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Looks
An unforgettable debut novel about the way we look at others, and the way we see ourselves.
Meghan Ball is both the most visible and the most invisible person in school. Her massive size is impossible to ignore, yet people freely spill their secrets in front of her, perhaps because they think she isn't listening. But she is. Now her attention has turned to a new girl: Aimee Zorn, with her stick-figure body and defiant attitude. Meghan is determined to befriend Aimee, and when she ultimately succeeds, the two join forces to take down their shared enemy.
This provocative story explores the ways in which girls use food and their bodies to say what they cannot: I'm lonely.
Meghan Ball is both the most visible and the most invisible person in school. Her massive size is impossible to ignore, yet people freely spill their secrets in front of her, perhaps because they think she isn't listening. But she is. Now her attention has turned to a new girl: Aimee Zorn, with her stick-figure body and defiant attitude. Meghan is determined to befriend Aimee, and when she ultimately succeeds, the two join forces to take down their shared enemy.
This provocative story explores the ways in which girls use food and their bodies to say what they cannot: I'm lonely.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published June 12, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
June 7, 2008
I've tried to write a professional and captivating review for this book for the last 10 minutes, but I'm just too excited about it to sit still and get it all out properly. Let me just summarize with bullet points:
- one girl is obese, and one girl is tiny, yet there is no mention of dieting or counseling and no attempt to "fix" the girls in any way, shape, or form
- there is no clear beginning or end, and the plot is a building block, not scaffolding
- the language is poetic without overreaching, and realistic when you least expect it (the author is a playwright, I'm not surprised to learn)
- I would feel good recommending this to an 8 year old and an 80 year old
- best YA book I've read in ages, really
Enough of this review, just go grab it (publishes in mid-June) and read it for yourself!
- one girl is obese, and one girl is tiny, yet there is no mention of dieting or counseling and no attempt to "fix" the girls in any way, shape, or form
- there is no clear beginning or end, and the plot is a building block, not scaffolding
- the language is poetic without overreaching, and realistic when you least expect it (the author is a playwright, I'm not surprised to learn)
- I would feel good recommending this to an 8 year old and an 80 year old
- best YA book I've read in ages, really
Enough of this review, just go grab it (publishes in mid-June) and read it for yourself!
November 10, 2012
Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com
Meghan is obese. She is the largest person at Valley Regional High and her hulking size, oddly enough, allows her to blend into the background. Most people are too uncomfortable to make eye contact and most teachers are content to allow her to remain silent during class discussions. Meghan doesn't have any friends, but she knows a lot about everyone at school.
Aimee is reed thin. Her list of foods that give her a "bad reaction" grows every day. About the only things she allows herself to eat are Jell-o and carrot sticks. Her big, floppy hats and black, long skirts make her all but invisible in the school's halls. Invisible to everyone except Meghan, that is...
Meghan feels the need to connect with Aimee. She begins to follow Aimee in order to try and find an excuse to talk to her, but it isn't until Aimee is betrayed and she and Meghan share a common enemy that they team up for a little payback.
LOOKS deals with many issues - eating disorders, friendship, bullying, and high school dynamics are the most evident. George's unique writing style in the first and last chapters give the reader a voyeuristic feeling and, at times, the lyrical and figurative language tricks the reader into thinking they are reading an extended poem rather than a work of prose.
While the author doesn't wrap the story up in the traditional way of most young adult novels, it is definitely an accurate picture of the atmosphere in a typical high school.
Meghan is obese. She is the largest person at Valley Regional High and her hulking size, oddly enough, allows her to blend into the background. Most people are too uncomfortable to make eye contact and most teachers are content to allow her to remain silent during class discussions. Meghan doesn't have any friends, but she knows a lot about everyone at school.
Aimee is reed thin. Her list of foods that give her a "bad reaction" grows every day. About the only things she allows herself to eat are Jell-o and carrot sticks. Her big, floppy hats and black, long skirts make her all but invisible in the school's halls. Invisible to everyone except Meghan, that is...
Meghan feels the need to connect with Aimee. She begins to follow Aimee in order to try and find an excuse to talk to her, but it isn't until Aimee is betrayed and she and Meghan share a common enemy that they team up for a little payback.
LOOKS deals with many issues - eating disorders, friendship, bullying, and high school dynamics are the most evident. George's unique writing style in the first and last chapters give the reader a voyeuristic feeling and, at times, the lyrical and figurative language tricks the reader into thinking they are reading an extended poem rather than a work of prose.
While the author doesn't wrap the story up in the traditional way of most young adult novels, it is definitely an accurate picture of the atmosphere in a typical high school.
February 24, 2010
This book didn't seem very captivating, and yet it caused me to keep reading even in the dead of night. This wans't like a typical YA book that is based on the themes of love, friendship or things like that. This book is about revenge and betrayal and all the bad things that no one really has the courage to write about most of the time.
Looks is about two people who are basically regected from the social circle in school. These two people have one thing in common though and that is conducting revenge on the girl who ruin their lives by taking away something that was most precious to each of them, trust and friendship, and a poem.
This book taught me a lot about people who face challenges, and that is that they usually don't accept facts about themselves that they don't even know. Like Meghan, one of the main characters in the story. Through the entire book, she belives she is unseen in the eyes of everyone in school, and if her most beloved literature teacher never told her that she wasn't as invisible as she had assumed she was, then she would have continued to think so until the end of her life. And Aimee, the other main character, she doesn't know that she is anorexic she just believes that she is merely just "allergic" to a lot of different foods. But in the poem she wrote about hunger, aspects of her being anorexic flowed out but the word anorexia was never mentioned, she replaced it with hunger.
overall, thi book gave me mixed feelings that I wasn't really sure of because there are so many levels of depth in this book that made me reread sections over and over again and still think "WHAT?!" But even though i got mixed feelings, i really liked it and i find that it touches on the heart of many people even if they don't realize it at first.
Looks is about two people who are basically regected from the social circle in school. These two people have one thing in common though and that is conducting revenge on the girl who ruin their lives by taking away something that was most precious to each of them, trust and friendship, and a poem.
This book taught me a lot about people who face challenges, and that is that they usually don't accept facts about themselves that they don't even know. Like Meghan, one of the main characters in the story. Through the entire book, she belives she is unseen in the eyes of everyone in school, and if her most beloved literature teacher never told her that she wasn't as invisible as she had assumed she was, then she would have continued to think so until the end of her life. And Aimee, the other main character, she doesn't know that she is anorexic she just believes that she is merely just "allergic" to a lot of different foods. But in the poem she wrote about hunger, aspects of her being anorexic flowed out but the word anorexia was never mentioned, she replaced it with hunger.
overall, thi book gave me mixed feelings that I wasn't really sure of because there are so many levels of depth in this book that made me reread sections over and over again and still think "WHAT?!" But even though i got mixed feelings, i really liked it and i find that it touches on the heart of many people even if they don't realize it at first.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2008
This book was amazing. Not only was the subject matter fascinating, the characters well-developed with personalities that are original and unique, but the message George is getting across was incredibly powerful. Her word choices and imagery are beautiful, and she uses descriptions that make the story that much more compelling.
