Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill)'s Reviews > Size 12 Is Not Fat

Meg Cabot tells the story of Heather Wells, who was a pop idol in her late teenage years. Now she lost her boyfriend, life savings, and record contract and is struggling with her life. She gets a new job as an assistant dorm director in New York.

One day, a female student's dead body is seen at the bottom of an elevator shaft. Was it an accident or a murder? Will Heather find out the mystery behind her death? Is there a serial killer behind these unfortunate events? You will find out the answers through this book

What I learned from this book
1) What are the dangers of getting into a rebound relationship?
A rebound relationship is a relationship that we enter based on a reaction to a previous relationship, where one or both members are still contending with issues raised by the past breakup. Many problems are associated with it, like the mental instability due to the absence of proper recovery, comparisons to the ex, and fear of commitment as you think the new relationship will also end soon if you commit yourself to it.

It is better to get over a breakup before committing to the new one as there is a probability that you will fall into a relationship with a predator who tries to utilize your fragile situation, which will further worsen your mental health.

"I'm going to fall in love with someone else just as soon as I can. I swear. But in the meantime, is it so wrong that I enjoy his company?"

2) Why is littering a social problem?
Littering tells a whole lot about the personality of an individual. It causes a lot of social problems in our community. It creates fire and human health hazards because of the micro and macro organisms attracted to it. Multiple serious diseases like Malaria and Leptospirosis are mainly caused by littering.

"I once saw her throw a Juicy Fruit wrapper on the ground in Central Park. She doesn't even feel guilty about littering."

3) Why should we never body shame another person?
This book's story and climax are strongly connected to body shaming.

Body shaming is the practice of subjecting someone to humiliation and criticism for their physical appearance. The author perfectly portrays what will happen to those who find enjoyment in body shaming others.

Body shaming will profoundly affect the mental health of the opposite person. It can cause depression and anxiety. There are multiple instances where people even committed suicide due to the body-shaming they suffered.

“See,” she’s saying. "I told you, Heather. You're too nice to win. Too weak. Not in good enough shape. Because size twelve is fat. Oh, I know what you're going to say. It's the size of the average American woman. But guess what? The average American woman is fat, Heather."

My favourite three lines from this book

“If there are three words in the English language worse than "Got a minute?" they can only be "About last night...”

“And someday
Someday you'll be home.”

“Some people are never satisfied.”

What could have been better?
The author is trying to discuss a very serious topic of bullying and body shaming in this book. She had a golden opportunity to dive deep into this topic and have a serious discussion. She, unfortunately, decided to go through the issue only in a superficial way.

Some people won't like the inherent sexism present in this book that is commonly seen in Chick-lit fiction. This book will give you a decent reading experience if you can tolerate that.

Rating
3/5 If you are facing a reading slump and if you love to read murder mysteries involving young people this book will be a decent choice.

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