Friday 30 January 2015

Book review : The Curvy Girls Club - Michele Gorman


Go on twitter on any Wednesday and all you'll see are #weightlossWednesday and #WobblesWednesday hashtags popping up on your timeline. I even have my own Sunday weigh-in weekly linkie here on my blog. It seems that the whole world is full of curvy girls (and boys) desperate to shed a few (or a few dozen) pounds. As the strapline on the front cover of The Curvy Girls Club says, "Imagine a world where looks don't matter". Well, yes, that would definitely be nice but unfortunately it's probably about as realistic as a calorie-free cupcake or a stick of celery using up more calories to eat it than it contains !

The Curvy Girls Club is a lovely, heartwarming, feel-good book that will have you cheering on the plus-sized heroines as they try to find happiness and self-acceptance, while contemplating some of the pitfalls along the way such as diet pills and faddy diets. All four of the main female characters are imperfect - Ellie is insanely jealous and insecure in her relationships, Pixie is a bit bloody-minded and selfish in her attempt to secure a future for herself and her kids away from her abusive husband, Katie is obsessed with her longtime office crush and Jane's confidence has been totally shattered by a thoughtless remark about her post-pregnancy weight - but this just makes them all more realistic and likeable.

The novel starts at a slimming club where the fun-loving friends have had enough of facing the walk of shame to the scales and decide to organise their own nights out instead. Their first trip to the theatre is laughably disastrous (although it would be mortifying if it actually happened) and the other members of the slimming club soon want to get in on the action. The Curvy Girls Club is born.

It's not always a smooth ride though. When Katie's weight mysteriously starts to plummet, tensions run high and friendships are put to the test. Katie realises that achieving your dream dress size doesn't instantly turn your life into a fairytale with a happy ending and the key to a happy life is looking beyond the number on the scales to be happy as you are, whatever your size. There are important lessons there for us all to learn.



A lovely note at the end of the book informs the reader that a real life Curvy Girls Club exists online, offering support, friendship and empowering daily reminders that you're lovely. If you're just about ready to ditch the New Year diet, maybe you should buy a copy of the book and concentrate on sorting out your mindset rather than your waistline !

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £6.99 (but a bargaintastic £2 on amazon at the moment !)

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Avon (15 Jan. 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007585624
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007585625
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 2 x 19.8 cm



Disclosure : I received a review copy from the publishers in order to write an honest review.

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