Review: Big Fat Disaster

Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I was a bit reluctant to read this book, since, as an adult, I have struggled many, many years with obesity. I have also grown wary of the common plot of redemption through discovering self-worth, where miraculously, the main character finds someone who believes in her and she finally is able to cure her eating disorder, lose weight, and make friends. And, to some extent, this book does actually end up following a lot of that formula.

But there is a lot more to the book than that and that redeemed it a lot for me. The reasons for the MC's binge eating were painful, but were tackled head on by the author. In fact, the book has a lot of the dialog that I, too, have had in my mind over and over again. My experience was nowhere near as bad as hers, but it has been similar enough that I not only recognized the feelings, but could completely understand her inability to escape them.

One of the problematic things about the book for me, though, is that I wanted to eat those Ding-Dongs, the bags of cookies, the doughnuts, etc. with her. I don't like icing, so that didn't appeal to me, but I can see a struggle with the cookie aisle in the grocery store coming on, with my next visit to the grocery store.

I just finished the book today. This is the type of book that takes a while to settle in my brain. These are my first thoughts, but time may alter them a bit.



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