Meghan Ball ("Butter Ball") and Aimee Zorn are opposites. Meghan is obese while Aimee is struglling with an eating disorder; however, they are both adrift emotionally with no one to really help them. Meghan is a quiet observer who, despite her size, moves without being seen throughout the halls of her high school. Aimee is a poet who is desperately trying to gain control of her life the only way the she can. The cover of this book is lame, I have to admit I almost didn't read it because of this; hwoever, this turned out to be one of the best books I have read recently. She managed to describe anorexia, overeating, high school dynamics, poetry writing all in a way that felt new to me. There were no cliches or stereotypes here.
Meghan Ball ("Butter Ball") and Aimee Zorn are opposites. Meghan is obese while Aimee is struglling with an eating disorder; however, they are both adrift emotionally with no one to really help them. Meghan is a quiet observer who, despite her size, moves without being seen throughout the halls of her high school. Aimee is a poet who is desperately trying to gain control of her life the only way the she can. The cover of this book is lame, I have to admit I almost didn't read it because of this; hwoever, this turned out to be one of the best books I have read recently. She managed to describe anorexia, overeating, high school dynamics, poetry writing all in a way that felt new to me. There were no cliches or stereotypes here.
May 1, 2022
Wow!
I gave a five-star rating to a book that left me dazed and slightly hollow. Incredibly poetic and beautiful.
An anorexic girl/a humongous girl ("made of mud and cellulite" --my now favorite descriptive phrase).
A moment for revenge.
High school.
It could have been a hugely cliched story--but altering voices and the writer's chosen wording kept it from becoming that.
I gave a five-star rating to a book that left me dazed and slightly hollow. Incredibly poetic and beautiful.
An anorexic girl/a humongous girl ("made of mud and cellulite" --my now favorite descriptive phrase).
A moment for revenge.
High school.
It could have been a hugely cliched story--but altering voices and the writer's chosen wording kept it from becoming that.
October 17, 2017
What is it like to be invisible? Ask Meghan Ball and Aimee Zorn, the two protagonists of Madeleine George’s novel Looks. Looks is a realistic fiction/ teen fiction novel due to its straightforward depiction of serious real-world themes such as bullying and anorexia in a high school setting. It shows the problems many teenagers today face and how their everyday interactions can impact the way they act and how they interact with others. This is a very interesting novel written from a unique point of view not often seen before.
The first of two main characters is Meghan Ball, a “fat girl” in the words of the author, who is practically invisible to everyone around her and uses this as an advantage. Meghan feels like an outsider until she sees Aimee Zorn, the novel’s second main character. Aimee is described as being “as skinny as Meghan is large” and is shown to have unspecified (and very possibly fictional) allergic reactions to almost everything she eats. Meghan feels a connection to Aimee and tries to befriend her when Aimee becomes friends with another girl named Cara, from Meghan’s past. Through Cara the two girls become acquainted with each other through the course of the book and learn about their similarities despite their looks.
I give this book three out of five stars. The topics explored are very well depicted through the use of interesting characters in a very typical setting. The writing style helped add to the unique aura of the book and made Aimee and Meghan stand out against the other characters both literally and metaphorically. However, it feels like many things were left unexplained or unresolved, although the main conflict was eliminated by the end of the book. For example, I was very confused about Aimee’s eating disorder, and whether or not she was actually having allergic reactions in some instances. The cause of her disorder was never blatantly stated, but perhaps that was intentional. I liked how the supporting characters all seemed very predictable on the surface, but were very subtly hinted at having darker sides to them, just like Aimee and Meghan. Looks is a good book for anyone who feels alone and needs to know that they are not, or generally anyone looking for an interesting take on high school drama. I however do not recommend this for people who are easily upset by bullying or eating disorders.
The first of two main characters is Meghan Ball, a “fat girl” in the words of the author, who is practically invisible to everyone around her and uses this as an advantage. Meghan feels like an outsider until she sees Aimee Zorn, the novel’s second main character. Aimee is described as being “as skinny as Meghan is large” and is shown to have unspecified (and very possibly fictional) allergic reactions to almost everything she eats. Meghan feels a connection to Aimee and tries to befriend her when Aimee becomes friends with another girl named Cara, from Meghan’s past. Through Cara the two girls become acquainted with each other through the course of the book and learn about their similarities despite their looks.
I give this book three out of five stars. The topics explored are very well depicted through the use of interesting characters in a very typical setting. The writing style helped add to the unique aura of the book and made Aimee and Meghan stand out against the other characters both literally and metaphorically. However, it feels like many things were left unexplained or unresolved, although the main conflict was eliminated by the end of the book. For example, I was very confused about Aimee’s eating disorder, and whether or not she was actually having allergic reactions in some instances. The cause of her disorder was never blatantly stated, but perhaps that was intentional. I liked how the supporting characters all seemed very predictable on the surface, but were very subtly hinted at having darker sides to them, just like Aimee and Meghan. Looks is a good book for anyone who feels alone and needs to know that they are not, or generally anyone looking for an interesting take on high school drama. I however do not recommend this for people who are easily upset by bullying or eating disorders.
April 30, 2014
*TIP: Judging a book by its cover, always leads to surprises
I know it’s wrong to judge a book by it’s cover, but I do it anyways. The second I laid eyes on this book, the title caught my attention. I mean, look how “LOoks” is written, so funky and cool.
Here’s the tricky part about Judging a book by it’s cover (Especially for this book)
1. You pick up the book, distracted by the title.
2. Then you actually read the title.
3. The title makes you think it’s about people getting judged by how they look. (Which interests you)
4. You read the book, and you realize the story is actually better and different from your prediction. (Surprising!) And you will know how thoughtful the author is for purposely choosing this cover and the story that goes along with it.
**TIP: Every book is unique in its own way
Compared to other books, this one hits the spot. Because most of the other books I’ve read are about those average teen girl problems and their drama. But LOoKS, is different, it expresses the lives of young girls in a totally different way. The author expresses the characters in a more mature way, problems that every girl can connect to, and things that aren't being mentioned every day in the normal teen life.
***Tip: Books don’t just entertain you, they teach you life lessons as well
This book taught me... that, anything is possible. Also, I have to give others a chance in life. I can’t just judge a person by their cover and make conclusions. And in order to really know a person, I have to sit down and talk to them myself. This book made me more conscious of who I talk to and the information I give to people. Because giving the wrong information to a wrong person comes with consequences.
****Tip: Characters in books are relatable in some way (Especially in LOoKs)
So the characters...Aimee is a skinny girl and Meghan--not so much. Both of them are in high school and attend the same school.They are very self conscious and don't believe in themselves and what they are able to do. They are both very interesting characters. Many girls can relate to them, because their actions are almost seen everyday in everyday life. For example, these are relatable situations...
"She tousles her bangs discreetly, pulls some hanks of hair into her eyes" (Page 11)
"she was suddenly aware of her skirt gripping her legs in the wind, exposing their contours. She tries lamley to pull the fabric away from her skinniness, making fluff out in front of her." (Page 49)
You can’t disagree, both of these characters are obviously trying to hide something. One is trying to hide her face with her hair, and the other is trying to hide her skinny legs with her skirt. This shamefulness is 100% relatable. Everyone knows how it feels like to be ashamed of something. And how when you don’t want to show something, you hide it.
