Fat Chance

First, I couldn't get into this book, at all. Then I read a post on a chick lit board about how someone had enjoyed it after a slow start. So I decided to give it more time. But over a hundred pages in, I was still not enjoying it at all. By then, it appeared that this book was simply not doing it for me.
After putting it aside for a couple of weeks, I picked it up again and just plowed through the second half in one sitting. And, you know, enjoyed it.
I don't know if anything changed in the book or if it was just my mood or attitude or what.
It is so difficult to put a finger on exactly what makes a book work or not. Presumably, this one was short on a key ingredient. Perhaps it shifted too abruptly from scene to scene, requiring me to show more give more focus and concentration than I was repeatedly willing to give?
In the end, I felt like one of the subplots was left hanging. Maggie's (the heroine) friend, Tamara, had submitted a novel for publication and been rejected. Her boyfriend and Maggie had given her a pep talk, seemingly being successful in convincing her to keep submitting the manuscript, but this was not really confirmed or followed up on.
Also, the plot was a little shallow and treated drug use more casually than I like.
So not one of my favourite chick lit reads, but it did pick up for me.
Best line of the book (and a generally memorable line): "Normal people are the ones that you don't know very well." Ain't that the truth? show less

This is another story about self image in high school-this time about bulimia. While the story and message of the book are great, I had a harder time connecting with the characters based on the writing style. Still a good read for girls specifically dealing with self image and weight loss, though if not it wouldn't be my top recommendation.

Fun read! Blumenthal is a great storyteller!

From Booklist
Maggie O'Leary is the champion of the overweight. A columnist at a New York newspaper, she writes "Fat Chance," in which she discusses the real obstacles facing overweight people, debunks myths about the obese, and tries to bolster her readers' confidence. Maggie is secure with her own shapely figure until she receives a call from Hollywood actor Mike Taylor. Mike is going to play a diet doctor in an upcoming film, and he wants Maggie to be his consultant. Maggie is reluctant--how can she go to Hollywood, where everyone is skinny and perfect and she's not? So she decides to secretly go on a diet. But she isn't going to be able to hide from her colleagues forever, and when word gets out to her readers, she has to find a way show more to balance her new look with her old philosophies. Light as a cupcake and as fun to devour, Blumenthal's debut novel (and Red Dress Ink's second hardcover) will likely find many fans. Kristine Huntley show less