Plus-Size; A Memoir of Pop Culture, Fatphobia, and Social Change by Mekdela was such a fun read! I love pop culture and as a fatty, this was so refreshing. I was truly thankful to have gotten to read this before most people! I would like to purchase this one for my physical library!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of essays blends social commentary with pop culture references and the author's own thoughts and experiences. The social commentary regarding fatphobia and race was eye-opening and the pop culture references illustrated the relevance of these topics to the media we encounter everyday.

I think this was a really important read with a lot of impactful messages. The ideas that have stuck with me the most involve how difficult it can be for plus-size people to navigate everyday life. For example, it can be so hard to find clothing that fits, or how certain situations like flying on airplanes are physically uncomfortable. Furthermore, many people are overweight because they have disabilities or some biological/genetic issue, but others perceive them as being lazy or even gluttonous. My main takeaway is hope that being fat will be destigmatized and that steps will be taken to make life for plus-size people easier.

I would highly recommend this to everyone. Despite being relatively short, it has a lot of important things to say and it would be especially helpful in educating people about fatphobia.

Solid book that covers a typic not many people think about. This book was well written and a good one to read.

A thorough and personal overview of the ways that pop culture - tv, music, even places - have intersected with fatphobia particularly but also racism and discrimination of other kinds. The voice is quite casual and conversational - this book sort of reads like having a chat with the author about her opinions. It didn’t offer anything I hadn’t read before particularly but gave a good insight into what it is like to live in her skin and how that informs how people interact with everything they come across in pop culture and society.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

While I can appreciate the views of the author of the book, I felt that it focused on only one race's issues with fatphobia and the plus size community, which wasn't mentioned at all in the description. I understand it's from the author's perspective, it felt as if these would only be problems faced by her community, and not the plus size community as whole. While it wasn't a bad read, it won't be something I would pass along to other plus size community members.

I think I expected more from Plus Size. It would have felt more like a memoir if Mekdela would have included more of her own thoughts and opinions. The nostalgia for the 90s was real, but the subject of fatphobia was widely ignored. Mekdela has a great writing voice, making her “memoir” easily digestible and instantly drawing readers in. I just wish this would have read more like a memoir.

I felt it was a thought provoking collection of essays. I appreciated the examinations of fatphobia, and its representation, in popular culture, closing families twisted by societal norms, and being overlooked in the healthcare sector. This essay collection really made me think about how my societal phobias were never inherent, but reinforced by societal norms and expectations drilled into me from a young age, which I realize is very difficult to remove from its insidious clutches, It will truly be up to others to make sure the early years of childhood remain curious and open to change, rather than ready acceptance of hate and disgust.

I think I went into this book with the wrong expectations. Overall, it was informative, but it just felt a little flat for me.

Through the use of her own experiences and popular culture, Mekdela explores the junction of body positivity and fatphobia in a way that is both captivating and insightful. This was a quick book that I found difficult to put down and provided a terrible picture of how racism, fatphobia, misogyny, and ableism permeate all facets of our capitalistic society.

Plus-Size is a well written series of essays about fatphobia and racism. I really appreciated the honesty and vulnerability of the author. Many of the essays focus on representation of women, people of color and people in larger bodies. I really enjoyed the essays that covered TV shows, movies and books that I had read. I struggled a bit with the essays that covered movies that I had not yet seen. This is a great book with a unique perspective that I highly recommend.

Thank you to Mekdela Author, BookBaby and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this manuscript in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading different sections of the book and was excited to read a book covering being Plus Size. However, not many of the essays cover the topic. Title is slightly misleading as there's not much Plus size discussed.

I found Plus Size to be a really interesting look at fatphobia and the way it intersects with so many parts of our society; including but not limited to: media, sexism, racism and ableism.

This collection of essays was an enjoyable way to look at the topic of fatphobia in bite size pieces rather than it being a super academic style dense text.

Even though I’m British I found it a really valuable insight into America’s relationship with bodies of all sizes and colours so would recommend this to anyone, regardless of nationality.