*****TIP: Conflicts are the best!
So, Aimee and Meghan are super weird. As I was reading the book, I was going through this journey of long lost best friends. As I mentioned earlier, Aimee is as skinny as a pencil and Meghan is as fat as a waterbed. Both characters have issues with their body and are trying to make new friends. Meghan is observant, more like a stocker if you ask me. Meghan stalks Aimee’s actions and who she’s friends with. As creepy as it sounds, I mentally thanked Meghan for stalking Aimee because she ends up warning her about that new friend of hers, Cara. Cara mentally and emotionally hurt both characters in the book, and both Aimee and Meghan pair up like opposite sides of a magnet and must seek revenge on the “evil doer” (Cara).
Once they join forces, the joy inside your stomach wakes up and your eyes can’t be removed from the book. It’s a great feeling, the feeling of joy.
******TIP: The “BIG-words Zone”
If you’re worried about this book being too hard for you to understand, then you’re worrying too much! I had absolutely no trouble reading the book, and I’m not a big fan of vocabulary. This book is written for teens, the author knows better than to use BIG words the would distract a teen from reading. Words splashed into into brain like waves passing through air.
I know it’s wrong to judge a book by it’s cover, but I do it anyways. The second I laid eyes on this book, the title caught my attention. I mean, look how “LOoks” is written, so funky and cool.
Here’s the tricky part about Judging a book by it’s cover (Especially for this book)
1. You pick up the book, distracted by the title.
2. Then you actually read the title.
3. The title makes you think it’s about people getting judged by how they look. (Which interests you)
4. You read the book, and you realize the story is actually better and different from your prediction. (Surprising!) And you will know how thoughtful the author is for purposely choosing this cover and the story that goes along with it.
**TIP: Every book is unique in its own way
Compared to other books, this one hits the spot. Because most of the other books I’ve read are about those average teen girl problems and their drama. But LOoKS, is different, it expresses the lives of young girls in a totally different way. The author expresses the characters in a more mature way, problems that every girl can connect to, and things that aren't being mentioned every day in the normal teen life.
***Tip: Books don’t just entertain you, they teach you life lessons as well
This book taught me... that, anything is possible. Also, I have to give others a chance in life. I can’t just judge a person by their cover and make conclusions. And in order to really know a person, I have to sit down and talk to them myself. This book made me more conscious of who I talk to and the information I give to people. Because giving the wrong information to a wrong person comes with consequences.
****Tip: Characters in books are relatable in some way (Especially in LOoKs)
So the characters...Aimee is a skinny girl and Meghan--not so much. Both of them are in high school and attend the same school.They are very self conscious and don't believe in themselves and what they are able to do. They are both very interesting characters. Many girls can relate to them, because their actions are almost seen everyday in everyday life. For example, these are relatable situations...
"She tousles her bangs discreetly, pulls some hanks of hair into her eyes" (Page 11)
"she was suddenly aware of her skirt gripping her legs in the wind, exposing their contours. She tries lamley to pull the fabric away from her skinniness, making fluff out in front of her." (Page 49)
You can’t disagree, both of these characters are obviously trying to hide something. One is trying to hide her face with her hair, and the other is trying to hide her skinny legs with her skirt. This shamefulness is 100% relatable. Everyone knows how it feels like to be ashamed of something. And how when you don’t want to show something, you hide it.
*****TIP: Conflicts are the best!
So, Aimee and Meghan are super weird. As I was reading the book, I was going through this journey of long lost best friends. As I mentioned earlier, Aimee is as skinny as a pencil and Meghan is as fat as a waterbed. Both characters have issues with their body and are trying to make new friends. Meghan is observant, more like a stocker if you ask me. Meghan stalks Aimee’s actions and who she’s friends with. As creepy as it sounds, I mentally thanked Meghan for stalking Aimee because she ends up warning her about that new friend of hers, Cara. Cara mentally and emotionally hurt both characters in the book, and both Aimee and Meghan pair up like opposite sides of a magnet and must seek revenge on the “evil doer” (Cara).
Once they join forces, the joy inside your stomach wakes up and your eyes can’t be removed from the book. It’s a great feeling, the feeling of joy.
******TIP: The “BIG-words Zone”
If you’re worried about this book being too hard for you to understand, then you’re worrying too much! I had absolutely no trouble reading the book, and I’m not a big fan of vocabulary. This book is written for teens, the author knows better than to use BIG words the would distract a teen from reading. Words splashed into into brain like waves passing through air.
April 29, 2013
I read this book because I was interested in what the blurb said. After reading the first few pages I couldn't put it book down. I liked this book because it was expressing what is actually happening in the world, social injustice, stereotyping and bullying.
This book covers the 'book with themes related to those we've studied in class in the 1st half of the year' category on the book blog bingo board. I was really interested in completing this category because I quite liked our topic of inequality and social injustice. This book relates to inequality and social injustice because Meghan who is obese and Aimee who is anorexic are treated differently because what they look like. When walking around school they are given dirty looks and some people even walk into them as if they don't exist. At the end when they become friends and join forces they take on everyone and immediately are given respect. Which is something I really like about this book.
Meghan was a character that I was really interested in because she didn't really seem to care about what others thought about her. She receives a lot of irrelevant behaviour from the students at her school and has developed strategies to overcome it. Although Meghan says very little she notices a lot. Meghan's character development throughout the story wasn't really significant though she played a big part in this book.
“It's not an honest face. It's not a kind face. It's a face made of anger and secrets and lies"
This was a quote from Looks that I quite liked. This explains what Meghan saw in Aimee, its almost an exact copy of Meghan's lies that she to uses. Meghan can't believe it and immediately knows that she is witnessing someone who can potentially be her friend.
Something I learnt from this book is to never judge anyone by their looks. Meghan and Aimee were both victims of this, they persevered and in the end they were finally given respect. You shouldn't judge anyone by their looks because you don't know what they have been through or are going through.
This book covers the 'book with themes related to those we've studied in class in the 1st half of the year' category on the book blog bingo board. I was really interested in completing this category because I quite liked our topic of inequality and social injustice. This book relates to inequality and social injustice because Meghan who is obese and Aimee who is anorexic are treated differently because what they look like. When walking around school they are given dirty looks and some people even walk into them as if they don't exist. At the end when they become friends and join forces they take on everyone and immediately are given respect. Which is something I really like about this book.
Meghan was a character that I was really interested in because she didn't really seem to care about what others thought about her. She receives a lot of irrelevant behaviour from the students at her school and has developed strategies to overcome it. Although Meghan says very little she notices a lot. Meghan's character development throughout the story wasn't really significant though she played a big part in this book.
“It's not an honest face. It's not a kind face. It's a face made of anger and secrets and lies"
This was a quote from Looks that I quite liked. This explains what Meghan saw in Aimee, its almost an exact copy of Meghan's lies that she to uses. Meghan can't believe it and immediately knows that she is witnessing someone who can potentially be her friend.
Something I learnt from this book is to never judge anyone by their looks. Meghan and Aimee were both victims of this, they persevered and in the end they were finally given respect. You shouldn't judge anyone by their looks because you don't know what they have been through or are going through.
