Cute story. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, but it was a quite an adventure. There were a lot of unanswered questions which leads me to believe this is the beginning of a series. If not, what a pity.

I love a body positive book centering friendship and magic!
Thrash just got her “knack” basically her magic abilities have appeared and her mom now has to give her a gift which will be the type of magic she will have to use for the rest of her life. Her mom wants to give her the gift of glamour and she wants a different gift. A clique at school called the Lunes see that she wants something different so they all decide to take a road trip across the country to get the girls they want. Chaos ensues.
Friendships are forged.

Overall it was cute. It did have a lot going on with every character and a politics of the witches, non magic people and radical magic groups. Because it had so much to cover it felt like the pacing was a little stilted. However I would read a book two.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sword and Rose Press for an eARC.

Despite the magical elements of this story the girls all felt so real, as did the friendships. I love a book that not just has plus sized characters but lets them be front & center. The ending felt a little rushed but still good!

SO so so cute, uplifting, atmospherical!! loved it! Definitely a new addition to my "cosy fantasy" collection, which is not only magical but has a lot of character developement as well! Big win for a body positive narrative which is well-needed in YA books!

Thank you so much for the publisher for the earc!

Fat Witch Summer is a lighthearted book with a lot of heart. It features an already established group friend and another girl, Thrash, that feels like she’s always on the outside looking in. Her strong willed mom is still getting over the death of her wife, Thrash’s other mom. Right when summer is starting, Thrash gets her “knack”, which is a witch’s first sign of magic. With the knowledge that her mom is going to give her the gift of Glamour and thinking it’s because she’s not the body type and beauty type her mom wants, she decides to go on a road trip with the other three girls and steal their gifts from a magical college.

I absolutely loved the friendships in the book! They were all envious of each other in ways that reminded me of myself at that age. The magic system was interesting but I wish we got to know the gift of Growth better. I liked how the country was split up into 13 states and Indigenous peoples’ magic was talked about and colonization was discussed. The ending felt a bit rushed and I’m not sure if there’s going to be a sequel but it felt well accomplished as a stand-alone.

This was such a good read! I really enjoyed it! It’s so witty and charming! I love a book with body positivity! And this book excelled in that!

The one main thing that drew me to this book was the title. Like come on, us thicker people need some representation too! Jumping right in we meet 16 yr old Thrash. A proud plus sized witch in the cusp of getting her gift over one of the following: Glamour, Growth and Sight. The only problem is that mothers choose the gifts and her mother Osmarra, a slim and elegant Glamour witch is dead set on choosing Glamour to ‘fix’ her daughters looks.
When she meets the Trio of witches with the leader Cresca, she decides to road trip with them to take control of their own destiny.
What I love about this book is the idea of being in control of your own destiny and Thrash just wants to be accepted for who she is. And most importantly, to be able to have a say in what direction her life takes . We’ve all felt this way at some point or another and to be able to root for this girl on her journey of discovery is really sweet.
The main and side characters for sure have a fun dynamic that make this book fun to read. I catch myself smiling at the conversations and the adventures these girls are having. For sure fun, memorable, insightful read.
Thank you to NetGalley & Sword and Rose Press for a ARC copy in exchange for a honest review.

Enjoyable, great pacing, exciting settings kept me hooked. Fun novel that will be the perfect beach read. Thank you Net Galley for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Thrash has what you might call a complicated relationship with her mum, Osmarra, a powerful witch with the gift of Glamour. And when Thrash’s Knack is revealed in an unfortunate library incident, it’s time for her to be given her gift, too. Thrash desperately wants the gift of Sight, like her other mom, but she knows Osmarra will want her to follow in her high heels and give her the gift of glamour. Enter The Lunes, popular and beautiful and all unhappy with their own gift situations too. Cue a chaotic cross-country road trip to NSU, a famous magical university, where they’re planning to break in and perform the ceremony to pick their own gifts.

But Thrash is travelling with more than one secret in the boot, and, after facing obstacle after obstacle and learning more about their unique Knacks, Thrash starts to wonder whether the gifts are all they’ve cracked up to be. And, after uncovering dark secrets about the very nature of the magical world they live in, there’s far more at stake now than just picking the wrong gift.

I enjoyed this story a lot. It wasn’t what I expected going in, but I largely enjoyed the surprises. The relationships between the main characters were wonderful, I fell in love with each of them in different ways, and the whole road trip premise really delivered and was super fun. So often in ‘road-trip’ books, the road trip is actually a really small portion of the story, but this one really delivered and spanned the majority of the book.

