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Life in the Fat Lane
Beauty pageant winner, homecoming queen--Lara has the world at her feet. Until she gets fat.
Despite a strict diet and workout schedule, Lara is soon a nameless, faceless, 200-pound-plus teenage blimp. She's desperate to get her to-die-for body back--and to find an explanation for her rapid weight gain.
When she's diagnosed with a mysterious metabolic disorder that has no known cure, Lara fears she'll spend the rest of her life trapped in a fat suit. Who will stand by her? Her image-conscious family? Her shallow friends? Her handsome boyfriend? Or will she be left alone in the land of the fat girls?
Despite a strict diet and workout schedule, Lara is soon a nameless, faceless, 200-pound-plus teenage blimp. She's desperate to get her to-die-for body back--and to find an explanation for her rapid weight gain.
When she's diagnosed with a mysterious metabolic disorder that has no known cure, Lara fears she'll spend the rest of her life trapped in a fat suit. Who will stand by her? Her image-conscious family? Her shallow friends? Her handsome boyfriend? Or will she be left alone in the land of the fat girls?
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Cherie Bennett
126 books146 followersA popular novelist, playwright, and newspaper columnist, Cherie moves effortlessly from genre to genre, writing powerful and entertaining work, whether in literary hardcover teen fiction, mass market paperback fiction, for the stage, film and television, and for her nationally-syndicated teen advice column.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews
April 24, 2021
"If you can dream it, you can achieve it".
Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett .
2021 Reread. First read a very long time ago. See review below.
Realistic fiction..heartbreaking fiction.
Triggers..Bullying, overdose, attempted suicide, adultery, fat shaming.
OK..This seems to be a love it or hate it. I really enjoyed this book. It was real, gutteral and can easily break your heart. But I can see how it would not be for everyone.
Lara Ardeche is a beauty contest winner, a student in high school, miss popular and stunningly lovely. Has the world by the tail. What could go wrong?
She gains a few pounds..no big deal right. But then she gains another few pounds..and another..
When Lara first starts gaining weight she is not all that concerned. But suddenly her weight skyrockets out of control..the thing is she is not eating anything more then she always did and she is exercising too. What is happening to Lara?
To say this book is well written does not do it justice. I was so touched by this story and all the people in it. Sometimes when reading YA, it is a struggle because the book feels to (for lack of a better term) "teenage" for me. Not this one. Rarely have I been so moved by a YA book.
Some would argue and have argued that Lara is a cold mean person. That is true or at least certain aspects of her are. Nobody is black and white. We all have shades of gray. That is shown here, not just through Lara but through her family, her boyfriend and her friends.
There IS Fat Shaming here and I warn you it is brutal. But I do not think the author meant to insult overweight people. I think she is trying to show the pervasive effect of bullying. And she chose to do it by showcasing the life of a beauty queen who turns into everything she had once made fun of.
If you will think back to your high school years..ANYONE who was different was bullied. I know many a person who was picked on including myself. Among the issues myself and the people I know were picked on for include:
Weight of coarse BUT..
Glasses
Intelligence..being both to smart or not smart enough
Not having designer jeans
being to quiet
being to talkative
looking "dirty"
Reading to much
crying to easily
Anything and everything else one can think of.
Basically, this book is the opposite of Jemima J, a book I LOATHED and found way more offensive than this one.
But I think if someone has a tough time reading about bullying or teasing they may not like this book because alot of that happens here. So proceed with caution. I was impressed by the fact that the author did not neatly wrap things up as things are very rarely perfect and tidy in reality.
I would give this 4.5 stars. I found it to be an absorbing, deeply moving and well written book.
Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett .
2021 Reread. First read a very long time ago. See review below.
Realistic fiction..heartbreaking fiction.
Triggers..Bullying, overdose, attempted suicide, adultery, fat shaming.
OK..This seems to be a love it or hate it. I really enjoyed this book. It was real, gutteral and can easily break your heart. But I can see how it would not be for everyone.
Lara Ardeche is a beauty contest winner, a student in high school, miss popular and stunningly lovely. Has the world by the tail. What could go wrong?
She gains a few pounds..no big deal right. But then she gains another few pounds..and another..
When Lara first starts gaining weight she is not all that concerned. But suddenly her weight skyrockets out of control..the thing is she is not eating anything more then she always did and she is exercising too. What is happening to Lara?
To say this book is well written does not do it justice. I was so touched by this story and all the people in it. Sometimes when reading YA, it is a struggle because the book feels to (for lack of a better term) "teenage" for me. Not this one. Rarely have I been so moved by a YA book.
Some would argue and have argued that Lara is a cold mean person. That is true or at least certain aspects of her are. Nobody is black and white. We all have shades of gray. That is shown here, not just through Lara but through her family, her boyfriend and her friends.
There IS Fat Shaming here and I warn you it is brutal. But I do not think the author meant to insult overweight people. I think she is trying to show the pervasive effect of bullying. And she chose to do it by showcasing the life of a beauty queen who turns into everything she had once made fun of.
If you will think back to your high school years..ANYONE who was different was bullied. I know many a person who was picked on including myself. Among the issues myself and the people I know were picked on for include:
Weight of coarse BUT..
Glasses
Intelligence..being both to smart or not smart enough
Not having designer jeans
being to quiet
being to talkative
looking "dirty"
Reading to much
crying to easily
Anything and everything else one can think of.
Basically, this book is the opposite of Jemima J, a book I LOATHED and found way more offensive than this one.
But I think if someone has a tough time reading about bullying or teasing they may not like this book because alot of that happens here. So proceed with caution. I was impressed by the fact that the author did not neatly wrap things up as things are very rarely perfect and tidy in reality.
I would give this 4.5 stars. I found it to be an absorbing, deeply moving and well written book.
December 20, 2008
Okay, the only reason this book is getting two stars is because it kept me entertained enough to keep turning the pages, but having said that, I pretty much hated this book. I've read a lot of fat books in my day, and this is the first one where I was left completely uninspired. There was no humor, no irony, and really no message at all. I really don't like the idea of teenage girls reading this book, because either way I think this book could actually egg on the stereotype that girls are only valuable if they are thin. Even when the character in the book is at her biggest, she is still unable to forgive her fellow chubby classmates for being chubby. There was no repentance, no realization of inner-beauty, no acceptance of self. And the girls who were skinny, including her mother, were total self-destructive hags who were completely miserable in their own right. The only likeable character was the protagonist's "fat friend" who was a size fourteen (excuse me?), who's genuine kindness and loyalty was lost in her discriptions like "tree trunk thighs" and "fat butt." I understand that we are in a "skinny era," and I can kind of see where the author was coming from in writing the story, but in the end it left me just feeling sad and a bit assaulted!
August 19, 2010
I love a good eating disorder (ED from here on out) story. Let's get that fact out of the way first. I find the psychology of them endlessly fascinating and one day, I hope to work with and help those that suffer from EDs.
Perhaps my more-than-casual interest in EDs colored my perception of this novel too strongly. Maybe author, Cherie Bennett, did not intend to address EDs at all, though much of the story centers around typical disordered thoughts and some characters are governed by what is usually looked at as disordered behavior, though Bennett refrains from using any specific terms (purging, binging, etc.) to refer to Lara's behavior. This story is not strictly about an ED, but it is firmly entrenched in that world. What Bennett did intend to do is a mystery to me.
Beauty queen and conveniently-named (for a completely unimaginative fat joke in the novel's latter half), Lara Ardeche (pronounced Ard-ash, can you see it coming?!?), is the straight-A, perfectionist, popular girl with parents who have no problems obsessing about her weight and eating habits over the dinner table. That's about 3 precursors for an ED right there. I'm willing to give Bennett one point for correct information, but I'm about to take away a million points for negligence.
Chapter numbers are, instead of chronological, beginning from one, Lara's weight measurements as they change through the book. Convenient for the reader, sure, so you don't have to do math or flip back chapters to add up Lara's weight and the plot points are all centered around weight, so the subject matter changes with each weight change. On the other hand, how gross and patronizing, to completely reduce this character to her weight and size, offering minimal plot with plateaus.
