Hi friends, happy Monday I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m posting my review of Crystal Maldonado’s novel Fat Chance, Charlie Vega.

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by: Crystal Maldonado: All Charlie wants is a good relationship with her fat body, but her mom has other ideas. Always telling her life would be better if she just lost some weight. The one person in her corner is her best friend, Amelia. So when Charlie starts her first relationship with a boy named Brian everything is perfect until she finds out he asked Amelia out first. This was a beautiful coming of age story and a beautiful story of self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-love. This novel was raw and never shied away from hard topics. Through all the harder plots there were soft fluffy ones too and they balanced each other quite well; there was never too much of either side and whenever it got too intense there were cute moments to even it out. The plot was so fast-paced; the reader was always on the edge of their seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. This novel did a great job of looking at body image and looking at how even our parents who want the very best for us, might not get what the best truly is. There were just so many good messages for younger people to take away from in this on body positivity. Obviously, the rom-com style plotlines were super cute and paired well with the body image topics. The characters were strong-willed and very determined in the things they wanted. They really brought the story to life. The reader could not only relate to how the main character, Charlie, felt at times, especially when she felt compared to her best friend Amelia, but could also see how the secondary characters saw how she was self-sabotaging her life, which was an interesting perspective to have. Being able to feel both sides gave this story an extra layer of understanding and just gave the reader a deeper connection with it and to the characters. Maldonado honestly got the teen experience, but told through an adult lens perfectly. As well, she also really hit a chord with the mother/daughter relationship, because sometimes those don’t come easy. In the end, this was fun to read, but it was also a very emotional read.