from Goodreads: After her father’s death, twenty-six-year-old Gray Lachmann finds herself compulsively eating. Desperate to stop bingeing, she abandons her life in New York City for a job at a southern weight-loss camp. There, caught among the warring egos of her devious co-counselor, Sheena; the self-aggrandizing camp director, Lewis; his attractive assistant, Bennett; and a throng of combative teenage campers, she is confronted by a captivating mystery: her teenage half-sister, Eden, whom Gray never knew existed. Now, while unraveling her father’s lies, Gray must tackle her own self-deceptions and take control of her body and her life.
Visceral, poignant, and often wickedly funny, Skinny illuminates a young woman’s struggle to make sense of the link between hunger and emotion, and to make peace with her demons, her body, and herself.
My thoughts: I really struggled with this book for a variety of reasons. I am a very character driven reader. If I can’t identify with a character then I struggle to enjoy a story. I never would have guessed that this would be a problem for me with Skinny. So many of us can relate to a character who is a bit heavier than she’d like, but Gray was different. Gray is not a woman who does things half way. When she’s in, she’s in all the way, although I don’t think that she really recognizes it about herself. This is a character attribute that is both a blessing and a curse for Gray. It leads her into successes and failures alike.
The things that I liked about this book:
- It acknowledges body issues in both genders.
- It embraces the need for community and support for successful weight loss.
- Gray was fiercely independent.
- Highlighted some of the realities of the struggle with weight. (Binge/purge cycle and starvation)
The things that I didn’t care for:
- The story skips around a bit and is occasionally difficult to follow (although I do acknowledge that this could be an attention issue)
- Gray’s negativity toward herself and the people she was supposed to be helping.
- The resolution felt a bit rushed to me.
- Didn’t meet my expectations: the cover had me expecting a story with friendships and the synopsis had me expecting a bit more humor. It also wasn’t so much about weight loss as it was about coping with loss.
- Would have liked a bit more exploration of obsessions.
Well, there you have it. I hope that I haven’t given away too much of the story. Despite my not caring too much for it, this was a pretty quick read. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it? With self image in young people such an important topic, how do you think it should be handled?
Teresa’s Reading Corner was the last stop on this tour. Take a moment to visit some of the other blogs to see what they thought.
Friday, April 29th: Amused By Books
Saturday, April 30th: For the love of books
Monday, May 2nd: Tina’s Book Reviews
Wednesday, May 4th: The Book Chick
Tuesday, May 10th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Monday, May 16th: Novel Whore
Tuesday, May 17th: Reading Through Life
Wednesday, May 18th: In the Next Room
Thursday, May 19th: BookNAround
Friday, May 20th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, May 25th: Bookfoolery and Babble
Thursday, May 26th: girlichef
Friday, May 27th: Colloquium
Tuesday, May 31st: StephTheBookworm
Thursday, June 2nd: As I turn the pages
© 2011, Teresa. All rights reserved.
I’m sorry this one wasn’t what you were hoping it would be, but thanks for being on the tour.
Thank you for including me in the tour. I truly thought I would like it much more than I did. It is always enlightening to me when I reflect back on why I reacted to a book the way I did.
There was be something in the air as quite a few reviewers have been struggling with writing reviews (myself included) lately.
I hope we find the cure soon!
I read your thoughts here with great interest. I had the exact opposite reaction. I loved the book. I thought it was hilarious, but the humor was off beat. I really felt like she was a kindred spirit. I can’t say that I have such a negative outlook on other heavy people, but it is something I’m keenly aware of.
I appreciate your point of view. I hadn’t thought about the cover before, but you’re right. Not completely fitting with the book. Thanks for writing this review. I enjoy reading other people’s thoughts about books I loved.
Usually I “get” off beat humor, so maybe it wasn’t the right time for me to read it. It is so interesting to me how the timing of a book affects my reaction to it. So glad that you enjoyed it and can give a different perspective.
This one didn’t work for me either. I just couldn’t get into Grey’s head!
This was certainly a problem!