Also, when Lara is deemed to be at her perfect weight in the beginning of the novel, it gives someone who might tend toward disorder a goal weight to attain. Numbers are known to be triggering for those who are suffering with an ED. Although anyone with an ED picking up a book with this title is probably looking for trouble, a good bit of fear-based "thinspiration" and Bennett provides plenty of it.
Lara is under an insane amount of pressure from almost every source. Her parents have a rocky, seemingly loveless marriage, her friends are superficial and make derogatory comments about Lara's less popular plus-sized best friend to her face, her boyfriend is deemed unsatisfactory though she does love him, she has beauty pageant demands and she has self-imposed high academic standards. When she gains a little bit of weight, the pressure mounts and her barely-existent self-confidence falters until everything threatens to give way. Then does, when she continues gaining weight. Her grades take a dive, her parents relationship fractures, her friends turn on her, she can't even diet "right" (she abstains from eating during the day and sneaks food at night), and continues to gain weight to the point of hospitalization.
Being the person I am, I analyzed the clues given: Lara diets and "cheats" when failing to succeed at adhering to impossible restrictions, she works out to extremes. This has ED written all over it. Even when her weight gain was minimal, her mother provided immediate scrutiny. God. Her mother. What a piece of work. She set a terrible example, smoking and restricting her own eating for fear of weight gain and in the interest of keeping her man. All this set up to tell a pretty good story of what can happen when a perfect storm of pressure breaks down the spirit and body of a seemingly perfect girl.
But no.
I was debating revealing the next detail, but the following fact can be found on the back of another 1998 edition, so it's technically not a spoiler: it turns out that Lara develops a FICTIONAL metabolic disorder that causes her to gain weight, regardless of calorie intake.
I read the acknowledgments, where Bennett thanked someone for medical references, so I assume the disorder is based on something real. That's fine. The fact is that the doctors tell her that she's retaining insane amounts of water, her body is highly efficient, the less you feed it, the more "efficient" her body could get, leading to more weight gain.
Seriously? I mean, wouldn't she at least have some kidney problems or something?
Whatever. She gets "fat" (I won't reveal her weight at either end of the scale but she and everyone else calls her this), word spreads in her hometown that it is out of her control and she gets some pity, even though her old superficial asshole friends turn against her.
I understand the appeal of using an outside force as the controlling factor - completely governing the weight she will be. Most bodies have a set-point at which they will return with normal eating habits, which is out of anyone's control.
Why, then, was that not enough to be a compelling story? Looking at how a "perfect" girl dealt with weight gain -- flying in the face of what everyone around her seemed to judge about her -- would have made for an empowering story, had Lara ever for one second stopped hating her new body.
No. Life in the Fat Lane supplied the perfect bogeyman, an unstoppable force onto which Lara could place the blame for her weight and could safely hate her body without hating herself...though she kind of did that too.
After Lara's family moves, she loses all her social capitol as well as the pity she'd gained at her old school. Lara's new school was a horror show of fat-hating stigma (which, to be fair, a lot of high schools probably are for most people that fail to fall into a narrow ideal) and everyone else's disdain for her was only compounded by her own self-loathing.
Even as she allowed herself to start a new life in a new town, deigned to make friends with the other outcasts (she was horrified that they gravitated toward her, as if she was one of them) and found a way to enjoy a talent that didn't rely on her beauty -- she never seemed to stop hating herself. What she went through didn't make her change her opinion of anyone of size who were surely to blame for their own weight problems, except, OMG, some of them can apparently dress themselves and still have style! And sometimes they can find guys that like them, if they're blind or probably still want them to lose weight.
For f-ing real?
The unnecessary disease, on top of the incessant weight bashing made for an unbelievable, yet still entirely depressing read. I cannot recommend this book for anyone and can only view it as a strong example of what not to do. Don't pull explanations out of thin air. Don't supply hate directed at a character (and a large segment of the population) that never gets resolved unless you want your characters irredeemable. And definitely, do not feed on the fears of those with actual diseases and/or endorse those behaviors, giving them perfect justification for disordered reasoning without attempting to frame any of that as such.
Sensationalistic, irresponsible BS.
(Also posted at Lose Your Cred.)
Perhaps my more-than-casual interest in EDs colored my perception of this novel too strongly. Maybe author, Cherie Bennett, did not intend to address EDs at all, though much of the story centers around typical disordered thoughts and some characters are governed by what is usually looked at as disordered behavior, though Bennett refrains from using any specific terms (purging, binging, etc.) to refer to Lara's behavior. This story is not strictly about an ED, but it is firmly entrenched in that world. What Bennett did intend to do is a mystery to me.
Beauty queen and conveniently-named (for a completely unimaginative fat joke in the novel's latter half), Lara Ardeche (pronounced Ard-ash, can you see it coming?!?), is the straight-A, perfectionist, popular girl with parents who have no problems obsessing about her weight and eating habits over the dinner table. That's about 3 precursors for an ED right there. I'm willing to give Bennett one point for correct information, but I'm about to take away a million points for negligence.
Chapter numbers are, instead of chronological, beginning from one, Lara's weight measurements as they change through the book. Convenient for the reader, sure, so you don't have to do math or flip back chapters to add up Lara's weight and the plot points are all centered around weight, so the subject matter changes with each weight change. On the other hand, how gross and patronizing, to completely reduce this character to her weight and size, offering minimal plot with plateaus.
Also, when Lara is deemed to be at her perfect weight in the beginning of the novel, it gives someone who might tend toward disorder a goal weight to attain. Numbers are known to be triggering for those who are suffering with an ED. Although anyone with an ED picking up a book with this title is probably looking for trouble, a good bit of fear-based "thinspiration" and Bennett provides plenty of it.
Lara is under an insane amount of pressure from almost every source. Her parents have a rocky, seemingly loveless marriage, her friends are superficial and make derogatory comments about Lara's less popular plus-sized best friend to her face, her boyfriend is deemed unsatisfactory though she does love him, she has beauty pageant demands and she has self-imposed high academic standards. When she gains a little bit of weight, the pressure mounts and her barely-existent self-confidence falters until everything threatens to give way. Then does, when she continues gaining weight. Her grades take a dive, her parents relationship fractures, her friends turn on her, she can't even diet "right" (she abstains from eating during the day and sneaks food at night), and continues to gain weight to the point of hospitalization.
Being the person I am, I analyzed the clues given: Lara diets and "cheats" when failing to succeed at adhering to impossible restrictions, she works out to extremes. This has ED written all over it. Even when her weight gain was minimal, her mother provided immediate scrutiny. God. Her mother. What a piece of work. She set a terrible example, smoking and restricting her own eating for fear of weight gain and in the interest of keeping her man. All this set up to tell a pretty good story of what can happen when a perfect storm of pressure breaks down the spirit and body of a seemingly perfect girl.
But no.
I was debating revealing the next detail, but the following fact can be found on the back of another 1998 edition, so it's technically not a spoiler: it turns out that Lara develops a FICTIONAL metabolic disorder that causes her to gain weight, regardless of calorie intake.
I read the acknowledgments, where Bennett thanked someone for medical references, so I assume the disorder is based on something real. That's fine. The fact is that the doctors tell her that she's retaining insane amounts of water, her body is highly efficient, the less you feed it, the more "efficient" her body could get, leading to more weight gain.
Seriously? I mean, wouldn't she at least have some kidney problems or something?
Whatever. She gets "fat" (I won't reveal her weight at either end of the scale but she and everyone else calls her this), word spreads in her hometown that it is out of her control and she gets some pity, even though her old superficial asshole friends turn against her.
I understand the appeal of using an outside force as the controlling factor - completely governing the weight she will be. Most bodies have a set-point at which they will return with normal eating habits, which is out of anyone's control.
Why, then, was that not enough to be a compelling story? Looking at how a "perfect" girl dealt with weight gain -- flying in the face of what everyone around her seemed to judge about her -- would have made for an empowering story, had Lara ever for one second stopped hating her new body.