June 20, 2011
If this book were a teen movie it would have received a high rating and been placed alongside Heathers for its nihilistic tone, humour, and uncomfortably accurate portrayals of the "ethically complicated" social lives of teenagers. The poems in this book – the one that's supposed to be really good, at least – is actually pretty impressive (especially when one considers that it's supposed to have been written by a 14-year-old!).
Looks is fast-paced and raw and a little mean, with a lovely dreamy quality to the prose. The revenge plot drew me in; the high school villains were so cruel (and lacking in substance) that I really wanted to see them Get Theirs. But then, I sort of had a problem with that, because wouldn't it be more interesting if the villains had dimension and then I felt conflicted about the whole revenge plot? I'm more forgiving of caricatures in films because of their brevity. I expect the villains of novels to have at least a little depth.
Overall, the pared-down, descriptive language worked well, but while they were evocative, I found the descriptions of eating disordered behaviour (and its accompanying emotional states) fairly predictable. I also found a few things implausible, including Meghan's all-knowingness (we never discover much else about her character; so frustrating) and the totally unbelievable relationship between Bill and Aimee's mother.
I'm waffling between 3 and 4 stars, here. I enjoyed most of the novel but it felt 90%, almost dark and comedic enough to really hit the spot, but not quite there.
A sequel set at the same high school, that gave a little depth to heretofore unexplored characters would definitely peak my interest. So, um, Madeleine George, if you feel like writing that, you've got at least one reader.
Looks is fast-paced and raw and a little mean, with a lovely dreamy quality to the prose. The revenge plot drew me in; the high school villains were so cruel (and lacking in substance) that I really wanted to see them Get Theirs. But then, I sort of had a problem with that, because wouldn't it be more interesting if the villains had dimension and then I felt conflicted about the whole revenge plot? I'm more forgiving of caricatures in films because of their brevity. I expect the villains of novels to have at least a little depth.
Overall, the pared-down, descriptive language worked well, but while they were evocative, I found the descriptions of eating disordered behaviour (and its accompanying emotional states) fairly predictable. I also found a few things implausible, including Meghan's all-knowingness (we never discover much else about her character; so frustrating) and the totally unbelievable relationship between Bill and Aimee's mother.
I'm waffling between 3 and 4 stars, here. I enjoyed most of the novel but it felt 90%, almost dark and comedic enough to really hit the spot, but not quite there.
A sequel set at the same high school, that gave a little depth to heretofore unexplored characters would definitely peak my interest. So, um, Madeleine George, if you feel like writing that, you've got at least one reader.
October 3, 2009
Wow. I don't even know where to begin, but this novel was fantastic. Meghan is an outcast, and I really felt her pain. I thought this novel was so true to the horrors of high school, because let's face it, people can be harsh. Whenever J-Bar bullied her, I could see it happening. This novel dives deeply into a lot of issues like anorexia, obesity, betrayal, bullying, isolation, invisibility, I could go on. It felt so real to me. This novel really changed the way I look at some people, and I'm so glad I read this.
Highlights: When Cara showed her true colors. Okay, that should so not be a good thing, but I was just glad to see it. Sometimes, it's people like Cara who hurt you the most. Also, when Meghan and Aimee joined forces to bring down the one person that hurt them both, and they do not disappoint (I wish I had guts like these girls, but I have a conscience, which is horrible for revenge). I also really loved the character Mr. Handsley, I wish I had a teacher like him. Ms. Champoux was hilarious as well, especially with the morning announcements.
Also, how awesome is this cover? It's brilliant, as is the hardcover (check out the my interview with Madeleine to see the hardcover).
Lowlights: The action came a little later than I thought it would, and Meghan's constant following Aimee seemed a bit odd at times. I could understand where she was coming from, and in the end, they were kindred spirits. I also really, really wanted to punch J-Bar in the face. But I think he got what was coming to him. The ending was a little disturbing, because it just made me wonder about a lot of things...
Highlights: When Cara showed her true colors. Okay, that should so not be a good thing, but I was just glad to see it. Sometimes, it's people like Cara who hurt you the most. Also, when Meghan and Aimee joined forces to bring down the one person that hurt them both, and they do not disappoint (I wish I had guts like these girls, but I have a conscience, which is horrible for revenge). I also really loved the character Mr. Handsley, I wish I had a teacher like him. Ms. Champoux was hilarious as well, especially with the morning announcements.
Also, how awesome is this cover? It's brilliant, as is the hardcover (check out the my interview with Madeleine to see the hardcover).
Lowlights: The action came a little later than I thought it would, and Meghan's constant following Aimee seemed a bit odd at times. I could understand where she was coming from, and in the end, they were kindred spirits. I also really, really wanted to punch J-Bar in the face. But I think he got what was coming to him. The ending was a little disturbing, because it just made me wonder about a lot of things...
Read
June 30, 2009I couldn't finish this book because I just didn't have it in me to go to the dark places teen novels so often take you these days. The story centers on a two girls: one extremely overweight and one terribly anorexic, who use food in similiar ways to express themselves. They navigate the deadly halls of high school and team up together to get revenge on those who have wronged them. This, as far as I could tell from the 50 or so pages I read, is the basic plot.
I just. couldn't. do . it.
On one hand, I feel like I have read this story so many times already since I took the plunge and started reading lots of teen fiction: disaffected teens, painful interactions with peers, betrayal, misery, etc. On the other hand, however, this author is an exceptionally good writer and I think she may have ultimately taken this tale in a more original direction than its predecessors.
I won't find out, though. Because I'm not going to read it!
I just. couldn't. do . it.
On one hand, I feel like I have read this story so many times already since I took the plunge and started reading lots of teen fiction: disaffected teens, painful interactions with peers, betrayal, misery, etc. On the other hand, however, this author is an exceptionally good writer and I think she may have ultimately taken this tale in a more original direction than its predecessors.
I won't find out, though. Because I'm not going to read it!
August 7, 2008
Meghan and Aimee are both invisible in their own ways. Meghan's obesity renders her a non-person to everyone at school and Aimee's eating disorder make her almost literally disappear into herself. They find each other and partner up to seek revenge against two popular kids who have hurt them both in different ways.
The best thing about the book was the poetic language. I paid close attention to all the imagery and the way the book is written elevates the story and made me forget about things that usually make me a little cranky (like one-dimensional evil popular kids). There were passages where I didn't even feel like I was reading prose. The first half of the book, especially, had an understated creepiness that I loved.
I would recommend this to teens who are fans of Speak, perhaps. Or fans of Poison Ivy by Amy Koss.
The best thing about the book was the poetic language. I paid close attention to all the imagery and the way the book is written elevates the story and made me forget about things that usually make me a little cranky (like one-dimensional evil popular kids). There were passages where I didn't even feel like I was reading prose. The first half of the book, especially, had an understated creepiness that I loved.
I would recommend this to teens who are fans of Speak, perhaps. Or fans of Poison Ivy by Amy Koss.
May 20, 2011
I am not sure what made me dislike this book so much.
