Cookie Vonn is the daughter of a supermodel, but didn’t inherit her moms slim figure. She’s fat and always has been, but after an embarrassing situation on a plane — Cookie is forced to buy a second seat because she is deemed too fat for one seat — Cookie is determined to lose weight. The story unfolds from two perspectives: “fat,” while Cookie is in her senior year of high school, and “skinny,” while Cookie is a fashion student at ASU.
The writing is pretty good for a young adult novel, but I think I have finally grown out of this genre and was very irritated by a lot of it. The whole thing with Gareth and Cookie falling all over him two seconds after meeting him was obnoxious, not to mention how inappropriate it is that he’s significantly older than her and pursuing a relationship with a 19 year old, who becomes a coworker. If I recall correctly, he is 33 years old and pursuing a relationship with a 19 year old who is also his employee. It was really gross, uncomfortable, and predatory, yet no one says anything about this gross age difference or the obvious power imbalance.
The whole plotline in the “skinny” section is very The Devil Wears Prada, right down to the backstabbing twist at the end. The “fat” section really was irritating to read. Cookie is mercilessly bullied by Kennes throughout the whole book. She makes fun of her for being fat — and Kennes not only makes fun of her, but random girls she doesn’t even know. She does it in front of Cookie’s best friend, Tommy, and Tommy sits there and doesn’t say anything. This merciless bullying of Cookie goes on throughout the whole “fat” section through various ridiculous, over the top, inappropriate, and disgusting ways — i.e. trying to force Cookie to make her a dress for free, including making Cookie pay for all the materials. Kennes then ratchets it up and messes with Cookie’s graduation gown, altering her form and so that on graduation day, Cookie is handed a gown that is several sizes too small and a teacher is literally trying to kick her out of graduation if she doesn’t buy a new gown that fits. Cookie FINALLY stands up to herself and lets the teacher know that her gown WOULD have fit had Kennes not tampered with it, and she can’t afford to buy a new gown. For some reason, Cookie standing up for herself ruins Tommy’s graduation day and he skips the graduation. Let me recap this for you — Tommy, who has sat by and watched Kennes tease Cookie the whole novel, mostly because she’s fat, gets mad at Cookie for standing up for herself and chooses to skip graduation because of it. Further, Cookie’s own grandmother also berates her for it.
UMM. Am I living in an alternate universe? Cookie has been the subject of Kennes’ bullying the whole novel, and we have to witness her being berated and shamed for finally standing up for herself to this snot nosed rich girl? It was really irritating and twisted to read.
Also, can we discuss how absolutely ridiculous it is that Kennes is 18 years old and the editor of a magazine? And so is Cookie? And that they’re actually granted interviews with A list designers? Come on, let’s be real. Their little newsletter would never get this type of attention, nor would any legit designers actually open their offices and give previews of collections to 18 year old girls from no-name publications.
I did finish it and it’s a relatively quick read, but not a book for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Fat Girl On A Plane is out now.
Book Drunk 
Oh wow, I had wanted to read this book, but now I’m not so sure! It sounds like it would just annoy me. Great review!
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It’s a quick read, but it just was so problematic. Had I had a physical copy of this, I probably would have thrown it at the wall at several points throughout the novel. One of the main messages this book sends, too, is that being fat is bad and fat people can’t have happiness. There is even a section in the skinny part where Cookie talks about how it wasn’t until she lost weight that people finally looked at her and found her attractive and that she became someone worth lusting and loving, as well as an insinuation that fat people can’t be sexually assaulted. Like??? Fat people are capable of being loved and cared about and found attractive by others and also sexually assaulted. It was just a really weird book and I feel like it could also be triggering for people who struggle with their weight.
The writing was good and I would consider reading other things from her, but this one needed to be edited more, plotwise
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That’s terrible! I read a book like this a couple years ago that had a similar message and I literally threw it actually the room when I finished. I don’t understand how messages like this make it through editing! Like, who thought this was a good idea??
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I’m saying! And as a former fat person, it made me really sad to read stuff pretty much saying that fat people can’t be loved and romanticizing success with thinness. I lost weight because I worked hard and exercised and ate right and because I wanted to do all that for myself — not because I cared how other people felt. I just knew I was in a bad cycle of eating my emotions and using food as a crutch, but it wasn’t because I felt I didn’t deserve happiness and success and love, which is the motivator for Cookie to lose weight. It just was not a very body positive book and sent some messed up messages. I’ve peeled at other reviews, with a lot of people also saying that it was triggering for them the way she constantly talked about dieting and food and counting points (Cookie is on weight watchers, although named something differently in the novel). Also, each chapter is titled as “XX days before Nutrination” and “XX days on nutrination,” so you’re constantly reminded about it. Idk, I read this a few months ago and every time I think about it, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth all over again lol
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