No. Life in the Fat Lane supplied the perfect bogeyman, an unstoppable force onto which Lara could place the blame for her weight and could safely hate her body without hating herself...though she kind of did that too.
After Lara's family moves, she loses all her social capitol as well as the pity she'd gained at her old school. Lara's new school was a horror show of fat-hating stigma (which, to be fair, a lot of high schools probably are for most people that fail to fall into a narrow ideal) and everyone else's disdain for her was only compounded by her own self-loathing.
Even as she allowed herself to start a new life in a new town, deigned to make friends with the other outcasts (she was horrified that they gravitated toward her, as if she was one of them) and found a way to enjoy a talent that didn't rely on her beauty -- she never seemed to stop hating herself. What she went through didn't make her change her opinion of anyone of size who were surely to blame for their own weight problems, except, OMG, some of them can apparently dress themselves and still have style! And sometimes they can find guys that like them, if they're blind or probably still want them to lose weight.
For f-ing real?
The unnecessary disease, on top of the incessant weight bashing made for an unbelievable, yet still entirely depressing read. I cannot recommend this book for anyone and can only view it as a strong example of what not to do. Don't pull explanations out of thin air. Don't supply hate directed at a character (and a large segment of the population) that never gets resolved unless you want your characters irredeemable. And definitely, do not feed on the fears of those with actual diseases and/or endorse those behaviors, giving them perfect justification for disordered reasoning without attempting to frame any of that as such.
Sensationalistic, irresponsible BS.
(Also posted at Lose Your Cred.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2009
Thi sbook was just okay. I was looking for a good message for YA about weight but was disappointed. The main character starts out at 115 or something and gains 100 pounds. Now while that is a drastic weight gain in 1 year, I couldn't get past the fact that this 5'7" character topped out at 218 and yet was described as enduring torturous teasing and stares, couldn't fit into the movie theatre seat and was in essence some huge tub of lard. This is just so unrealistic. I am 5'5" 200 pounds and am not a tub, I fit into my movie theatre seats just fine and certainly don't have people staring at me like some freak of nature. 218 pounds is not that heavy. So the book was alright but I just couldn't get past the fact that the girl topped out at only 218. I know it may not be healthy and all of that but to think that a person that height and weight would've been wearing a size 22/24 is unrealistic.
March 4, 2012
This book kept me reading until the very last page. I was interested in finding out the reason for the title and the reason did surprise me. I was expecting a girl who considered herself overweight and had an eating disorder but this book was the opposite which had me interested. At first though, I felt sorry for Lara because of this disease but as the book went on I did sadly loose sympathy for her because she became rude and degrading against other larger people. This novel made me really think about the society we live in. I feel so ashamed that we live in a world where if someone is larger they are made fun of and bullies never seize to stop the name calling and judging. I did like especially the writing of this book because I can tell that it was made for a teenage reader. I could relate to the feeling that Lara and Molly felt because I always feel as if I am not toned enough and I compare myself to my thin friends who are able to eat whatever they want and still be so skinny. I liked this book a lot and it really was a page turner for me personally but I do understand how it can be degrading and frustrating because of all the comments and the family problems.
October 6, 2011
Concept/Ideas: 5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Storyline/Plot: 5/5
Overall Rating 5/5 stars
Wow, this book was amazing. This book actually being a reprint of an older version published in 1998, Ive never heard of this book. I loved it from page one, to the very end. The plot was very original. Who would have ever thought someone would write a novel about a BEAUTY QUEEN ending up being the one to be the "fat girl" in high school. Exactly. Very original in my opinion.
The book was very well paced, and I read through it quickly. The only thing that was a downer for me had to be character development. Lara didn't really seem to change until the VERY end, which sort of bugged me. It would have been nice to see her embrace herself a little earlier on in the novel if anything.
I found other characters to be extremely shallow, and ALMOST a bit unreal. Being overweight myself, yes, I do know how cruel people can be. But the way Lara was treated in the novel seemed so unrealistic. People DO NOT go around making fun of you as much as this book portrays it to be. Being bigger... In high school ive only ever been called things to my face about twice. And I'm in grade 11. So, that did irritate me, because it is not as bad it this book makes it out to be. Another lesson learned in this book would have to be the fact that you really can't judge anyone. Even Lara, being the perfect girl, ended up having a very unperfect life behind the scenes. It goes to show that you really need to love and accept yourself, but at the same time, no judge others. You NEVER know what their life is like, and why it is the way it is.
The one character who stood out was Lara's boyfriend Jett. He seemed pretty good, and stood by Lara throughout the book. He was a good boyfriend from what I judged. Another character I loved was Suzanne. Wow, what a lady! Totally thinks the same way I do. Loved her motivational, moving character. I wish Lara would have taken her word more seriously.
Overall, Loved this book. It was so awesome, and does relate to people, weight issues or not!! A great, moving read.
Characters: 3.5/5
Storyline/Plot: 5/5
Overall Rating 5/5 stars
Wow, this book was amazing. This book actually being a reprint of an older version published in 1998, Ive never heard of this book. I loved it from page one, to the very end. The plot was very original. Who would have ever thought someone would write a novel about a BEAUTY QUEEN ending up being the one to be the "fat girl" in high school. Exactly. Very original in my opinion.
The book was very well paced, and I read through it quickly. The only thing that was a downer for me had to be character development. Lara didn't really seem to change until the VERY end, which sort of bugged me. It would have been nice to see her embrace herself a little earlier on in the novel if anything.
I found other characters to be extremely shallow, and ALMOST a bit unreal. Being overweight myself, yes, I do know how cruel people can be. But the way Lara was treated in the novel seemed so unrealistic. People DO NOT go around making fun of you as much as this book portrays it to be. Being bigger... In high school ive only ever been called things to my face about twice. And I'm in grade 11. So, that did irritate me, because it is not as bad it this book makes it out to be. Another lesson learned in this book would have to be the fact that you really can't judge anyone. Even Lara, being the perfect girl, ended up having a very unperfect life behind the scenes. It goes to show that you really need to love and accept yourself, but at the same time, no judge others. You NEVER know what their life is like, and why it is the way it is.
The one character who stood out was Lara's boyfriend Jett. He seemed pretty good, and stood by Lara throughout the book. He was a good boyfriend from what I judged. Another character I loved was Suzanne. Wow, what a lady! Totally thinks the same way I do. Loved her motivational, moving character. I wish Lara would have taken her word more seriously.
Overall, Loved this book. It was so awesome, and does relate to people, weight issues or not!! A great, moving read.
Shelved as 'gave-up-on'
May 27, 2012I'm tempted to put this in the "read" section because I came quite close to finishing this, but when it started to get cringe-worthy (and when it was almost due to the library) I decided to put it away. Far away.
I guess I just don't quite get the point of this book. Our heroine is supposed to be this effervescent, extremely nice character, yet she comes off as incredibly shallow, irritating and ignorantly snarky.
For the first couple chapters, all we do is obsess whether Lara will win prom queen. I'm sorry, is a f*** supposed to be given here...?
Anyhow, at the dance, she makes comments on everyone's appearance, and insults a "fat girl," by trying to "help her." Ugh.
It's weird, because usually in a book like this the "fat girl" would be the protagonists, and Lara/popular girl would be the villain, the "oh-so-nice" one that's actually a b****.
We also meet Lara's best friend, and the only thing we really learn about her is that she's a) really nice, which "makes up for" (b she's "extremely overweight/fat/chubby". She's a size fourteen. Here again, I question the message of this book. Aren't cheesy weight books like this supposed to help with self-esteem and other eating issues?
Then - oh, no! - Lara begins to gain weight. She literally starves herself in order to try to make herself thinner, and her mother publicly insults her in front of her family.
The book gets increasingly worse as it goes on, as she gains more and more weight and becomes more and more whiny and irritating. Perhaps there's a point at the end of the book where she realizes "being fat is okay!" or some sort of weird ending like that, but it's also my problem with Specials (though with the latter, it's cutting instead of weight): the message is the what not to do, but the actual real message is lost in the ending.
