viva voluptuous
An entertaining, relatable, thoroughly enjoyable read.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thought provoking and intelligent, it showed how the world is obsessed with body image and how damaging that can be. All wrapped up in an entertaining read with relatable characters that you were willing to succeed.
Better than a strawberry meringue pie!
This book is like a strawberry meringue pie! To the eye it seems deliciously sweet and indulgent, pure chick lit escapism. But to make a good meringue you have to beat eggs until they are stiff and our poor heroine Ellie is being beaten by circumstances. Her husband divorced her for being too fat, her boyfriend doesn't want to sleep with her and her career isn't exactly setting the world on fire.
But what is upsetting Ellie the most is that she is letting her body confidence be destroyed by this. Sure she's bigger than your average chick lit star, 3 times bigger. But she wants to be celebrating her curves not hating herself. She saw her best friend driven to suicide by the pressure to be physically perfect and she vowed she would stand loud and proud to honour her.
Ellie's determination is aided by her two best friends Zoe and Lauren. Fabulous gorgeous women who are also plus-sized and help her launch the Viva Voluptuous campaign designed to help improve body confidence for larger women.
Positively Uplifting
It seems somewhat harsh to bring hate in to a book review, but I'm afraid it has to be done.
I hated finishing this book.
This semi-autobiographical book is so fun and positive that it seems a shame to have to return to the negativity of the real world.
Ellie's a plus-sized blogger but is feeling like a fraud because her curvy confidence is at an all-time low having just been dumped. Reading some nasty comments on a newspaper website gets her fired up to show the world that you don't have to be skinny to be happy. She and her friends devise a plan to change the world. Meanwhile, Ellie seeks solace in Jamie, a gorgeous younger man with commitment issues. The campaign sees the girls dealing with PR disasters, the disasters of dating sites, and flash mobs. Is it enough to change the world, and to give Ellie her confidence back?