This was a strange to read book. I can't really describe it as I enjoyed reading it but it had a strange writing style and was quite odd.

Fat Angie has the world on her shoulders, her sister is dead, her mum hates her, her dad's ran away with a younger woman and her girlfriend has left her.  When she is physically assaulted by the local bully and blamed for it she does a runner and ends up on a road trip, with a bunch of misfits that turn out to be friends.

This book was heavy. I didn't know this was a sequel book but i did understand the whole thing very well. I liked the road trip and character representations. This book was dealing a lot of heavy topics. It was really hard hitting. I will check the first book so i can complete the Angie's story.

I’ll start with the things I didn’t like about this book, as the things I did like I think are more important in this case. The first was the writing style was extremely awkward and frustrating at times to understand with hyphenated phrases like “perfect-not-perfect”, “visibly-invisible” and “not-silent-silence” plaguing nearly every paragraph is was hard to comprehend what was actually trying to be conveyed.

This added to the repetitive referring to certain characters by these hyphenated nicknames made the overall book seem like it was trying too hard to connect with youth through language the writer thought would appeal. Which is made ironic by the fact that there is barely a pop culture reference that isn’t old enough to drink in the United States, every song, movie, or book mentioned is from the 1980s or before, with the exclusion of the mention of John Hughes’s 2009 death.

Finally in my list of complaints is often Angie seems to have chubbily crossed the path with her pudgy neck and plump voice and, we get it she’s fat. While in the long run, the character comes to a happy place with her weight I felt overall the way it was written about at times was very humiliating as a fellow plus-sized pal.

Luckily, once I adjusted to the awkward writing style and overcame the constant weight references I found much more about this book that I enjoyed than disliked.

First, the representation in this book is pretty great, we have a black girl, and Mexican characters who aren’t all stereotypes and taco eating. We have a character with a disability and real-life struggles around them, and a lot of talk around mental health in a more positive manner. Our main characters are 3 dimensional and have realistic flaws.

Angie herself is an interesting and compelling character, you want to protect her and push her to do something all at once, and the plot is all excruciatingly believable. No epic implausible trips across the country, nor despicable mothers who suddenly change their mind about everything. Everything just seems realistic and possible.

Even Angie’s sudden anger building due to grief, loss, abuse and teasing is so realistic, and the way that despite everything the blame falls on her, replicates the story we see often in society. Refreshingly there is no absolute happy over the rainbow ending, it’s clear that Angie is happier but her life doesn’t suddenly become perfect on page 352.

While this was a sequel which I wasn’t aware of, until after I had finished it, I can proudly say it stand up on its own and would recommend it if Queer Young Adult Romance is your thing.

I really wanted to give this book a higher rating but the negatives knock at least two stars off the overall novel.

Angie has a lot more going on than just losing a sister. She struggles with weight, friends, love and her relationship with her mother. With the help of unexpected friends and a list she starts down an interesting path of recovery

I didn't really know much about this book before requesting it on netgalley but what little I did know sounded awesome. I'm glad that turned out true fat Angie Rebel girl Revolution was a very intriguing book I'm not going to lie I wasn't really into it until the fourth chapter but after that I was hooked. The book itself is a bit like the main character Angie it takes a while to get to know her to see where she's coming from but once you get there you can't look away. My favorite thing about this look was not the romance,that I could have done without but the friendships found between 4 unlikely people. My other favorite thing was that at the end of the book there was no happy ending... life is real and messy and sad and the ending reflective that.  At the end of the book you got the idea that Angie was going to be okay.

Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution was an absolute delight of a book. As the sequel to Fat Angie, this book drops us off a bit down the road from the end of the last book. Angie is still deeply grieving the loss of her sister and her parents can't seem to provide the support she needs to learn how to embrace life again. Luckily she'll get by with a little help from her friends and one very special letter.

I was so happy to see Angie's story continue in this book. She's still struggling with a lot of her old baggage, but there's this sort of grit you can see in her that powers her through all the nonsense and helps her on her way to some unknown time when things might just get better. It was definitely worth the time to watch that unfold.

I did not know going into this book that it was a sequel but I enjoyed the message nonetheless. Great representation in this book as well. I would recommend this to teens.

Thank you Netgalley and Candlewick Press for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Candlewick Press for the e-Advanced Reader's Copy of Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo in exchange for an honest review. Although I'm grateful for a copy, receiving it will not review or my rating.