There were aspects of it that I did like. The descriptions and I felt that the author did a good job making me feel sick to my stomach when something awful happened to one of the characters but in the end I felt more depressed than any other emotion. I don't think I actually got anything from the book but a gloomy headache. Which I guess is good because a book is not supposed to make me feel comfortable with eating disorders I should not be comfortable with people bulling other people and people putting themselves down but I can't really bring myself to recommend the book to anyone (I did recommend it to one person and they had the same reaction I did so...)
Made me think but I didn't like it.
There were aspects of it that I did like. The descriptions and I felt that the author did a good job making me feel sick to my stomach when something awful happened to one of the characters but in the end I felt more depressed than any other emotion. I don't think I actually got anything from the book but a gloomy headache. Which I guess is good because a book is not supposed to make me feel comfortable with eating disorders I should not be comfortable with people bulling other people and people putting themselves down but I can't really bring myself to recommend the book to anyone (I did recommend it to one person and they had the same reaction I did so...)
Made me think but I didn't like it.
January 4, 2016
January 3, 2016
Johanna Estrada
Book review 4
Pages 256
Book: Looks
7-blue
This book was good, it was written by Madeline George. It was about two girls who wanted revenge, because a popular girl had humlitated them. At first Meghan and Aimee weren't friends, Meghan the one who was once in the popular group got really fat so her popular friends turned on her. Aimee has anorexia so Cara was making fun of her disorder. Meghan and Aimee got together to plan something to get revenge on Cara. To me I think instead of revenge they should do it some other way. Also I wonder if , when Meghan was in the popular group did she also make fun of people? I think people should never make fun, because some day it can happen to you and you wont like it. Also revenge is not the right path to go to.
Johanna Estrada
Book review 4
Pages 256
Book: Looks
7-blue
This book was good, it was written by Madeline George. It was about two girls who wanted revenge, because a popular girl had humlitated them. At first Meghan and Aimee weren't friends, Meghan the one who was once in the popular group got really fat so her popular friends turned on her. Aimee has anorexia so Cara was making fun of her disorder. Meghan and Aimee got together to plan something to get revenge on Cara. To me I think instead of revenge they should do it some other way. Also I wonder if , when Meghan was in the popular group did she also make fun of people? I think people should never make fun, because some day it can happen to you and you wont like it. Also revenge is not the right path to go to.
January 22, 2009
Looks will be popular with YA girls who use your catalog to look up "anorexia." But I can't go out of my way to recommend it, due to the overabundance of stereotypical characters. Aimee, the wan, poetic anorexic, Meghan, the frightened fatty, J-Bar the bully; along with the tweedy English teacher and the gung-ho coach. The only one that really kept my attention was the girl-bully Cara. She was so deliciously mean, you can fully imagine, and vicariously participate in the vengence she inspired.
July 8, 2008
This book is not what I expected. It is the story of two girls who, outwardly, are very different, but are drawn to one another. The use of second person in the first and last chapters makes the reader perceive his or her own story as well as the story of Aimee and Meghan, the two main characters. Feels more literary than most YA, but I did get hung up on some of the figurative language.
Want to read
July 17, 2013Lexile: 1060
April 5, 2009
One of my very favorite YA books from 2008. Made me cry. Beautifully written.
July 8, 2017
initially rated this 3 stars but decided to bump it down to 2 after thinking over my feelings about this book. i was compelled to read this based on the eating disorder aspect as well the angle of getting revenge on a mean girl. i didn't really feel like there was a payoff to either of those.
meghan ball is the fat girl who is never seen. she can go through the school as she pleases and hears everything about everyone. she remembers all the gossip and it seems to be the only thing keeping her afloat in her day-to-day school activities.
aimee zorn is the poetic anorexic goth (?) girl, new to high school and dealing with her mother's breakup with her longtime hippie boyfriend that was aimee's mentor in all things poetry. she inadvertently befriends the mean girl, who eventually stabs her in the back and then pretends she didn't. this event brings aimee and meghan together to take revenge.
you know that revenge will occur going into the book, and its obvious when aimee meets the too-happy girl at her newspaper club that this is going to be the girl to take revenge on. I felt like it was obvious what the mean girl was going to do, but had to wait chapters and chapters for anything bad to happen to aimee. it took far too long for this particular shoe to drop, over half the book, so when it happens its not a surprise but more relief that the plot is going to start going somewhere.
the particular eating disorders of both girls are brought up but never really talked about. it feels like aimee might be about to get help near the end of the book, but it never actually comes. aimee also has issues with her mother that were brought up numerous times but never resolved. once again, it felt like there would be closure on this aspect near the end, but its cut short and never mentioned again.
theres also the issue of how aimee talks about meghan. the chapters are told from alternating perspectives, and when you're on aimee's chapters, you read all her thoughts about meghan and her fatness. some paragraphs are simply aimee observing meghan and coming up with all kinds of adjectives about how fat and disgusting meghan is, even when they've become friends. she compares her to an animal, a giant, a garbage dump, but then quickly to a woodland fairy or some other magical creature. this felt... fetishistic? and you would think it would be dropped the longer aimee is around meghan, but that really isn't the case. aimee is always in awe of meghan's fatness and will not let you forget it.
you'll notice i've barely talked about meghan in this review. that's because there isn't much to say about her, sadly. i appreciated her anger and her desire for revenge. i went into this book wanting a dark storyline, and i felt like i got more of that from meghan than from aimee. but it's obvious meghan is not considered as human as aimee. while aimee's family life is brought up from the beginning, and we as readers see her in her home, it takes three quarters of the book until we find out meghan even /has/ a family. she never mentions them in her chapters, never thinks about her mom or her little brother she clearly loves very much. we don't see her go home or see her think about what her mother would do if she knew her daughter was missing so much school or being bullied as much as she is. the only time we experience meghan outside of the scope of school is when she binge eats in a barn. other than that, we get meghan's home and family through the lens of aimee's eyes, when aimee goes to meghan's house to plan revenge. this is the only scene meghan has an existence outside of being the fat girl at school.
there's also the aspect of the english teacher. he is obviously meant to be gay but this is never confirmed in the book. it's merely hinted at so he and meghan have something to bond over. his talk he has with her near the end of the book was very good, but i kept waiting for him to come out so meghan could understand exactly what he was talking about as far as his own experience with being bullied went. [spoilers] this teacher is fired after barely touching a student, and to me it felt this was meant to be showing homophobia from both the student and the school. however, this doesn't carry much weight if the story does not confirm the teacher is gay or that everyone in the school suspects it. i would have enjoyed this side story more if the writer hadn't been so cagey about the discrimination the teacher was facing.
one final issue was the setting. was this meant to be in the late 90s? the early 2000s? the way the characters dressed and talked felt like the story was not set during current times, which was 2008 when the book was published. aimee also talked suspiciously valley girl for someone dressing goth and writing poetry. her floppy velvet hats seemed to be a very 90s fashion accessory. i was consistently confused over the timeline of the story and wish that had been made more clear.
meghan ball is the fat girl who is never seen. she can go through the school as she pleases and hears everything about everyone. she remembers all the gossip and it seems to be the only thing keeping her afloat in her day-to-day school activities.