I guess I just don't quite get the point of this book. Our heroine is supposed to be this effervescent, extremely nice character, yet she comes off as incredibly shallow, irritating and ignorantly snarky.
For the first couple chapters, all we do is obsess whether Lara will win prom queen. I'm sorry, is a f*** supposed to be given here...?
Anyhow, at the dance, she makes comments on everyone's appearance, and insults a "fat girl," by trying to "help her." Ugh.
It's weird, because usually in a book like this the "fat girl" would be the protagonists, and Lara/popular girl would be the villain, the "oh-so-nice" one that's actually a b****.
We also meet Lara's best friend, and the only thing we really learn about her is that she's a) really nice, which "makes up for" (b she's "extremely overweight/fat/chubby". She's a size fourteen. Here again, I question the message of this book. Aren't cheesy weight books like this supposed to help with self-esteem and other eating issues?
Then - oh, no! - Lara begins to gain weight. She literally starves herself in order to try to make herself thinner, and her mother publicly insults her in front of her family.
The book gets increasingly worse as it goes on, as she gains more and more weight and becomes more and more whiny and irritating. Perhaps there's a point at the end of the book where she realizes "being fat is okay!" or some sort of weird ending like that, but it's also my problem with Specials (though with the latter, it's cutting instead of weight): the message is the what not to do, but the actual real message is lost in the ending.
May 10, 2010
While this book brought up some very good issues about how terrible overweight people are treated, I found it preachy and many times got irritated with Lara's whining.
I can understand that she's feeling sorry for herself because she used to be a beauty queen and now she's one hundred pounds overweight. But I don't want to read that same thing a zillion times, right up to the end of the book. It made me lose sympathy for Lara, and by the end of the book I thought she was a stuck up brat. I also had difficulty with her disease, Axell-Crowne Syndrome. It isn't real - the author made it up. And because of this disease, Lara felt superior to other overweight people because gaining weight wasn't her fault. Stuck up brat strikes again. To top it off, she gets mad at other people for assuming she was overweight from eating too much, yet she assumed that exact thing with other overweight people. How does she know the person she's looking down on isn't also suffering from Axell-Crowne Syndrome? It's hard to relate to a hypocrite, especially one who never seems to learn her lesson and grow from it. I didn't like other messages in the book either, such as Suzanne's gorgeous boyfriend, Tristan, hating that Suzanne is overweight. If the point of the book is to say not everyone can be thin and that's okay, then why doesn't Tristan love Suzanne for who she is, regardless of her weight?
Anyway, there are many ways the author could have handled this story, and it's a shame she chose this one.
I can understand that she's feeling sorry for herself because she used to be a beauty queen and now she's one hundred pounds overweight. But I don't want to read that same thing a zillion times, right up to the end of the book. It made me lose sympathy for Lara, and by the end of the book I thought she was a stuck up brat. I also had difficulty with her disease, Axell-Crowne Syndrome. It isn't real - the author made it up. And because of this disease, Lara felt superior to other overweight people because gaining weight wasn't her fault. Stuck up brat strikes again. To top it off, she gets mad at other people for assuming she was overweight from eating too much, yet she assumed that exact thing with other overweight people. How does she know the person she's looking down on isn't also suffering from Axell-Crowne Syndrome? It's hard to relate to a hypocrite, especially one who never seems to learn her lesson and grow from it. I didn't like other messages in the book either, such as Suzanne's gorgeous boyfriend, Tristan, hating that Suzanne is overweight. If the point of the book is to say not everyone can be thin and that's okay, then why doesn't Tristan love Suzanne for who she is, regardless of her weight?
Anyway, there are many ways the author could have handled this story, and it's a shame she chose this one.
February 3, 2013
Wow, lots of angry reviews. I reread it today just to make sure, but my original opinion stands. This book did a great job of showing how it feels to go from thin and gorgeous to hopelessly overweight (and from Molly on the side, you also get what it's like being the overweight friend of someone much slimmer). The idea of succumbing to a disease where you literally cannot stop gaining weight adds an extra layer of horror, while making you grateful that at least you don't have that problem.
Lara is a likable character throughout, never mean, just honest. The writing is vivid and some scenes have stayed with me for years, like Lara raiding the fridge after realizing the diet's doing no good, or realizing that Jett loves her but isn't "in love with" her anymore (HEARTBREAK). I also love that even though this book was published in the late 90s, her mother is a dated cliche, with a mindset of "how to be a good wife/proper woman" evidently unchanged her entire life - I can definitely see that happening. So many issues in this family, it's a delicious soap opera to have for a backdrop while the real story unfolds.
Lara is a likable character throughout, never mean, just honest. The writing is vivid and some scenes have stayed with me for years, like Lara raiding the fridge after realizing the diet's doing no good, or realizing that Jett loves her but isn't "in love with" her anymore (HEARTBREAK). I also love that even though this book was published in the late 90s, her mother is a dated cliche, with a mindset of "how to be a good wife/proper woman" evidently unchanged her entire life - I can definitely see that happening. So many issues in this family, it's a delicious soap opera to have for a backdrop while the real story unfolds.
October 31, 2012
If you're thin and you read this, I'm not sure if this will be comic relief or what... But if you're fat and you read this it will be painful. Very painful. Would you rather be stupid or fat? Stupid, yell the children! Would you rather be ugly or fat? Ugly, yell the children.
Lara is the perfect girl who suddenly starts gaining weight for apparently no reason at all. She discovers that it could be because of an incurable disease but her family and social life begin to unravel as she gets fatter and fatter.
I don't know how I feel right now. It depressed me and really made me feel low reading it. Being fat, you know how people see you and how they feel about your fatness but it was so vivid in this book that it just made me sad to read it.
Lara is the perfect girl who suddenly starts gaining weight for apparently no reason at all. She discovers that it could be because of an incurable disease but her family and social life begin to unravel as she gets fatter and fatter.
I don't know how I feel right now. It depressed me and really made me feel low reading it. Being fat, you know how people see you and how they feel about your fatness but it was so vivid in this book that it just made me sad to read it.
June 9, 2015
I remember reading this over and over when in high school. I related with Lara so much and felt a connection with her. I decided to read it again and felt the same way, if not more now that I’m older.
There is something about the writing in this book that is very captivating and made it very hard for me to put the book down. It was hard for me to empathize with Lara at first because she does has a bratty attitude, but looking at her life and what happened to her, I can’t say I blame her.
Ultimately, it’s about relationships and family/peer dynamics, and how you feel about yourself on the inside. Even though it was published seventeen years ago (!!) it is still relate-able and I feel it was before its time. Definitely give it a try!
There is something about the writing in this book that is very captivating and made it very hard for me to put the book down. It was hard for me to empathize with Lara at first because she does has a bratty attitude, but looking at her life and what happened to her, I can’t say I blame her.
Ultimately, it’s about relationships and family/peer dynamics, and how you feel about yourself on the inside. Even though it was published seventeen years ago (!!) it is still relate-able and I feel it was before its time. Definitely give it a try!
August 10, 2016
I originally read this book when i was very young and then promptly forgot all about it. When i was 17, i went through a similar experience as the main character- mine was due to a side effect of an antidepressant I was taking at the time and i went from a very naturally thin girl to gaining over 100 lbs. I'm now 22 and have discovered self love and body positivity. When i stumbled on this book in my basement I only vaguely remembered it and decided to give it another read. A few chapters in, I had to stop because I was flooded with the memories of how shitty this book had been. My initial problem was how poorly written this book was. Each character is a cringe worthy cliche, and the explicit prejudice towards plus size women is unnecessarily heavy handed. My second issue is with the protagonist. Even at her heaviest, she is critical of the other plus size girls around her which doesn't make any god damn sense. I had so many other problems with this book, from the predictable characters to the weird ending. It leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth, there is no moral, no resolution and no cathartic take away. I would never recommend this book and I sincerely hope there aren't too many young impressional girls who fall prey to it.