It did get a little bit repetitive in the middle, with the girls facing an obstacle, out-running it, coming up against another one, out-running it again etc., but I did enjoy how each obstacle raised the stakes a little bit further. Going in, I wasn’t expecting the stakes to grow to the heights they did, but I ended up loving the direction it took and all of the great metaphors and messages that arose through it all.

I was also expecting a little more on body image/body politics based on the title, and though it’s a part of the story, it ends up being quite a minor one after the beginning of the book. The ending did also feel a little anticlimactic. The tension was built really well throughout the whole book and then it felt like it wrapped up a) very quickly, and b) without quite delivering on what I felt like the tension had promised.

That being said, this was a well-written book with excellent characters, some really important messages, and a really interesting plot. I’ll be getting a copy for my library when it’s released, and I would recommend to anyone that likes fun, light fantasy with deeper metaphors going on under the surface, and anyone who doesn’t think they have it in them to be extraordinary. Take a lead from Thrash – don’t settle for anything, dream bigger than your world allows and then make it fit you, not the other way around.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect with the characters or the story in a meaningful manner. Some books just aren’t for us, and that’s alright.

Fat Witch Summer is a fun and enjoyable read. I enjoyed tagging along with Thrash and her friends for their road trip across the 13 States. The characters are diverse and well-developed. This book touches on important themes while also delivering a fast paced and exciting plot. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a witchy and fun summer read. Four stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Sword and Rose Press for providing me with this ARC.

Oh no! 😔 I really wanted to love this book. The cover looks absolutely fantastic and the blurb sounded like such a good time.
I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the right headspace or something but I had a really hard time getting into this book.
Maybe it was the rather intensive world building for such a thin book or the magic system that I couldn’t connect to. The second half of the book fell totally flat for me although I now too really want to ride a bear 🐻😄

I hope other readers will enjoy this book more than I did and give it the praise I’m sure it deserves. 💞

Visit my Goodreads Profile to see the posted review there.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While I thought the premise and message was fantastic. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the book. Usually I'm a big fan of witchy books. But I didn't connect with this one.

This one was a wile ride. The casual representation of plus sized girls and disabled girls was something I loved and the message about colonizing was one that practically mirrored what I've learned about the United States in the last few years. The ending was a little too much "no consequences" for me but otherwise, I adored this one!

The book I needed when I was a curvy teen in an age when you had to be very think: Trash like her image, she likes what she sees in the mirror and it's a strong and positive character.
I liked it and it's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Not for me personally as I found it a bit difficult to remain engaged and interested in the story. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read an ARC.

When a teenager appears to have signs of potentially becoming a witch [or a wizard?], their parents will be the ones to decide what “gift” their magical child would receive, there are three Gifts— Glamour, Growth, or Sight. When our main character "Thrash" who is a plus size girl got those signs, she immediately knew what her mother would choose for her; the gift of glamour, which is supposed to make her more fitting for the unfair beauty standards. "Thrash" finds it -rightfully- insulting, and with that her story of finding her own gift begins, Three girls who have similar fates to her follow her on the journey, and the four decide to not return without choosing their own destiny. Story about self acceptance, love, and friendships.

Sadly, this was a DNF for me. Couldn’t connect with the author writing style &humor, and I’m not sure It has any coherency. I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with heavy-fantasy stories (by heavy I mean simple focusing on &surrendering magic &fantasy elements), I really liked the message from what I read. It’s just that I don’t think I’m able to fathom magics nor making pictures of it in my head, so reading this was a bit difficult which unfortunately made the journey less enjoyable, not anyone’s fault, absolutely not, just me being unable to enjoy that much of magic.

Hate to say it, but I did not finish this book. It became so bland and boring that I did not even want to p[pick up my Kindle to read.

I dont like the tittle, why must put "Fat"? Then FMC name Thrash, what wrong with Theodora? Then steal "the gifts" rather than accept it from parents (it said parent who choose), runaway, causes problem. What a teenage rebel time. Anyway i enjoy author writing style, I glad Thrash finally get friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#fatwitchsummer #LizzyIves #SwordandRosePress #NetGalley #ARC

I really enjoyed this book, the perfect summer story of a friendship and self discovery! I really related to Thrash and loved seeing her journey of accepting herself and becoming more confident with who she was. It was an easy read and quick to get through