aimee zorn is the poetic anorexic goth (?) girl, new to high school and dealing with her mother's breakup with her longtime hippie boyfriend that was aimee's mentor in all things poetry. she inadvertently befriends the mean girl, who eventually stabs her in the back and then pretends she didn't. this event brings aimee and meghan together to take revenge.
you know that revenge will occur going into the book, and its obvious when aimee meets the too-happy girl at her newspaper club that this is going to be the girl to take revenge on. I felt like it was obvious what the mean girl was going to do, but had to wait chapters and chapters for anything bad to happen to aimee. it took far too long for this particular shoe to drop, over half the book, so when it happens its not a surprise but more relief that the plot is going to start going somewhere.
the particular eating disorders of both girls are brought up but never really talked about. it feels like aimee might be about to get help near the end of the book, but it never actually comes. aimee also has issues with her mother that were brought up numerous times but never resolved. once again, it felt like there would be closure on this aspect near the end, but its cut short and never mentioned again.
theres also the issue of how aimee talks about meghan. the chapters are told from alternating perspectives, and when you're on aimee's chapters, you read all her thoughts about meghan and her fatness. some paragraphs are simply aimee observing meghan and coming up with all kinds of adjectives about how fat and disgusting meghan is, even when they've become friends. she compares her to an animal, a giant, a garbage dump, but then quickly to a woodland fairy or some other magical creature. this felt... fetishistic? and you would think it would be dropped the longer aimee is around meghan, but that really isn't the case. aimee is always in awe of meghan's fatness and will not let you forget it.
you'll notice i've barely talked about meghan in this review. that's because there isn't much to say about her, sadly. i appreciated her anger and her desire for revenge. i went into this book wanting a dark storyline, and i felt like i got more of that from meghan than from aimee. but it's obvious meghan is not considered as human as aimee. while aimee's family life is brought up from the beginning, and we as readers see her in her home, it takes three quarters of the book until we find out meghan even /has/ a family. she never mentions them in her chapters, never thinks about her mom or her little brother she clearly loves very much. we don't see her go home or see her think about what her mother would do if she knew her daughter was missing so much school or being bullied as much as she is. the only time we experience meghan outside of the scope of school is when she binge eats in a barn. other than that, we get meghan's home and family through the lens of aimee's eyes, when aimee goes to meghan's house to plan revenge. this is the only scene meghan has an existence outside of being the fat girl at school.
there's also the aspect of the english teacher. he is obviously meant to be gay but this is never confirmed in the book. it's merely hinted at so he and meghan have something to bond over. his talk he has with her near the end of the book was very good, but i kept waiting for him to come out so meghan could understand exactly what he was talking about as far as his own experience with being bullied went. [spoilers] this teacher is fired after barely touching a student, and to me it felt this was meant to be showing homophobia from both the student and the school. however, this doesn't carry much weight if the story does not confirm the teacher is gay or that everyone in the school suspects it. i would have enjoyed this side story more if the writer hadn't been so cagey about the discrimination the teacher was facing.
one final issue was the setting. was this meant to be in the late 90s? the early 2000s? the way the characters dressed and talked felt like the story was not set during current times, which was 2008 when the book was published. aimee also talked suspiciously valley girl for someone dressing goth and writing poetry. her floppy velvet hats seemed to be a very 90s fashion accessory. i was consistently confused over the timeline of the story and wish that had been made more clear.
December 7, 2022
I wanted to enjoy this book and in a lot of ways I did but the characters were honestly sort of horrendous. I wanted so badly for them to have more depth but they just sort of did not. J-Bar is just an asshole who used to be nice. The school staff (a fairly important part of the story for some reason) all just sort of suck and bitch and whine all the time. Mr Cox and Mr Handsley became just about indistinguishable to me. Ms Champoux is just an idiot who becomes less of an idiot becomes somebody talks to her once? Meghan is a fucking stalker but Aimee just gets over it because her poem got ripped off??? It also felt very lacking in an ending. How do Meghan and Aimee get over their earlier conflicts and become friends? Is it just because they made Cara cry and get humiliated? Does Aimee really completely disregard that Meghan stalked her and found her home address? And more about Aimee, does she recover? With a book that has a character’s sickness as a focal point, I think we really should have learned more about it. Now for things I liked. The book really did keep me intrigued, I was thinking about what might happen next quite often. I think Aimee’s problems, even if they sort of stuck to stereotypes that I, personally, have never really found to be true (not saying that no one is like her, I’m just saying I personally did not really relate) do have some parts to them that really hit me hard personally. I really enjoyed Cara as a character and would have absolutely loved to have learned more about her. I really really loved Bill, he probably felt the most real to me out of everyone. The dual narrative was really interesting too! It was nice seeing what they both thought at different times. The brief scene with Meghan’s family was really sweet too. It kept me well entertained and though this book was not my favorite or anything, I don’t think I wasted any time on it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2008
George, Madeleine. 2008. Looks.
Start in the sky. Look down at the valley. Green, plush, peaceful landscape. Drop down a little, towards the town, then skim over it, past the low beige buildings of the university, the clean white spires of the Congregational churches, the flat green welcome mat of the town common, out towards the edge of town, towards Valley Regional High School, a rambling, one-story brick building surrounded by soccer fields, field hockey fields, football fields, parking lots. Hover above Valley Regional High. Watch the crowd of kids as it streams into the school like water sucked down a storm drain. And listen: Even from high up you can hear the hum of a school on the first day back in September.
Now drop, plummet straight down like a stone, through the pebbly roof and the air-conditioning ducts and the bundles of wiring and the soft acoustic tiles, until you burst into the teeming front hall of the school. Float up by the ceiling where you can take it all in, the blended smoothie of backpacks and T-shirts and freckled shoulders and tank tops, ponytails and crew cuts and hoop earrings and knotted leather necklaces. Wince at the noise, the crashing surf of screeching, laughing, yelling.
Now pivot, face the light blue cinderblock wall next to the main doors of the school. Someone is standing there, pressed into the auditorium door alcove, someone so huge and still she might be mistaken for a piece of architecture if it weren't for the sky blue windbreaker that marks her as human, the backpack sitting limply on the floor by her feet. Look at her. Nobody else is, but you look at her. Look at Meghan Ball. (1-2)
Meghan Ball, one of our two narrators, is obese. "Meghan Ball is at once the most visible and invisible person in school. In the obvious way, she is unbearably visible. She takes up the most space of any person in the entire school--in the entire town, in fact. She is impossible to overlook in class pictures or on the risers during chorus concerts--they always make her stand in the back row, where her round head hovers above a space big enough to accommodate three normal-sized kids. She has a back as wide as a basketball backboard, perfect for spitting on and pelting things at. In this way, Meghan is a walking bull's-eye target. But then, just when she feels like she can't get any bigger, when she's feeling brontosaurically huge and exposed, someone will walk right past her--right past her--saying something totally private they would never want anyone else to hear, just as if Meghan wasn't there at all--like right now, right this very second, watch." (3)
Heavy on descriptions and details, Looks examines high school life through two sets of eyes. Meghan, whom we've already met, and Aimee Zorn, a girl with an obvious eating disorder, a girl obviously in pain who is struggling with her life the only way she knows how: by controlling what goes in and out of her mouth and by writing poetry. In alternating voices, Looks explores most facets of high school life.