April 19, 2024
I read this as an impressionable seventh or eighth grader, already saddled with a substantial amount of body dysphoria. I think about this book all the time, similar to Go Ask Alice; it's so irresponsible and exploitative and I can't believe it was still in schools 9 years after publication, and more, that people have read it in the last decade and think it has any value.
September 7, 2014
When I read this book, I was 13 and in a bad yo-yoing phase to the extent of going from 130 to 200 lbs in less than 6 months.
This book was bought for comfort and hopes of it being relatable.
I think I would've been better off without it at the time. The main character, Lara is popular, pretty and very confident. She starts gaining weight, and BOOOOM! Most of her friends stop talking to her, guys who used to flirt with her laugh at her, and even her seemingly nice boyfriend is not all he looked to be!
Why? Because she got F-A-T.
In fact, its like gaining weight RUINED Lara's life. Her family falls apart, her parent's marriage crumbles, her fat Bff even admits to feeling guilty because she's HAPPY that she's not the fat one anymore.
Its bad enough that it emphasizes the importance of "Thin," and it being almost synonymous with happiness, but it also puts the stereotype that most men, even nice guys only want girls that can be carried and twirled around with ease.
Moral of the story? Never gain weight ever.
Imagine a depressed 13 year old reading this! I thought my life was fucking over because even in books, gaining weight is like disfiguring your body forever unless you lose weight!
Now I'm 18 and I've successfully lost 80 lbs, and i can assure you, being thin doesn't grant you happiness. I have a friend who is way more overweight than i ever was in my life, and she's more confident and comfortable with herself than girls who are size 4 and eating a lettuce leaf for lunch.
I wish i would've known that when I read the book.
This book was bought for comfort and hopes of it being relatable.
I think I would've been better off without it at the time. The main character, Lara is popular, pretty and very confident. She starts gaining weight, and BOOOOM! Most of her friends stop talking to her, guys who used to flirt with her laugh at her, and even her seemingly nice boyfriend is not all he looked to be!
Why? Because she got F-A-T.
In fact, its like gaining weight RUINED Lara's life. Her family falls apart, her parent's marriage crumbles, her fat Bff even admits to feeling guilty because she's HAPPY that she's not the fat one anymore.
Its bad enough that it emphasizes the importance of "Thin," and it being almost synonymous with happiness, but it also puts the stereotype that most men, even nice guys only want girls that can be carried and twirled around with ease.
Moral of the story? Never gain weight ever.
Imagine a depressed 13 year old reading this! I thought my life was fucking over because even in books, gaining weight is like disfiguring your body forever unless you lose weight!
Now I'm 18 and I've successfully lost 80 lbs, and i can assure you, being thin doesn't grant you happiness. I have a friend who is way more overweight than i ever was in my life, and she's more confident and comfortable with herself than girls who are size 4 and eating a lettuce leaf for lunch.
I wish i would've known that when I read the book.
January 19, 2014
A perfect example of how someone’s life can get turned upside down in a matter of days. Beautifully written in a way that is relatable to all teenagers and young adults, Life in the Fat Lane displays how a girl presumed to have a perfect life, a perfect boyfriend, a perfect family, popularity equivalent to Britney Spears, and winning homecoming queen can be taken away with the blink of an eye. The author, Cherie Bennett, tackles a huge contentious issue that many individuals have suffered and continue to suffer from, and shows them the light at the end of the tunnel. Inspiring writing narrated through the voice of Lara Ardeche, the girl experiencing a whirlwind of situations and emotions in her life. Additional themes include, the hardships of working through broken families as well as relationships. Another aspect that makes the book even more interesting of a read are the characters within the book that come from all walks of life. All things considered, this was definitely an enjoyable read that I cannot fault.
September 19, 2012
I don't like this book. I just don't like it! When I first picked this book up I thought it was about a girl who's been fat her entire life and decided to do something about it. But it was about this perfect girl, popular, beauty queen. She's nice to people and all that, although she doesn't say it I felt like she thought she was better looking than the rest or even better in general. Now, not everything is negative about her. I like her confidence. But I feel like I wasted my time, because I used to be fat and some of the things she said didn't make sense. Like when she was 210 Lbs. and at 5' 7" she's supposedly size 22/24. And I can tell you for sure that that's a lie, because I'm 5' 7" and when I weighed 210 Lbs I wore a size 14 pants comfortably.
December 12, 2021
Part 2 of reading books to help me learn how to write a character with an ED. I'm just going to outright say that this one was a good what not to do. Similarly to one of the other reviewers, the reason that this gets two stars instead of just one is that it was definitely a page turner--I wanted to see what would happen to Lara. And I very much found myself disappointed. Not only disappointed but outright sad. Usually with these books there's a message; the character learns to accept themselves/learns that weight and/or beauty isn't everything, the character learns that they can be beautiful at every size, the fallen from grace popular character learns to treat others better, etc. This one did none of that. In fact Lara goes throughout the whole story judging other people for being fat because 'I'm not like them, I'm the right kind of fat person!' She basically separates herself from other outcasts by saying that (and this is literally straight out of the book) they earned their fatness by overeating and she didn't. Not only does Lara not learn to accept and love herself but she still has that popular girl, geek hating mentality. I found it nearly impossible to like her character or feel bad for her because she was very much fake nice (think of that popular girl who acts like you're so blessed when she pays attention to you at all). She was fake nice and judgmental. And after her gain she was just outright mean and judgmental.
She lashed out at her brother, she treated her very supportive friend like trash, she was patronizing to Patty (who, according to Lara was lazy and earned her fat). There were moments, little glimmers of hope where I thought that she was starting to see the point and recognize that she had been patronizing and not the best friend. But in the end it flew over her head.
On top of never learning to treat others right, she also never learns to love herself. And you know what (even though I think that it was unintentional) Bennett did a good job of portraying how it can be hard for some people to love other people if they don't even love themselves. But this book was just straight depressing. She never learns to love and accept herself for who she is. By the end of the book she is still praying to be thin again and hoping to get Jett back despite having two other guys--Devon and Perry (who she writes off for being blind and fat respectively). The book ends with her saying she's 'okay' but that very much isn't the same as acceptance and self-respect. It also isn't as uplifting as it would have been if she looked and Devon, Perry, Cleo, and Suzanne and said 'wow, beauty comes in all forms, maybe I am pretty in my own way!'
But honestly, with a mother like hers, what can be expected? Her mom was a smoker who decided to stay married to a man that was cheating on her for approximately three years. Why? Because an 'old' 40 year old woman could never find love again! Very poor example for her daughter. And a poor message to readers. Coupled with her instantly pouncing on her daughter for being fat with just five extra pounds? Like she hit the panic button when Lara was probably still at a healthy weight. I will give some props to Bennett because a controlling, pageant mom and high expectations can (based on the research of done on EDs) can be a major catalyst for developing and ED. Except there was no depth to this and Bennett didn't really address it.
And that's another issue with this book. There were a whole lot of good points brought up in this book but they were either brushed aside in favor of fat jokes or not touched on at all. From Lara's parents' role (believe me, her father was god awful too, dare I say worse) to the treatment of overweight folks. I do think that Bennett provided a little window into how unnecessarily poorly and cruelly overweight folks are treated. However this is barely addressed and there's really no substance that comes from the commentary. It's just an endless parade of insults and humiliations without the uplifting and optimistic messages that usually follow. There's not really any condemning of what they say to Lara because Lara is saying the same stuff to herself.
Another thing that bothered me (and a different reviewer pointed this out) is her weight. I actually ended up googling this because I wanted to make sure. Bennett was describing Lara as really big--couldn't fit into a movie theater seat big. Correct me if I'm wrong but 218 pounds isn't that big. Certainly not big enough to have to special order a gym uniform. Unless Lara was only like 5 feet tall. I think that the portrayal of her weight was unrealistic. If played right that could have worked in Bennett's favor since EDs very much DO distort one's perception of their weight and how they looked. But, no, this was Bennett speaking as a narrator and not Lara.
