Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

This was so cute !!! I thought I'd rate lower since it's YA and a romance but I really can't. It made me feel the feels and I related to Charlie enough to want see how her decisions panned out. I probably would've gushed over this back in middle school/high school but I'm really just feeling sappy and happy

Super cute coming-of-age story - the blurb doesn't match most of the book's content, though, which is a little disconcerting, but not the story's fault? Which is to say, what the blurb describes does happen, but not until the last 25% or so of the book, and the story is a lot more about the romance, Charlie's relationship with her mom, and general growing up stuff. I really enjoyed this. I loved how Charlie wasn't super-confident all the time and I loved the relationship between Charlie and Brian - they were so sweet together! This was an adorable contemporary YA (and lest I forget, this cover is also just amazing).

i absolutely loved this book! my heart is so full after finishing this book. i can honestly say this is probably going to be a favorite of mine for the rest of my life. i've never read a book with a main character that felt like looking in the mirror—charlie and i are so similar. i can't believe how seen i felt throughout the whole book. it was such a sweet, sad, honest book. i'd read this over and over again.

this is one of those books that's really just full of fluff and a well intentioned message, and there is honestly so much it could improve upon—especially its handling of its only relevant black character—but overall i guess it really just wasn't for me.

Charlie Vega is our titular lead. Her personality jumps from the page. She's smart, funny, artistic and a go getter. She and her mom. It's about a plus size young woman of color navigating through life. It deals with with being brown in a white neighborhood. Maldonado did a great job fleshing out Charlie and her relations with other people. People at work, school and at home. This title touches on diet culture and how mothers can love their daughters and be toxic at the same time. Heads up on that. I And I'm glad that there wasn't a situation were suddenly everything is okay because that kind of relationship really can???t easily be ???fixed???.

I love how the romance and Charlie's friendship had equal importance. It has an HEA and a non white interracial couple, heck yeah.


I recommend Fat chance, Charlie Vega for the lead alone. She truly is the MAIN CHARACTER. Living her MC life and i say this with lots of love. I know that many will fall in love with her

Many thanks to Edelweiss and Holiday House for the digital arc of this book! I found it to be a really touching and authentic story with great rep. One of the highlights for me was that Charlie and her best friend Amelia really dig into tough conversations that evoke the power of young female friendship. Feeling insecure, inferior, or insufficient is such a integral part of growing up for so many people, and it can be very difficult to talk about with even your closest friends. Charlie's inner monologue about feeling ashamed of feeling ashamed was so on point and written with care and compassion. This was a coming-of-age story as much as (maybe more) than it was a romance, but I loved all the different kinds of love in this book. It may have been a little predictable, but it was highly satisfying. I loved Charlie just as much as she loved herself! Would definitely recommend.