I enjoyed Fat Witch Summer, but thought the title was a little misleading because Thrash's fatness was not a major part of the storyline. It was great that her friends didn't make a big deal about Thrash being fat, but perhaps the characters could have engaged with Thrash's fatness a little more. It seemed like more of an internal journey for Thrash herself, to accept that her fatness was part of her. I liked that each of the girls had something going on--Em, the mermaid, needed accommodations for her legs, Saki had anxiety, Cresca, tall and beautiful, was black from a family that didn't have magic, and Thrash was fat, dealing with the death of the parent she was closest to.

I didn't like her name, though-there was no explanation of why she chose Thrash instead of using Theodora or some other nickname, and I don't know that it completely fit her personality.

I was intrigued by the world--the thirteen states--and the similarities between it and our current world, and I would like to see more stories--perhaps one dealing with each of the friends. I did enjoy that there was little romance but the story was focused on the friendship between the girls and on Thrash's relationship with her mother.

In some ways, I did really like how Thrash's fatness was just part of the story--she was a teenager doing teenager things, and her fatness didn't affect many of the major choices she made--the ones about her Gift, or deciding to go on the trip--so it was good to see a fat character just being a person who happens to be fat. So that is progress!

I really enjoyed this book! The world building was well thought out and I loved the touches of information we got about how magic worked, with orbs and enchantment rings etc. It's a really vivid world that I can see many more stories being set in. I do think there were potentially too many POVs in this book, especially when it would suddenly switch mid chapter to a character whose POV we hadn't been in before, but I think this author will only get better with more books and I hope there is a follow up to this because as I said, the world has a lot of potential and this book felt mostly like set up for a magical revolution that was brewing, so I'd love to see this revolution actually play out, as well as the consequences of what the girls did/uncovered on society moving forward.

3.5 stars (rounded up)

This book is a cute idea and has a lot to offer a wide variety of readers! However, it didn’t hit home with me, and that very well could be just the reading mood I am in. I like the concept of the story, and the characters seem cool and fun. I am sure this will be a win for fun, witchy, magical romps!

I was extremely excited for a fat, witch protagonist and was very into the set up. I loved the dynamic between Thrash, her mom, and the implications of being given the gift of glamor.
Everything else felt very flat and didn't pull me in. The world building was fine. Pretty much the US but just the 13 colonies made big with plenty of thematic changes to history/technology. I did not like the characters nor could I really tell them apart. I also didn't really buy the whole set up of their plan.

All in all, I think this still would make a good casual read with some good fat rep/feels that I don't get to see elsewhere.