All of this comes together to create something very harmful for someone who has an ED who could be looking for a character to relate to. Or just a teen girl in general. The amount of hatred towards bigger people in this book is unsettling (and, again, it is without the eventual uplifting message). One reviewer mentioned that someone with an ED picking this up is asking for trouble. And I very much agree with that reviewer when they said that someone looking for fear-based 'thinspo' has pleanty of ammo with this one.
I enjoy reading books on mental illness and eating disorders but this one just wasn't it. I wasn't entirely fond of Emily's Secret but it at least ended on a self-accepting note and had a more realistic portrayal of bulimia. So far Wintergirls is the best ED book that I've read. I'm going to have to keep searching.
She lashed out at her brother, she treated her very supportive friend like trash, she was patronizing to Patty (who, according to Lara was lazy and earned her fat). There were moments, little glimmers of hope where I thought that she was starting to see the point and recognize that she had been patronizing and not the best friend. But in the end it flew over her head.
On top of never learning to treat others right, she also never learns to love herself. And you know what (even though I think that it was unintentional) Bennett did a good job of portraying how it can be hard for some people to love other people if they don't even love themselves. But this book was just straight depressing. She never learns to love and accept herself for who she is. By the end of the book she is still praying to be thin again and hoping to get Jett back despite having two other guys--Devon and Perry (who she writes off for being blind and fat respectively). The book ends with her saying she's 'okay' but that very much isn't the same as acceptance and self-respect. It also isn't as uplifting as it would have been if she looked and Devon, Perry, Cleo, and Suzanne and said 'wow, beauty comes in all forms, maybe I am pretty in my own way!'
But honestly, with a mother like hers, what can be expected? Her mom was a smoker who decided to stay married to a man that was cheating on her for approximately three years. Why? Because an 'old' 40 year old woman could never find love again! Very poor example for her daughter. And a poor message to readers. Coupled with her instantly pouncing on her daughter for being fat with just five extra pounds? Like she hit the panic button when Lara was probably still at a healthy weight. I will give some props to Bennett because a controlling, pageant mom and high expectations can (based on the research of done on EDs) can be a major catalyst for developing and ED. Except there was no depth to this and Bennett didn't really address it.
And that's another issue with this book. There were a whole lot of good points brought up in this book but they were either brushed aside in favor of fat jokes or not touched on at all. From Lara's parents' role (believe me, her father was god awful too, dare I say worse) to the treatment of overweight folks. I do think that Bennett provided a little window into how unnecessarily poorly and cruelly overweight folks are treated. However this is barely addressed and there's really no substance that comes from the commentary. It's just an endless parade of insults and humiliations without the uplifting and optimistic messages that usually follow. There's not really any condemning of what they say to Lara because Lara is saying the same stuff to herself.
Another thing that bothered me (and a different reviewer pointed this out) is her weight. I actually ended up googling this because I wanted to make sure. Bennett was describing Lara as really big--couldn't fit into a movie theater seat big. Correct me if I'm wrong but 218 pounds isn't that big. Certainly not big enough to have to special order a gym uniform. Unless Lara was only like 5 feet tall. I think that the portrayal of her weight was unrealistic. If played right that could have worked in Bennett's favor since EDs very much DO distort one's perception of their weight and how they looked. But, no, this was Bennett speaking as a narrator and not Lara.
All of this comes together to create something very harmful for someone who has an ED who could be looking for a character to relate to. Or just a teen girl in general. The amount of hatred towards bigger people in this book is unsettling (and, again, it is without the eventual uplifting message). One reviewer mentioned that someone with an ED picking this up is asking for trouble. And I very much agree with that reviewer when they said that someone looking for fear-based 'thinspo' has pleanty of ammo with this one.
I enjoy reading books on mental illness and eating disorders but this one just wasn't it. I wasn't entirely fond of Emily's Secret but it at least ended on a self-accepting note and had a more realistic portrayal of bulimia. So far Wintergirls is the best ED book that I've read. I'm going to have to keep searching.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2021
This book was absolutely incredible I could relate so much to it but to the extent of The "Axell-Crowne" syndrome. This book is five stars because when you can relate to a book it gives you joy and it's like your are a background character who is invisible and can go In people's bodies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2015
This book was total garbage. It's like somebody told the author "Okay, here's a big advance payment, now write a book to make fat girls go rah-rah and all the skinny ones go away and stuff themselves with butter and chocolate." And she tried but she really didn't have any idea what they really wanted or how to go about it.
The characters, one and all, are cardboard. NONE of them are likable. Lara, the main character, is supposed to make you root for her, but she doesn't. She's a self-absorbed, spoiled princess who we're supposed to believe is actually a sweet and kind girl. But she hangs around with two cardboard mean girls named Lisa and Amber, plus a cardboard mouthy chunk named Molly. Lara seems to like Molly best but this doesn't make her tell Lisa and Amber straight out to stop taking potshots at Molly. And Molly herself is supposed to be likable, so different from Lara and the other skinny, shallow girls. But she's every bit as catty as Lisa and Amber, even to their faces. But of course in Cherie Bennett's world it's A-ok for Molly to be rude and insulting, because you see, she's not skinny! Don't you get it?
For that Matter, if Molly is so wonderful, why does she keep wasting her time with Lara and the Two Mean Friends in the first place?
Lara is extremely popular, then suddenly and inexplicably she begins putting on weight and just like that, nobody wants to be seen with her. Except Sarah, whose kindness Lara dismisses because Sarah is "nice to everybody" like that's a bad thing. (But remember, Lara is famous for being nice. But the rules don't apply to her.)
Lara balloons up to 200-plus pounds, which, contrary to what the author says, is not a size 22 and would not preclude somebody from getting into a seat at the movies.
While in the hospital trying to find out why she keeps gaining weight, Lara is visited by Fatty Patty, an overweight classmate whom Lara had never directly insulted, though she had not objected when her friends did. Patty implies that she has cursed Lara by wishing her to become fat. Okaaaay.
Anyway, Lara's whole family seems to have been cursed, as they have to move to Michigan from Tennessee, her father leaves for a younger woman and her mother falls into a suicidal depression.
The kids at Lara's new school are just as mean, but she makes cardboard quirky friends outside of school. For one, her new piano teacher, Suzanne, who is fatter than Lara, eats huge plates of food and wears things like hot-pink denim bib overalls.
I guess we're supposed to admire Suzanne's "fat acceptance" or something, but she really just came across as gross. And somebody as big as her would have been pretty uncomfortable in denim overalls, and hot pink denim overalls sound like baby clothes.
Anyway, of course Lara eventually begins to lose weight, presumably because Patty psychically took pity on her or thought she'd learned her lesson. I should add that Lara got a diagnosis, a fictitious disease that defies all the laws of biology by making its victims gain more weight the less they ate. Uh huh.
But the thing is, Lara never really changed. She was still the self-absorbed, looks-obsessed, cardboard princess she always was.
If Cherie Bennett had done this with an eye to being ironic and over the top with stereotypes and tropes, she could have made this a hilarious read. But she was not, and the book sucks.
And I'd also add that at this time when in some high schools the obesity rate is 75 percent or even higher, books about The Fat Kid are out of date. There is no single Fat Kid; the Fat Kids are the majority.
The characters, one and all, are cardboard. NONE of them are likable. Lara, the main character, is supposed to make you root for her, but she doesn't. She's a self-absorbed, spoiled princess who we're supposed to believe is actually a sweet and kind girl. But she hangs around with two cardboard mean girls named Lisa and Amber, plus a cardboard mouthy chunk named Molly. Lara seems to like Molly best but this doesn't make her tell Lisa and Amber straight out to stop taking potshots at Molly. And Molly herself is supposed to be likable, so different from Lara and the other skinny, shallow girls. But she's every bit as catty as Lisa and Amber, even to their faces. But of course in Cherie Bennett's world it's A-ok for Molly to be rude and insulting, because you see, she's not skinny! Don't you get it?
For that Matter, if Molly is so wonderful, why does she keep wasting her time with Lara and the Two Mean Friends in the first place?
