I received a free ARC through NetGalley
4 stars
Emery is a fat teenager. She has a fat boyfriend and a skinny family. Her dad is a professional athlete turned workout guru. Her mom is a former model. Her sister is well on her skinny way to becoming a professional model herself. Emery is just fat. She's okay with it though. That is, until her mom signs her up for the reality show "Fifty Pounds to Freedom." Is she okay with it? Definitely not at first. A camera crew following her and her family around all of the time and her not getting the money unless she actually loses all that weight in that ridiculously short amount of time is very stressful. Plus, she's okay with herself the way she is. But the money is more important than she knows, and she starts liking it a bit more when she actually starts losing the weight. Will the show change more than just her looks? Will she meet the weight loss deadline? Will it ruin her family?
I loved Emery. She was real. She was funny. She was sarcastic. I loved her boyfriend. I hated everyone else, but that was kind of the point of the story. I have read a couple of other reality TV stories, and they have definitely fallen flat. The people didn't learn, or were very unlikable, or the plot was just stupid. This story had a strong main character, some real drama happening, and an interesting conclusion. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I got a bit bored in the middle of the book, and I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I didn't think enough was explained at the end. I like what happened, but I would have liked just a few more answers. I really liked the writing and the real-ness of a very unlikely main character. I got annoyed with what happened between Emery and her boyfriend, but even that turned out interesting to me. I would definitely recommend this one to many teens.
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