there's a lot of weird stuff going on in this book. like, a lot of body shaming? b/c you're never too young to learn that your societal worth is based on the weight of your flesh prison. also there's this weird thing in the prologue where someone's made fun of for "ha[ving] some kind of disability." which is so next-level f*cked up that it's impossible to make excuses for.

also, not a lot of general acceptance for a middle school book. this book is literally exclusively about one girl's path to self-acceptance, even as that girl is really garbage to those around her??? constantly making fun of people for smelling bad, acting a certain way, the way they look.

middle school is hard regardless, dude. cut a kid a break.

the ending made up for some of the other stuff i previously disliked about this book, though, so. two stars. yippee.

bottom line: this is a next-level quick read, but also you should read essentially any other middle grade novel before this one.