I was attracted to this book given I am a size 14-16 (and even though the average American woman is purportedly a size 14, you would not know that from shopping for clothes or looking at Women's magazines. She interrogates through a series of essays in this very short book, popular culture, dating apps and intersectionality. But she holds grudges (used to love Mindy Kaling, not anymore, etc.). and even though this is brief book, I found the essays and her what felt like relentless complaining a bit tiresome. Because of this, it was hard to distill out some really good and thoughtful ideas. This book felt like I was reading a series of blogs as opposed to a full collection of thoughtful and insightful essays.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

When I first saw this book I really hoped and expected it to be a book that had some new insight or new information about fat phobia and in general being plus-size. But I think there way too much focus on the struggle of being a black/indigenous person, especially when the author refers to books, movies and tv shows, where I had the expectation that she would refer to people being plus size and how that has changed.

So I was pretty disappointed about the outcome of the book, but some of the points and the references she made did make the book interesting enough to read.

Mekdela writes so well. They are straight to the point, and this makes for such a joyous reading experience. I wanted the chapters to be longer!
I enjoyed the pop culture references, and they helped to illustrate Mekdela's points.

There were two main reasons why I didn't give this book a higher star rating... one was that I wanted more - found the chapters too be too brief, and wanted to delve deeper. And secondly, this is a US book, so some of the references i didn't get - at times I was a bit confused due to this.

But I have to state - that this is such an interesting read, and I look forward to what Mekdela does next!

An okay-at-best exploration of being plus size that would have been better served by a thorough edit and a consistent through-line. Was more of a series of essays on pop culture than a commentary on being plus size or a memoir. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy.

As someone who was taller and developed curves at a faster rate than my classmates, followed by a metabolic disorder that created weight issues throughout adulthood, I was hoping for a meatier (pun intended) foray into fat phobia and body positivity.

Highlights:
The book is thoughtful in its inclusiveness and highlights a range of identities and experiences.

Solid range of pop culture references, including the cringy fatsuit almond mom Gwynth Paltrow donned for shallow Hal, Legally Blonde and The Mindy Project. (Although I wonder what the author would say about our chubby icon Mindy dropping enough weight to look fragile.)

The author isn’t humorless. She acknowledges liking a good fat joke and identifies what makes one. This instantly makes her approachable and positions her as someone who can provide a critique but allow for nuance.

Downsides:
The dating app chapter read like a list of complaints about online dating with limited substantive analysis.

The writing style was more a collection of personal essays (she even refers to one chapter as an essay) and pop culture (book, movie, show) reviews than memoir. A memoir would be more of a personal journey—like how I faced fat phobia but found body positivity. The personal essay reads like a defense—here are all the problems and how they impact me. While that may be appealing to some, I prefer the empowerment of an internal journey of self discovery and growth.

We DO need to see more narratives of fitting into a world that doesn’t support thinness and healthy habits but expects skinny bodies just the same, which alone makes this book a worthwhile read.

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a poignant and passionate analysis of women's bodies against the background of modern values. The author uses their intersectionality as a larger African American individual to shine light on the harshness in which we view larger bodies as less than when there is no evidence to suggest a larger body is inherently unhealthier than a thin one. In fact, the author brings a sense of pride in encouraging the love of one's body and in valuing one's person in today's world.

I first heard about this book on my fave podcast Maintenance Phase,. If Aubrey recommends it, I'm down for it. This book, these essays were STELLAR. 5 stars.

I was very excited to read this book and see myself represented in the essays. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for me. The author really downplayed the way that white, obese women exist in this world. Black women of course face more challenges on every single front, but that doesn't mean that fatphobia doesn't touch the lives of and deeply affect white men and women as well. The author does a really great job of exploring the intersectionality of fatphobia and anti-blackness, but fails to recognize the experiences of anyone who is not like herself. Of course, we can only write from our own knowledge, but the description, title, and marketing for this book didn't really match the material inside. This book is not about being plus size. It is a woman's social commentary and manifesto about existing in the world as a curvy black woman. I applaud her for this work, but think it could have either been more inclusive or packaged differently. The essays are very well written (though perhaps not as deep as one would hope), with the exception of highly repetitive language.