Meet Emily Daly, a stylish, cute, intelligent and hilarious seventeen-year-old about to start her last year at school. Emily is also fat. She likes herself and her body. When she meets Joe at a house party, he instantly becomes The Crush of Her Life. Everything changes. At first he seems perfect. But as they spend more time together, doubts start to creep in.
With her mum trying new fad diets every week, and increasing pressure to change, Emily faces a constant battle to stay strong, be her true self and not change for anyone.
This was adorable and wonderful and proud and brave and I loved it. I loved Emily as a character and her view of her body. She is definitely one of the best female role-models I’ve come across and I can appreciate immediately how important this book could be for young girls. There is not enough books out there that show body positivity, and I was blown away by this one.
I also need to shout about how much of a page turner this book is. I was around halfway through at 11pm last night, and I ended up reading for two solid hours until I’d finished it. Once I passed the halfway mark, I couldn’t put it down! It was utterly and completely addictive.
Life is long and kind of boring sometimes. One of the best ways to make your time on earth suck less is to surround yourself with cool people. People who make you happy.
The friendships and relationships were lovely, too. Even though Emily had a bit of a difficult relationship with her mum, some of their scenes together warmed my heart. The same with her dad and sister Katie. The family aspect was so well written!
But I unfortunately had a few tiny problems that knocked it off 5 stars for me. One of them being a few aspects of the book just seemed a little rushed. One of the friendship problems was suddenly fixed with little to no discussion, the ending seemed a little sudden (or maybe I just didn’t want it to end), and something happened with a guy I wish I had been discussed more. I don’t want to talk more about it for fear of giving spoilers, but Emily was betrayed in a way, and none of her friends seemed to call out the person who betrayed her, even though it was clearly wrong.
People who you have fun with. People who make you feel important. And you’re super smart and interesting, and you want cool things for yourself, and that kind of narrows down the pool of people who you’ll accept into your life.
No Big Deal was also so diverse, I adored it. The group of friends included a lesbian couple I just adored, and it was great to read about them and her supportive friendship group in general.
What an absolutely delightful book and I’m so glad it exists. This felt so important and despite it’s problems, is a must read for YA readers!
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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