Book Review: This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous by Nina Beck

Riley Swain is a Manhattan rich kid full of self confidence and snark. But while her friends spend break on the senior trip to Mexico, Riley’s being sent by her father and step-monster to an upstate fat camp. Obviously she doesn’t want to go – if she’s comfortable with her full-bodied curves, then why can’t everyone else be?

Before you dismiss this as yet another novel preaching the old mantra of loving yourself the way you are – too thin, too fat, too whatever – consider that Riley is one of the coolest characters I’ve come across in YA lit AND she has a romance at camp (with the headmistress’ son Eric no less) that is so authentically sweet it made me positively giddy (and trust me, that doesn’t happen often).

Riley is a bit self-involved and queen bee bitchy at the start of the novel and her Manhattan frenemies are varying degrees of annoying, but while camp may or may not slim her waistline, it certainly does give her time to develop real relationships with her mousy roommate Samantha and the aforementioned Eric as well as a big heart.

Not only did I have fun reading this book, I had a big old goofy smile on my face at the end. Go Riley!

This Book isn’t Fat, It’s Fabulous is out now in hardcover.