There are moments when the observations, the descriptions, are right on:
"It's amazing what people will say right in front of you when you're obese, like you're deaf or something, like you're retarded. Or like you don't even speak the language, like you're a tourist lost in the land of the thin." (5)
"The fat girl who loses her only friend sees, all at once, how everything works. She sees that all promises are fictions, all friendships are games with winners and losers. The fat girl left alone in the world sees that every human being has a value assigned to them that they are helpless to change no matter what they do, and she sees that people trade each other like baseball cards: three cheap friends for two valuable friends, a whole group of worthless friends for one popular friend. It's like dying and coming back to life, being a fat girl who loses her only friend; it gives you an insight into the people around you that the average person couldn't bear to have.
But if it doesn't break her, this insight makes the friendless fat girl strong. The fat girl left alone in the world becomes the ultimate outsider, and outsiders always know the insiders' secrets, because insiders don't care what's happening on the outside--they never check to see what the outsiders know. They usually don't even know who the outsiders are. The person on the bottom sees what's happening on top, the person at the back sees what's happening in front, the person on the outside sees what's happening at the center, and the fat girl who loses her only friend is under, behind, and outside all at once; if she cares to look, she can see everything in every direction. God must be a friendless fat girl, because only friendless fat girls are as omniscient as God." (144)
But for me, the narrative was too detached. The third person present tense which surprisingly blended seamlessly with passages written directly to address the reader (that would be second person plural???) just didn't work well for me all the time. I became impatient. I became annoyed. While I wanted to love this book--really wanted to love it--I found myself increasingly annoyed by a few things. Nothing major. But the fact that "the fat girl" was always "the fat girl" and sometimes the "friendless fat girl" or the "lonely fat girl" but hardly ever just Meghan was something that really really really really annoyed me. Fat wasn't only a label, it was the defining characteristic for Meghan. And that just doesn't sit well with me. I felt that a bit more fleshing out for all the characters was in order. I felt Aimee Zorn got the better treatment, better back story, more heart and soul. At the end of the book, I felt I still didn't know Meghan. She was still just the fat girl. She may be the fat girl who now has a friend. But still. I didn't feel that way with Aimee. I felt she was more developed as a character. This was her story. Fat girl was just there along to help skinny girl win the day.
Based on what reviews I've read, I'm alone in seeing that this one has a few flaws. Most seem to really really enjoy it. And it's not that I didn't enjoy aspects of it. But it seemed impersonal and detached in places. Unemotional even in a few spots. And while detachment doesn't make a novel good or bad or whatnot. It does make it slightly less satisfying. Would I recommend it? Yes. Other people seem to be enjoying this one a good deal. And the story is a good one even if it reads closer to a parable (is that the right word???) than an actual story.
Start in the sky. Look down at the valley. Green, plush, peaceful landscape. Drop down a little, towards the town, then skim over it, past the low beige buildings of the university, the clean white spires of the Congregational churches, the flat green welcome mat of the town common, out towards the edge of town, towards Valley Regional High School, a rambling, one-story brick building surrounded by soccer fields, field hockey fields, football fields, parking lots. Hover above Valley Regional High. Watch the crowd of kids as it streams into the school like water sucked down a storm drain. And listen: Even from high up you can hear the hum of a school on the first day back in September.
Now drop, plummet straight down like a stone, through the pebbly roof and the air-conditioning ducts and the bundles of wiring and the soft acoustic tiles, until you burst into the teeming front hall of the school. Float up by the ceiling where you can take it all in, the blended smoothie of backpacks and T-shirts and freckled shoulders and tank tops, ponytails and crew cuts and hoop earrings and knotted leather necklaces. Wince at the noise, the crashing surf of screeching, laughing, yelling.
Now pivot, face the light blue cinderblock wall next to the main doors of the school. Someone is standing there, pressed into the auditorium door alcove, someone so huge and still she might be mistaken for a piece of architecture if it weren't for the sky blue windbreaker that marks her as human, the backpack sitting limply on the floor by her feet. Look at her. Nobody else is, but you look at her. Look at Meghan Ball. (1-2)
Meghan Ball, one of our two narrators, is obese. "Meghan Ball is at once the most visible and invisible person in school. In the obvious way, she is unbearably visible. She takes up the most space of any person in the entire school--in the entire town, in fact. She is impossible to overlook in class pictures or on the risers during chorus concerts--they always make her stand in the back row, where her round head hovers above a space big enough to accommodate three normal-sized kids. She has a back as wide as a basketball backboard, perfect for spitting on and pelting things at. In this way, Meghan is a walking bull's-eye target. But then, just when she feels like she can't get any bigger, when she's feeling brontosaurically huge and exposed, someone will walk right past her--right past her--saying something totally private they would never want anyone else to hear, just as if Meghan wasn't there at all--like right now, right this very second, watch." (3)
Heavy on descriptions and details, Looks examines high school life through two sets of eyes. Meghan, whom we've already met, and Aimee Zorn, a girl with an obvious eating disorder, a girl obviously in pain who is struggling with her life the only way she knows how: by controlling what goes in and out of her mouth and by writing poetry. In alternating voices, Looks explores most facets of high school life.
There are moments when the observations, the descriptions, are right on:
"It's amazing what people will say right in front of you when you're obese, like you're deaf or something, like you're retarded. Or like you don't even speak the language, like you're a tourist lost in the land of the thin." (5)
"The fat girl who loses her only friend sees, all at once, how everything works. She sees that all promises are fictions, all friendships are games with winners and losers. The fat girl left alone in the world sees that every human being has a value assigned to them that they are helpless to change no matter what they do, and she sees that people trade each other like baseball cards: three cheap friends for two valuable friends, a whole group of worthless friends for one popular friend. It's like dying and coming back to life, being a fat girl who loses her only friend; it gives you an insight into the people around you that the average person couldn't bear to have.
But if it doesn't break her, this insight makes the friendless fat girl strong. The fat girl left alone in the world becomes the ultimate outsider, and outsiders always know the insiders' secrets, because insiders don't care what's happening on the outside--they never check to see what the outsiders know. They usually don't even know who the outsiders are. The person on the bottom sees what's happening on top, the person at the back sees what's happening in front, the person on the outside sees what's happening at the center, and the fat girl who loses her only friend is under, behind, and outside all at once; if she cares to look, she can see everything in every direction. God must be a friendless fat girl, because only friendless fat girls are as omniscient as God." (144)
But for me, the narrative was too detached. The third person present tense which surprisingly blended seamlessly with passages written directly to address the reader (that would be second person plural???) just didn't work well for me all the time. I became impatient. I became annoyed. While I wanted to love this book--really wanted to love it--I found myself increasingly annoyed by a few things. Nothing major. But the fact that "the fat girl" was always "the fat girl" and sometimes the "friendless fat girl" or the "lonely fat girl" but hardly ever just Meghan was something that really really really really annoyed me. Fat wasn't only a label, it was the defining characteristic for Meghan. And that just doesn't sit well with me. I felt that a bit more fleshing out for all the characters was in order. I felt Aimee Zorn got the better treatment, better back story, more heart and soul. At the end of the book, I felt I still didn't know Meghan. She was still just the fat girl. She may be the fat girl who now has a friend. But still. I didn't feel that way with Aimee. I felt she was more developed as a character. This was her story. Fat girl was just there along to help skinny girl win the day.