I want to say going into it, I was unaware that this was actually the second book of a series. Which for me, did have an impact on the story.
I struggled with writing this review for about two days for a couple of reasons. 
The first is I really liked the premise of the book. I found it to be all inclusive with a variety of reps that I identify and don't identify with. 
However, the second reason is that I didn't enjoy the book and almost DNF'd it at least three to four times while reading it. This was in large part due to the author's writing style. For me, it was very choppy without any flow to it. I also wasn't a fan of some of the dialogue between characters and inner monologue from the main character Angie. Also, apart from maybe two, I found it difficult to connect with her characters. They all had distinct voices and she wrote their personalities well, but I didn't have any emotions or regard for them. 

On the flip side, I liked the plot development and character development for the main character Angie. The setting was written very well. And the story was humorous, full of tension, and hard-hitting, I think all the story needed was a bit of a flow and it would've been really good.

I loved the positive message this book gave about body image.  Many teens and students of mine will be able to relate to the character and journey she went through.

Adored this book. Walking with Angie my heard broke for her so many times. Dealing with and interpreting a parent grieving the loss of a child while grieving the loss of a sibling has created major hurdles for Angie. Coupled with her own teenage struggles for self-acceptance and personal discovery, she’s walking a lonely road. Enter Jamboree, Zeke and other unexpected allies. This story is a beautiful ambling walk through life as a teen. Road trips, laughter and the heartache of first loves. Makes me want to revisit my teens and do it right!

This wasn’t really a book I enjoyed, I found it quite sad and hard to read, I hadn’t read the previous book so maybe I needed to do that to understand her character. I must admit I skipped some of the story. Not for me. I gave it only 3 stars mainly because I the bits I did read were written well, but I just not not like the bullying and abuse in such detail. Very upsetting.

Going in I was wondering if I was going to miss something because this is a sequel, but it did not bother me (too much). What did was that Angie is overweight, gay, and being bullied at school and her her BFF is dating Angie's’ tormentor?!? I mean, #WTF!  I just had a very hard time enjoying the book because it was like everyone was a douche or a#$hole!!

I liked, the fact that the book delved into so many topics that face teenagers but I just couldn’t get into the book because I had major issues with Angie’s mom! I wanted to like the book but being a Mom, myself, I just couldn't understand how you cannot fully “understand” your own child?!? I know, this is a reality but I just couldn’t “go there” with this book!

I rated this book 2.75/5 stars. Mostly due to my issues with the mom and her BFF. I had a hard time finishing the novel---I did but begrudgingly! Can’t really say, I can recommend reading this, but some may enjoy it.

Thank you Candlewick Press and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review.

In this companion to Fat Angie, E.E. Charlton-Trujillo further explores Angie's grief over losing her sister. While the first publication reveals the sister's death as part of the book's climax, her death serves as the foundation for this installment. Angie finally faces her grief head-on, but not alone. The necessary fuel for finally allowing herself to experience her grief starts with a final postcard from her sister, delivered by a secret fiance who shows up at a statue unveiling. After a backslide into suicidal ideation, Angie internalized the postcard's underlying message: Why Not? What comes next is a transformative road trip involving an RV, and old friend, a new friend, an old enemy, and maybe even a new girlfriend since KC has left town. Infused with the same subtle humor and authenticity as Fat Angie, this title will be welcomed with open arms where Fat Angie is popular and beyond.

TW: fatphobia, physical assault, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, self-harm, homophobia, panic attacks, depression, anxiety

Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution is a challenging read. Angie is encountering trouble from all angles: emotionally and physically bullied at school, dealing with her mother who wants to send her to a 'treatment center' because of Angie being both fat and gay, reeling from the death of her sister, and having trouble getting through to her friends. My heart ached for Angie and the first half of this book is really difficult to get though, but as soon as Angie embarks on the road trip, I began to see Angie bloom as a character.

The first half of the book just consisted of my empathy for Angie's situation - trapped in a family who doesn't understand her (her mother is just something else entirely), without any friends, and struggling with her grief. Part of what make my heart ache for Angie is how much her mother does not understand her, how emotionally abusive and just downright toxic she is. And so I'm rooting for Angie to prevail, even though basically everything is against her.

