Rating: 
Summary: Was it that bad?
Review: There have been some very damning reviews of this book - and also a lot of praise. If it's fluff fiction you want to read, fine, but for anyone with even a hint of feminist ideals, you will want to throw the book against the wall. The narration tries to convince you otherwise, but the actions of Jemima and her love interest prove them to be two of the most boring, shallow and self absorbed characters ever written. Fat Jemima is wimpy, a door mat and blames everything on her weight. I felt her lack of personality was more of the issue, but hey, it's fluff fiction, right? Thin Jemima is supposed to be all radiant and gorgeous and have this inner core of strength, but all her problems are fixed by her friends so I really don't see her having improved much on the personal front. And the love interest.... seriously, he sucks. As long as the girl is pretty, mainstream and literate enough to buy books, he's interested. Ethics, morals, personality - none of these things are considered for any character's relationship. Another of the main points of contention is the 'fat issue'. I think what the author intends to get across is that no matter your appearance, you "(discover) that life is full of as many disappointments as there were before". (p388) And while that might be a noble sentiment, the sad reality is that in this book, the love interest only becomes interested when the girl is thin. Ironically, the only person who falls in love regardless of weight is the 'bad guy' which can leave you feeling sorrier for him than the apparently wronged heroine. Oh, and on a side note, yes, Jemima could have lost that weight within that short a time. HOWEVER, that whole shining-with-health thing doesn't happen when your body is that malnourished. And don't even get me started on the comments that you can't combine carbohydrates with protein.... Ultimately I found this book confusing, not because of the writing style that switches between first and third person, but because it felt like the author was trying to get some positive messages across, but to me, they all fell flat. If it hadn't been then genre that it is, I would have suspected the story and characters to be totally farcical. Simply the writer, who despite having great technical skills, didn't apply the sensitivity and depth that such a story needed to make it really worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed it!
Review: Although many didn't care for this, I found it a quick read and enjoyed it. As a plus size, I thought the topic of being over-weight and the low self esteem that can go with it was well handled.
Rating:
Summary: Jemima's world
Review: It was raw, gratuitous, over-the-top, unrealistic, and escapist. . . . .It totally rocked. So it's not Shakespeare, but the narrative structure was fascinating, the plot premise unoriginal, but where it went was more creative, and who doesn't like to see an "ugly" girl get pretty? Even if you're not an ugly girl, doesn't the thought of making those annoying roommates jealous grab you just the teensiest bit? Thought so. Anyway, I'm neither a Mimey or a JJ, but I can still relate. Give it a shot. May not be Tolstoy, but hey, take a break from the classics and read something purely for fun. Go on, I dare ya. . .
Rating: 
Summary: Reading inbetween the lines
Review: I am a fat teenager. I dont think I am pathetic I just hate the way I look just as much as jamima did. I don't go to the extent of cutting out magazine pictures or binging. But honestly I dont really like what i look like. The book for me wasnt about sex, because in the small community I live in you have to be skinny to have a guy even look at you. So it was a fairy tale for me, to be able to have a woman decide to better herself and get the guy of her dreams. Which for me, I've liked for 4 years, so a girl can dream can she. So If im the only fat girl who didnt take offence to the book, its fine with me but it seems to me the fat girl won in the chace for brad. Who would have thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time or money!
Review: People that are Jemima J's size do not have the problems that Jane Green described. They can fit through doorways, and sit comfortably in normal chairs without breaking them. I used to be 20 pounds lighter and considerably shorter than Jemima J - so my body would have been at least as big as hers. I never had any of those problems. It's clear that Jane Green does not have experience with being fat - Jemima J would have to be much, much larger to have the physical problems described in the book. And let's not get into the horrible stereotyping. Fat = pathetic, in Green's eyes. Oh, please. Fat people are capable of having social lives. I was active sexually at the height of my weight. In Green's world, this would mean that I was either allowing men to use me in degrading, humiliating ways because I was desperately seeking approval, or that I was with fat fetishists. This is patently untrue. Besides the fact that her description of fat people is completely unrealistic, the plot is very weak. The climax? Boring and contrived. Better writing might have made the prejudices easier to take, but a poorly written, insulting novel? Don't waste your time or money. Fat women, don't waste your time. It will make you feel bad. Skinny women, don't waste your time. This is not how fat people live, think, or act. Men, don't waste your time. It insults men too. If you absolutely have to read this book, please check it out of the library. Don't give her any of your money. Read anything instead.
Rating:
Summary: Just what the world needs....
