Massive

Title: Massive
Author: Julia Bell
Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster (2005)
Genre: young adult, contemporary fiction
Pages: 272

Description

"I'm fat," I hear myself saying. I look in the mirror. My face has gone hot and red; I feel like I'm going to explode. "I'm fat." It sizzles under my skin, puffing me up, pushing me out, making me massive."

Weight has always been a big issue in Carmen's life. How could it not? Her mom is obsessed with the idea that thin equals beautiful, thin equals successful, thin equals the way to get what you want. Carmen knows that as far as her mom is concerned, there is only one option: be thin.

When her mother sweeps her off to live in the city, Carmen finds that her old world is disappearing. As her life spirals out of control Carmen begins to take charge of the only thing she can — what she eats. If she were thin, very thin, could it all be different? (jacket copy)

Reaction
Some books are so good, they make you angry. Massive is one of those books.

Set in England, Massive is the story of a teenager girl, Carmen, whose mother suffers from an eating disorder--one that she is slowly forcing upon her daughter. She's moody, paranoid, and slowly unraveling at the seams. Honestly, sometimes you really want to punch this woman for what she's doing to her daughter. And that's part of the power of the book: hating Carmen's mother while at the same time feeling a great sense of sadness for her.

Although it's written in first person, you never get very far inside Carmen's head. You see things through her eyes, but in a very flat, almost unemotional way. This is one of the strengths of the book. Even Carmen isn't sure of what she's feeling, so you have to read between the lines. There's a lot going on under the surface in Massive.

It's a very powerful story, but the writing could have been stronger. I personally would have edited down the first half of the book, since it takes awhile to really get going. However, once it gets rolling, its does great things. I was also personally annoyed that they edited out all the British spellings. I know that's common practice, but with a book like this, set in Britain, I found it jarring.

Design
I love the cover, it's very powerful and simple. Also, the scale is textured, so it's really fun to run your fingers over. The title is a bit hard to read, but the cool factor makes up for that, I think.

Final Rating

4/5, a very powerful book.