There was just something about Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution that immediately caught my eye and made me want to read it. As someone who has always struggled with her weight and had a pretty miserable time during high school, I thought I was going to be able to relate to this story... But I guess it just wasn't ment to be. I'm aware of the fact that I didn't realize beforehand that this was a sequel and this might have played a role in my reaction to this story. I will keep this in mind and any missing background information is of course my own fault. My reaction to Fat Angie and my decision to DNF it are based on my experience with the sequel alone. I feel sad I had to take the decision to DNF as I rarely do that, but I'll try to explain below why I didn't see other way out. First of all I like to state that this is probably another case of this story simply not being a right fit for me. I thought I was able to connect to the main character as I had some of the same struggles during my time in high school. Sadly, I wasn't all that impressed by Angie. She seems over the top, almost like a cartoon and not at all the realistic representation of a teenager struggling with her weight and the other things going on in her life. I was seriously frustrated by the way she behaved and expressed herself and I felt she was being turned into a cliche with almost too many different elements that were supposed to marginalize here being jammed inside her character (weight struggles, panic disorder, suicide attempt, dead sister, being queer, having almost no real friends, bullying, best friend ignoring her etc etc.). It felt like an overload of different elements being dumped on you instead of creating a realistic situation and this made the story less credible. I also really struggled with the writing style. The story didn't really flow for me, it was packed with cliches and between short sentences and interruptions with definitions I struggled to find the motivation to keep reading. The plot moves quite slow, or at least up until the point where I stopped reading (about a third in, and the roadtrip hadn't made its appearance yet apart from a brief mention in a letter). Between the writing style, almost cartoonish extreme reactions and violence, overload of different elements stuffed in the same character and that same character being unlikeable I saw no other choice than to DNF Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution.

<b>*3.5 Stars*</b>

I had already started this when I saw on Goodreads that this was actually a sequel. It didn't bother me all that much though. One can read this without having read this first book.
I wouldn't know how to describe this plot, but I'm gonna try.

So, Angie is gay, fat and bullied because of it. Her whole school only contains idiots and assholes and her best friend is now dating her torturer. So everything is going horribly when she receives a belated letter from her dead sister and she decides to go on a trip to achieve this bucket list her sister meant to do with her. But she doesn't have a car and is supposedly grounded since her mother is the worst. But she goes for it anyway with her ex-friend who ghosted her years ago.

This is a shitty summary but it'd have to do.
This has some good sides and some not so good sides. I felt for Angie most of the time, her entire support system is kind of the worst. She's also very stubborn and has lots of flaws but that only made her more relatable. I enjoyed the road trip but some of the other characters felt too forced and not real, I guess? I don't know what to say. I'm not sure how I felt. I liked this ok but I don't think I'll read the first book in this series... It did make me feel a lot at times though. Especially because of her mother, whom drove me insane.
Anyway, this might have been my worst written review yet but I'm going with it.

The novel was a very quick read. In a lot of cases, that's great. This is not one of these cases. Disjointed, uneven pacing, the main plot point doesn't show up until around a third of the way in, could have benefitted from more details in the latter parts. Pitched as a road-trip novel, the road trip itself isn't very front and center. Sure, we get some meaningful and fun moments, but home drama and the injustice that is the U.S. public school system kind of gets more attention, and that's just not fun. Not that the book has to be fun, but this book definitely seemed like it was going to be more fun than it was. Plus, a couple points that seemed important turned out to...not be.

Compared to the original Fat Angie, I'd say this book is quicker paced and...a little happier? But also a lot sadder.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book, I couldn't finish it. I didn't realize it was a sequel so I felt like the book was coming at me hard and fast from the beginning and I was so lost. I also had a hard time digesting the writing style. I felt like I was reading one run on sentence after another. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

At first this book made me really uncomfortable. The amount of violence, fatphobia and homophobia in the first quarter or so of the book was almost unbearable for me to read but I kept going. I was really close to completely give up on it to preserve myself but then the road trip part happened and drastically changed my mind. It was so revigorating to read about Angie, a fat, depressed, lesbian and suffering from panic attacks girl going through this process of freeing herself and learn to be unapologeticaly her in front of others. The moment we met Zeke was the moment I knew I would love this book. It was refreshing to have a main character like Angie and just like her you cannot help but start to love every other character she becomes close to in this story.

Humorous ~ Important ~ Quirky

tl;dr: High school sucks, but it sucks harder when you are noticeably different. 

Charlton=Trujillo's Angie has it hard. She has had mental health issues. Her mom is really not doing a good job supporting her daughter. Being overweight and queer makes her a target. But, she also has important strengths. She is resilient and intelligent. This teen tale is a wonderful suprise, as the author is new to me. The book has a great voice, one that feels authentically teen. The book doesn't shy away from body image, mental health, and bullying. The best part of this book is that it is about learning to be okay with being you. That is a message that everyone can hear, not just teens. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.