Rating: 
Summary: Too good to be true
Review: This book is probably Oprah Winfreys autobiography. Great start but awful finish, the chacter goes from toad to princess. Its a nice read and I was able to relate to the main character at the begining but I became disinterested by the end.
Rating: 
Summary: I threw it out after reading it!
Review: I found this book to be very insulting to larger sized women. I bought it because it seemed like it would be light hearted and uplifting. NOPE! I hated it, I hated the assumptions it made about being over weight and I hated the condescending tone used throughout. A definate must not read!
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: When I picked this book up I didn't want to really read another Bridget Jones wannabe. Neither did I want to be depressed by the hard luck story of a misunderstood fat girl. This book was neither of these. The story was light, original, and more than a little bit inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: good, easy, beach reading
Review: The book is good for reading on the beach or the plane or any place else that you can enjoy mindless brain candy. The book is a pleasant story, with some unexpected turns, but pretty much the standard Bridget Jones' Diary wannabe, albeit better than most of the others. For example, this book was much better than Animal Husbandry and more pleasant (although maybe not better written) than The Girl's Guide to Fishing and Hunting.In some ways, the book had some confusing stylistic methods (swapping in and out of narrative quite erratically) and objectionable messages (extreme dieting, dependence on handsome boyfriend, etc.) The thing is, we don't read these books to reach some sort of mental nirvana or even to model our lives after these girls. We want to sympathize with someone that we can relate to on some level or another. A lot of women out there project these uber-women, jiggling perfect career, wardrobe and social life. In our downtime, we can enjoy sitting back and reading about the clueless mess in a book that we feel like behind the facade. I recommend kicking back with this book on a beach or on a rainy Sunday with a nice big comforter and a pot of cocoa. Oh so stereotypical, eh?
Rating:
Summary: Slow, but had it's moments...
Review: I was recommended this book by a friend of mine, and thought it to be quite funny at times, yet slow to read. Here's a clue to all the women who found it offensive to heavier women: a size 10 in the UK is like a size 14 in the US.
Rating: 
Summary: Conflicting messages
Review: Just finished reading Jemima J, by Jane Green, and wow this book gives a bunch of conflicting messages. Jemima is overweight, and this issue has really ruined her self-esteem. She writes a column for an English paper, and the editor won't promote her. She's in love with Ben, who also works on the paper, and is drop dead gorgeous. Eventually, Jemima gets entangled in an Internet relationship, with perfect Brad in California, and suddenly she is faced with making herself into the woman she has presented herself to be. Jemima, who now goes by JJ, drops 80+ pounds with seemingly little effort. Yes she goes to the gym, but really there is no struggle. Bam, the weight comes off and she's gorgeous and instantly as snotty as the people she once hated when she was overweight. (And none of the "beautiful" people in this novel are really beautiful; they're all idiots.) She tries to befriend the overweight woman who is Brad's personal assistant, but why? Yes she used to look like her, but I got no impression that JJ really cared to make a connection with this person. The book ends with a twist that, according to the back cover, no reader will see coming. Well, this reader rolled her eyes and nearly tossed the book across the room. I can't say I fully liked this one, so I won't. :)
Rating:
Summary: 373 pages of rubbish
Review: i picked up this book based on some of the amazon reviews. i was expecting a funny, brit-wit kind of read. this book feeds into the theory that if you starve yourself, dye your hair blonde and buy trendy clothes, men will want to date you. i tried to be neutral about it, but even when Jemima gets down to 120 lbs, she is still as insecure as when she was overweight. and the male characters don't do anything to win over our favors. don't waste the money on this rubbish.
Rating:
Summary: Bloody disappointed
Review: From the cover and the summary on the back of the book, I thought this might be a fun read. Instead I thought it had a very contradictory message and I walked away dissatisfied. I agree with the other reviewers that don't understand how a size 10 can be volumptous or how 5'7 and 217 is grossly unattractive. Why was Jemima so repulsed with Brad and the type of women he was attracted to when she was one of them only months earlier? Why wasn't the point of her hardly eating and exercising obsessively treated so lightly? It leaves us with the message that all your dreams can come true if your're thin. It is obvious that the author just doesn't get it.
Rating:
Summary: Not so good
Review: I thought this book was kind of an insult to larger women. Obviously the author is not one, and it showed. The ending said Jemima is now a size 10, a voluptuous woman. Since when is size 10 considered voluptuous?
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy book, but not a very good one
Review: I picked this book up at the bookstore I was working at because the description made me believe the book would be fun and would maybe make me laugh a little. However, after a few chapters I realized that it was written one step up from how a Sweet Valley High or Babysitters Club book are written. It was extremely dumbed down it seemed. One example of what I mean is that there was no sublety with the character. She was presented and the author then felt it necessary to descibe every single thing about her throughout the book. I also could not identify with Jemima very well. Although I know that a lot of women do not have very high self esteems (and it is no wonder with all of the images we see everyday) I don't think it is very refreshing to read a story with a character who only feels happy once she has lost all of her weight. The general sense of feeling I got was that I was reading a VERY long and drawn out story straight out of Cosmopolitan. The only thing I liked about the story was that the character had the guts to decide to do something that she wanted and then did it (even though i would have preferred to read a long story about a woman who has to decided to love the way she is and stick with it). All in all, I'd genuinely say that those of you who loved this story should pick up a copy of Women That Run With Wolves: The Wild Woman Archetype. It is a much more satisfying book (although not fictional) that may help you to see why you are beautiful no matter what your size.
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