Lara is extremely popular, then suddenly and inexplicably she begins putting on weight and just like that, nobody wants to be seen with her. Except Sarah, whose kindness Lara dismisses because Sarah is "nice to everybody" like that's a bad thing. (But remember, Lara is famous for being nice. But the rules don't apply to her.)
Lara balloons up to 200-plus pounds, which, contrary to what the author says, is not a size 22 and would not preclude somebody from getting into a seat at the movies.
While in the hospital trying to find out why she keeps gaining weight, Lara is visited by Fatty Patty, an overweight classmate whom Lara had never directly insulted, though she had not objected when her friends did. Patty implies that she has cursed Lara by wishing her to become fat. Okaaaay.
Anyway, Lara's whole family seems to have been cursed, as they have to move to Michigan from Tennessee, her father leaves for a younger woman and her mother falls into a suicidal depression.
The kids at Lara's new school are just as mean, but she makes cardboard quirky friends outside of school. For one, her new piano teacher, Suzanne, who is fatter than Lara, eats huge plates of food and wears things like hot-pink denim bib overalls.
I guess we're supposed to admire Suzanne's "fat acceptance" or something, but she really just came across as gross. And somebody as big as her would have been pretty uncomfortable in denim overalls, and hot pink denim overalls sound like baby clothes.
Anyway, of course Lara eventually begins to lose weight, presumably because Patty psychically took pity on her or thought she'd learned her lesson. I should add that Lara got a diagnosis, a fictitious disease that defies all the laws of biology by making its victims gain more weight the less they ate. Uh huh.
But the thing is, Lara never really changed. She was still the self-absorbed, looks-obsessed, cardboard princess she always was.
If Cherie Bennett had done this with an eye to being ironic and over the top with stereotypes and tropes, she could have made this a hilarious read. But she was not, and the book sucks.
And I'd also add that at this time when in some high schools the obesity rate is 75 percent or even higher, books about The Fat Kid are out of date. There is no single Fat Kid; the Fat Kids are the majority.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2011
Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!
Junior in high school, Lara Ardeche, has the perfect life. Beautiful, popular and thin, Lara has spent her life competing in and winning beauty pageants. Her beautiful, thin mother and handsome father adore her, as does her cool boyfriend Jett and her best friend, Molly. Lara's life becomes even better when she is elected homecoming queen, despite the fact that she's just a junior. In the months following her homecoming victory, however, Lara's life becomes a living hell as she inexplicably begins to gain weight very rapidly. As she grows bigger and bigger, her popular friends abandon her, and Lara tries everything to get back to her former thin self. Matters are only worsened by her "perfect" parents who constantly pressure her to diet. After rigorous medical testing, Lara finally discovers that a rare metabolic disorder is the cause of her weight gain, a disorder for which there is no cure. As Lara's life continues to fall apart, she discovers that perhaps things were not as perfect as she had imagined, even when she was thin.
Life in the Fat Lane provides a unique view of the teenage obsession with appearance as Lara Ardeche experiences both sides of the coin. Beginning the novel as a thin, beautiful and popular homecoming queen, the reader sees the benefits of fitting in with society's ideal image. As Lara gains weight rapidly, eventually ending up a size 24, the emotional torment she experiences illustrates the loneliness of being "different." As the reader transitions with Lara from beauty queen to "freak," Bennett takes the audience on the heartbreaking journey with her character. Secondary to Lara's weight disorder but equally heartbreaking is the breakdown of Lara's parents' marriage. Lara's mother provides a clear image of the future Lara may have had as a thin, beautiful woman, particularly the fact that this future is far from perfect. Overall, Life in the Fat Lane is a realistic look at what happens when the lie of perfection fails, and how to overcome the realization that apperances aren't everything.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit because it took a different perspective on a common topic: dealing with obesity in high school. Instead of having spent her life overweight, Lara Ardeche transitions from beautiful and perfect to living "in the fat lane." I thought this was interesting, and I'm sure will resonate with readers who have experienced weight fluctuations.
Junior in high school, Lara Ardeche, has the perfect life. Beautiful, popular and thin, Lara has spent her life competing in and winning beauty pageants. Her beautiful, thin mother and handsome father adore her, as does her cool boyfriend Jett and her best friend, Molly. Lara's life becomes even better when she is elected homecoming queen, despite the fact that she's just a junior. In the months following her homecoming victory, however, Lara's life becomes a living hell as she inexplicably begins to gain weight very rapidly. As she grows bigger and bigger, her popular friends abandon her, and Lara tries everything to get back to her former thin self. Matters are only worsened by her "perfect" parents who constantly pressure her to diet. After rigorous medical testing, Lara finally discovers that a rare metabolic disorder is the cause of her weight gain, a disorder for which there is no cure. As Lara's life continues to fall apart, she discovers that perhaps things were not as perfect as she had imagined, even when she was thin.
Life in the Fat Lane provides a unique view of the teenage obsession with appearance as Lara Ardeche experiences both sides of the coin. Beginning the novel as a thin, beautiful and popular homecoming queen, the reader sees the benefits of fitting in with society's ideal image. As Lara gains weight rapidly, eventually ending up a size 24, the emotional torment she experiences illustrates the loneliness of being "different." As the reader transitions with Lara from beauty queen to "freak," Bennett takes the audience on the heartbreaking journey with her character. Secondary to Lara's weight disorder but equally heartbreaking is the breakdown of Lara's parents' marriage. Lara's mother provides a clear image of the future Lara may have had as a thin, beautiful woman, particularly the fact that this future is far from perfect. Overall, Life in the Fat Lane is a realistic look at what happens when the lie of perfection fails, and how to overcome the realization that apperances aren't everything.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit because it took a different perspective on a common topic: dealing with obesity in high school. Instead of having spent her life overweight, Lara Ardeche transitions from beautiful and perfect to living "in the fat lane." I thought this was interesting, and I'm sure will resonate with readers who have experienced weight fluctuations.
September 17, 2018
Lara's life is picture perfect: she is pretty, popular, talented, has a loving perfect boyfriend and a "perfect" family and most of all, she is thin. Then her life takes a 180 degree flip: she gets fat. She goes from 109 pounds to over 200 in a matter of months. It ruins her social life as well as disappointing her image-obsessed parents. At home, the family begins to crumble.
Lara learns a lot about physical beauty and its hold it has on adolescent young women. She no longer has (popular) friends, and, as a result, finds herself gravitating toward the "unpopular" kids, kids she never thought about or even shunned when she was thin and popular.
I think this book is important: it's not a shallow book even though it deals with topics such as beauty pageants, popularity, boyfriends, etc. and it describes a (possible) eating disorder which is not Anorexia or Bulimia. We empathize with Lara as she keeps gaining weight for no foreseeable reason (though at one point in the book the diagnosis of [the fictitious disorder] "Axell-Crowne is discussed), and she remains obsessed with her weight, as she did when she was thin, but for very different reasons.
The one bright spot in Lara's life is her best friend Molly. She sticks by her side even as she gains weight and falls out of the popular crowd. Eventually the family moves to Michigan, and Lara starts high school as the "fat" girl. However, she continues playing the piano, and ends up with a teacher who sees her talent and invites her to a club where she performs. She meets yet more people who are "different" and as a result becomes much less image/weight-obsessed, less shallow, and more accepting of people who are not perfect, as she once was. Ultimately, while she doesn't totally accept her weight (and she does lose a few pounds toward the end of the book), her outlook on life is changed forever.
Lara learns a lot about physical beauty and its hold it has on adolescent young women. She no longer has (popular) friends, and, as a result, finds herself gravitating toward the "unpopular" kids, kids she never thought about or even shunned when she was thin and popular.
I think this book is important: it's not a shallow book even though it deals with topics such as beauty pageants, popularity, boyfriends, etc. and it describes a (possible) eating disorder which is not Anorexia or Bulimia. We empathize with Lara as she keeps gaining weight for no foreseeable reason (though at one point in the book the diagnosis of [the fictitious disorder] "Axell-Crowne is discussed), and she remains obsessed with her weight, as she did when she was thin, but for very different reasons.