Based on what reviews I've read, I'm alone in seeing that this one has a few flaws. Most seem to really really enjoy it. And it's not that I didn't enjoy aspects of it. But it seemed impersonal and detached in places. Unemotional even in a few spots. And while detachment doesn't make a novel good or bad or whatnot. It does make it slightly less satisfying. Would I recommend it? Yes. Other people seem to be enjoying this one a good deal. And the story is a good one even if it reads closer to a parable (is that the right word???) than an actual story.
January 2, 2018
I loved the theme of this book. It kind of represented the idea that you should love yourself for the way you are. The main characters, Aimee Zorn and Meghan Ball, are brought together, though they are very different. Meghan brings up many times that she is very visible, yet invisible. She says this because she is very massive in size, but everyone seems to pretend that she isn't around when they are making fun of her. Aimee, however, is the exact opposite: she is horribly anorexic. It is at one point mentioned that her 'legs fit in her jeans like arms.' As different as they are, they join together and stand up against their bullies. "No one has the exact same experiences. Every single person's story is different" (pg. 107) SPOILER: The moment that really brought them together was when someone (Cara), who was actually much like Aimee, became friends with her. Cara later backstabs Aimee, and Aimee goes directly to Meghan, which marks the point that they become great friends. As I said, the theme of this book is very sweet, but it wasn't as great as I would've liked it to be. There was a little amount of suspense throughout the whole book. It wasn't very interesting, so I had a hard time trying to put myself into the characters places. It was also very slow-paced. I happen to like stories that are very 'plot-driven.' I gave this story a 3/5 because it had a very nice idea to it, but it wasn't applied in a way I really enjoyed.
January 15, 2019
This book was a very interesting read. Meghan becomes very concerned about Aimee's well being especially since she started being friends with Cara. Meghan knows Cara very well they used to be best friends in middle school and Cara hurt her very badly and they stopped being friends. She is starting to keep tabs on aimee to make sure Cara is not hurting her. She then comes to the fact that she needs to inform Aimee on what kind of a person Cara is. Meghan waits at Aimee's house afterschool to try and talk to her, Aimee arrives at home and starts to tell her that she has noticed that Meghan has been stalking her and becomes very upset and tells her to leave. Aimee soon comes to realise what kind of person Cara is when she stole something of hers. She thinks to herself that she should've just listened to what Meghan had to say. Getting to the end of the book Aimee and Meghan created a plan to get back at her for hurting them, there plan becomes a success. They become very good friends after that, walking into school together, meeting after every class they knew they were not like anyone else in the school and they liked it that way.
December 25, 2020
Meghan Ball is an outsider at school: she is overweight and so she is both seen and not seen by her peers, and she is unhappy. Aimee Zorn is thin, but also unhappy. Together they work to get revenge on the person who has hurt them both the most.
I was disappointed with this. I thought it was going to be a story about how two misfits can be drawn to each other, and develop a good friendship even if they are opposites, but it wasn't that. Aimee was not a nice person at all. She was probably as judgemental about Meghan as everyone else, in fact, if Cara hadn't done what she did, Aimee would never have even acknowledged Meghan. Also they both homed in on Cara as being the worst, and yet the boys who bullied Meghan receive no punishment for their actions. I can't see what the point of the story was tbh. Very disappointing.
I was disappointed with this. I thought it was going to be a story about how two misfits can be drawn to each other, and develop a good friendship even if they are opposites, but it wasn't that. Aimee was not a nice person at all. She was probably as judgemental about Meghan as everyone else, in fact, if Cara hadn't done what she did, Aimee would never have even acknowledged Meghan. Also they both homed in on Cara as being the worst, and yet the boys who bullied Meghan receive no punishment for their actions. I can't see what the point of the story was tbh. Very disappointing.
September 29, 2017
I like this book because it makes me think about my feelings and makes me realize what i should do better in life. It also makes me realize that just because people don’t act the same or look the same as someone else you shouldn’t judge them they have there own personality and their own style. I like this book because it makes you realize not to try to change people. There are also some parts about bullying you shouldn’t bully someone just because how they look or how they look.
This book makes me look at the bad side of me and the better side of me. It makes me realize that everyone has good and bad sides in their life not just me. So it makes me feel bad when people get judged for their cover because they don’t know what it going on with other people’s lives.
This book makes me look at the bad side of me and the better side of me. It makes me realize that everyone has good and bad sides in their life not just me. So it makes me feel bad when people get judged for their cover because they don’t know what it going on with other people’s lives.
October 12, 2017
1.The main conflict of the characters was that Meghan was basically a invisible and over weight person and she had no friends and tried to fit in, while Aimee was really skinny and didn't either have friends. They were both bullied by the same girl and they both decided to team up against her and get revenge.
4. The two most important trait about Meghan is that she was independent and strong its important because she can show how someone can be alone and doesn't need someone to be with her and strong because she tolerated the girl that bullied her and not break down. The most important trait about Aimee is that she is also strong for tolerating the bully and really nice to team up with Meghan and be friends with her.
4. The two most important trait about Meghan is that she was independent and strong its important because she can show how someone can be alone and doesn't need someone to be with her and strong because she tolerated the girl that bullied her and not break down. The most important trait about Aimee is that she is also strong for tolerating the bully and really nice to team up with Meghan and be friends with her.
December 16, 2017
Mixed feelings about this novel of two female high school outsiders, 1 obese, the other anorexic. The theme of judging people by their looks is addressed along with the typical bullying and isolation. The "mean girl" fits into the story but is quite stereotypical. I really liked the exploration of psychological exploration into the causes of these two opposite eating disorders. The story moves along very slowly and will take a patient reader to read through to the end. Some of the events seem plausible and others do not quite reach the realm of plausibility. Despite its flaws, I recommend this novel to readers age 12 and up who read for understanding of life and people and those who may find themselves on the "outside looking in".
October 24, 2018
This book was a really good lesson on how people judge books by their covers and how what goes around comes around. Meghan Ball is the most invisible person at school while also being the most visible. Everyone can see her huge body, but they all completely ignore her existence. Aimee is anorexic. She is a really good poet. They both have an enormous hatred of Cara Roy because she stole Aimee’s poetry and abandoned Meghan when she needed her most. Their forces combined created a plan that could give them both revenge on Cara. I really liked how the book brought enormous power to the two people who had always been powerless.
December 21, 2020
I will say, the writing was phenomenal. And I thought it was really interesting how each of the main characters was dehumanized in the other's POV... however, I can definitely see where people would have a problem with this one, because I think that a page didn't go by without Meghan being described as just being monstrously obese.
Well-written, interesting characters, plot was a bit meh.
Well-written, interesting characters, plot was a bit meh.
January 29, 2018
This book it about a girl named Meghan who is overweight. People say all sorts of things about Meghan and the people make her feel as if she doesn't exist. Meghan meets a girl that changes are life. I disliked this book because the event where boring and it feel like the book went on for ever. I wouldn't recommend reading this book.
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