Review: Something else to tell women that fat = horrible lonely person and skinny = beautiful wonderful person. Sheesh... Isn't there enough self-loathing brought on by the rest of the pop-media? Women of any weight and age don't need such a petty narrow-minded mirror to hold up to themselves. I would give it 0 stars if I could. And its not even well written, to boot... or should I say boot-cut jean?
Rating:
Summary: I can't give it zero stars?
Review: What a sickening book. It offers up nothing but generalizations about anything and everything. ALL Californians are gorgeous. ALL fat people are desperate and slobbering fools who love bacon sandwiches and just can't control themselves. ALL fat people going on a diet will spiral out of control and become anorexic because they are SO desperate to be thin and beautiful and have attention and have a perfect life, just like the other skinny girls. NO men pay attention to fat girls. ALL fat girls are forced to lose their virginity in demoralizing manners because no man in his right mind would be in a loving relationship with a fat girl. And on, and on... The worst part is I can't believe I actually finished this tripe. I need a bucket of bleach for my brain. Thank god the friend I loaned it to had better sense than I and declined to read it. How's this for a generalization?: ALL of Jane Green's books suck and blow.
Rating:
Summary: Heed the warnings!
Review: The warnings are so true. I couldn't believe this book. By page 2 I was nauseous with hate and loathing. Those of you who have not yet ventured here, heed the warnings! For the record, I'm an inch taller and 30 pounds heavier than Jemima. I've been heavy since age 9, and have never been "skinny". I'm also happily married for 10 years to a handsome, wonderful man, I'm sexually active, and I fit easily into normal chairs (even the economy class seats in airplanes!). I wear nice clothes, take yoga classes and eat what I like when I like it. I've a lot of skinny friends who don't have lives as happy as mine. Losing weight doesn't instantly create a happy life. It's great if that's what you want, but, oh please, not THIS. If you don't have happiness before losing weight, you won't find it afterwards. There's more to it than that. I'm shuddering with loathing for this book and anger for the poison it contains. This doesn't present the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a mean spirited, cruel, torturing read that should be thrown against the wall repeatedly and with enthusiasm. I only hope that the author didn't really mean it. Sadly, I suspect that she, like so many people, really think that's what life is like for any person of size.
Rating:
Summary: Oh for a a zero-star option!
Review: Out of boredom or desperation, I picked up this heinous "romantic romp" of a "novel," and I rue the day I did. The book is not only offensive -- as many past reviewers have noted, with its self-loathing "lovable" heroine who is pretty much depicted as The Fattest Girl of All Time, and thus unworthy of love and success -- but intellectually lazy and bland. The author could not be troubled to come up with a better plot than "lose weight, get a man," her prose style is as unexciting and dull as her characters, and the total effect is something akin to a sharp stick to the eye. Comparing this book to the others in the so-called "chicklit" genre, it becomes obvious that the form, while it has real constraints, does offer opportunity to create likable protagonists and zippy prose. (The success of the Bridget Jones books was not mysterious -- they were fun books with a protagonist whose flaws and merits went beyond her dress size, and the narrative voice was energetic and full of humor.) However, Jane Green is not among those who can succeed in either vein. This book is spectacularly devoid of any merit in terms of content -- though I will grant that I think the cover art for the paperback is well-framed and stylish. If you hate women, if you make air-quotes around the word "feminist," if you are a woman who reads "Maxim" magazine, or if you just completely lack any sort of ability to read discriminatingly and will pick up whatever mindless pap darkens the post-Harlequinn Romance publishing world's door, this book is for you. For those of us who have an ounce of self-respect, who care about quality of writing, and who are comfortable wearing a size 8 (or 10 or 12 or 14 or what the heck ever) *and* knowing your man or lady likes you that way, KEEP FAR AWAY from this trite literary homage to the days where women were viewed as decorative throw pillows. This book redefines "abysmal."
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe this book sold even 1 copy - to me!
Review: Other women I know liked this book. We are no longer friends.
I, in fact, was sucked in my the "chick lit" friendly cover, thinking I was about to read something of the caliber of Laurie Notaro or Amy Sohn. I was sorely wrong. It was awful, horrible, disgusting. The worst piece of trash I've read EVER. The only reason why I read about 60% of the stupid book is because I would toss it away in disgust, follow it up with disbelief, which led me to pick the freaking thing up again, read more, then repeat the process all over again. What I have left is a worthless, terribly battered copy of this book and an extremely bad taste in my mouth.
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