The one bright spot in Lara's life is her best friend Molly. She sticks by her side even as she gains weight and falls out of the popular crowd. Eventually the family moves to Michigan, and Lara starts high school as the "fat" girl. However, she continues playing the piano, and ends up with a teacher who sees her talent and invites her to a club where she performs. She meets yet more people who are "different" and as a result becomes much less image/weight-obsessed, less shallow, and more accepting of people who are not perfect, as she once was. Ultimately, while she doesn't totally accept her weight (and she does lose a few pounds toward the end of the book), her outlook on life is changed forever.
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March 23, 2010 Reading the book "Life in the Fat Lane" by Cherie Bennett I learned it is a book that can connect to a girl's everyday life. Lara Ardeche is your ordinary girl,just like us she goes through stress to become her perfect self.Many girls in America currently face the pressures to be as thin as possible. By dieting,exercising and possibly obtaining a disease,everyday women try to overcome their idea of being fat or overweight. In this book, Lara is your perfect beauty pageant teenager until her life,well perfect one, comes to an abrupt stop. Lara obtains a disease, Axell-Crowne syndrome which makes her uncontrollably gain a lot of weight.She can not do anything to get rid of the weight.
Like Lara, many teens experience the hardships of gaining weight and not being able to shed it off.This book is a very understanding and relatable book to people in America.It is based upon an idealistic world where if you are not thin you are ugly and people will make fun of you or act as if you are not human.This book expresseshow people can be and it teaches you who your real friends are.
Like Lara, many teens experience the hardships of gaining weight and not being able to shed it off.This book is a very understanding and relatable book to people in America.It is based upon an idealistic world where if you are not thin you are ugly and people will make fun of you or act as if you are not human.This book expresseshow people can be and it teaches you who your real friends are.
July 16, 2013
This book was AMAZING. One of those ones that stays with you forever and is not heading for the kindle archives any time soon!
I think it hit close to home for me because i've kind of had the same journey as Lara but in reverse. So i was the fat girl who got the eating disorder and became the thin (although i didn't think it) girl. Wow. Suddenly you are not invisible anymore and everyone treats you so much better. How wonderful.
Until you realise how sickening that is.
I know how peoples opinions of change by your jean size, when the person inside stays the same.Until, that is you realise it really is what is inside that counts and not society's idea of what makes you a worthy or beautiful person. This book made me want to stop counting calories and skipping meals (doubt it'll ever happen but we can dream) and just enjoy myself as i am naturally. Lovely.
The other issues in the book surrounding Lara's home life were also interesting, and I love the journey of self discovery all the characters took. Read it! Read it yesterday especially if you struggle with food and self love!
I think it hit close to home for me because i've kind of had the same journey as Lara but in reverse. So i was the fat girl who got the eating disorder and became the thin (although i didn't think it) girl. Wow. Suddenly you are not invisible anymore and everyone treats you so much better. How wonderful.
Until you realise how sickening that is.
I know how peoples opinions of change by your jean size, when the person inside stays the same.Until, that is you realise it really is what is inside that counts and not society's idea of what makes you a worthy or beautiful person. This book made me want to stop counting calories and skipping meals (doubt it'll ever happen but we can dream) and just enjoy myself as i am naturally. Lovely.
The other issues in the book surrounding Lara's home life were also interesting, and I love the journey of self discovery all the characters took. Read it! Read it yesterday especially if you struggle with food and self love!
October 7, 2013
I read this book because I saw it in Mrs. Lapacka's library last year, and I gave it another chance over the summer. This book is about a girl named Lara Ardeche, who lived a glamorous life. Her life was perfect, until she was diagnosed with Axell-Crowne disease that made her gain weight, and everything started to fall apart. My favorite quote in the story was, "I wasn't perfect. But I was okay." I found this quote really inspirational, because even though Lara lost almost everything, she accepted it and continued living her life. The author wrote in Lara's point of view, which is both lovely and disturbing. Cherie Bennett easily made me feel like I was Lara and what it was like, but unfortunately, I cried 80% of the time I was in her shoes. Along with crying, my chest felt heavy and I felt like there was something in my throat. I found this book too depressing and serious, but it was still encouraging. I suggest this book to insecure girls who have weight problems like Lara. Lara is truly and inspiration, and she has overcome many obstacles. Many girls will be motivated by Lara.
March 19, 2012
This book was so amazing i literally could not put it down!! I think that Lara taught me a very valuable lesson through her long journey, that is still not yet over. This lesson was, no one is ever perfect, and sometimes being happy is much better than being skinny. Popular girls may think of themselves as perfect, but that's either because they have amazing hair or amazing bodies. NO BODY IS EVER PERFECT!
I felt horrible for Lara throughout his whole book, and i just wanted to know if her disease of gaining wait ever went away. I mean if it were me i would literally die of humiliation and of no longer having a "perfect" life. But, as Lara realized her early life of being popular never made her happy, and in a way becoming fat was an experience she needed. I am very proud of Lara for overcoming her fear of no longer being popular, and i think this author did a great job of showing perfection isn't everything. Life is short, just have fun and be with the people you love.
I felt horrible for Lara throughout his whole book, and i just wanted to know if her disease of gaining wait ever went away. I mean if it were me i would literally die of humiliation and of no longer having a "perfect" life. But, as Lara realized her early life of being popular never made her happy, and in a way becoming fat was an experience she needed. I am very proud of Lara for overcoming her fear of no longer being popular, and i think this author did a great job of showing perfection isn't everything. Life is short, just have fun and be with the people you love.
June 13, 2011
I liked this book a lot. It was really sad how the main character went from a beauty pageant queen, to an overweight teenage outcast. It wasn't really fair for her because her obesity was caused by a mysterious condition. To me, I could really connect with her when she transferred to a new school, and everyone there made fun of her for the way she looked. Even her family wanted to hide her from the public, and she felt so upset that she kept taking laxatives and suffered every night, with tears pouring out of her eyes. I would too, if I lost everything important to me in a very short amount of time.
I would recommend this book to girls, because I'm not sure if guys would find this book interesting. But they can read it too if they want, nothing wrong with that. :)
I would recommend this book to girls, because I'm not sure if guys would find this book interesting. But they can read it too if they want, nothing wrong with that. :)
October 31, 2014
I read this like 10 years ago and I remember that the main character gets some sort of disease that causes her to gain a lot of weight. Until this, she was always really into her thin body, and once went up to a stranger in a public restroom and offered her diet tips. So now people are coming up to her and giving her diet tips, so she has to learn to be “different” and makes new alternative friends who hang out in a jazz club, because she can’t be popular anymore. And I remember that after we read it, a friend pointed out how the main character was blameless in her fatness, because she couldn’t help it and she kept being like “No I don’t deserve to be treated like a fat person because I didn’t do the things that fat people do to be treated that way.” But no one cared.
November 30, 2010
It's really four and a half stars, really. This book talks about bullying and fattness, which isn't really that great, but it's no joke. It is now one of my favorite books, because I have a few pounds on me, and, well, with my face, my chubbiness, shortness and a high-pitched voice that no one seems to hear, it HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, I'm glad that she lost her weight, but I'm glad that she finally knew what it is like to be teased and how you can lose yourself , and the escape,for most people is death, usually. Read this book, and you will think twice before saying anything mean.
July 28, 2015
Life in the Fat Lane was an okay read in my opinion. Personally I was not a big fan of the main character simply because despite her struggles she was still a very vain and shallow individual which I thought would have changed.Even towards the end of the book I was very optimistic that Lara Ardeche would see how horrible her mindset had been at the start of the novel ,and then towards the very end I disappointed with the simple fact that this characters mindset never truly changed other than her obvious weight gain.This book was not one that I would say necessarily was an 'eye opener' or anything but at times it was a very engaging read.
January 12, 2015
I loved the idea of this book, but absolutely hated the execution. I've never felt so ashamed of my own body than I did when I was reading this book; pretty much all the way through it fat shames. I may be missing a point to the grand scheme of this book, but either way I didn't like it and wouldn't recommend.
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