No Big Deal~ Bethany Rutter

No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter is a body-positive book that tells the story of a fat girl, Emily Daly, as she battles the daily challenges that come with being plus-sized. This book deals with life, female friendships, not settling and valuing yourself.

The message in this book is extremely positive and is something girls of all sizes should learn: to value yourself as you are and not settling for less than you deserve. Rutter wrote the protagonist as mostly confident in her body despite being fat and it was refreshing to read someone happy with their body. Obviously, there were moments where Emily was insecure, but she was mainly happy with her body despite what the world was telling her.

As much as I think more books should broach the subject of being plus-sized, I didn’t like this story. Why is it that we have to choose between body-positivity and not obsessing over boys? The plot of this book is about getting a boyfriend. For once, I would like to read a book where a fat girl is happy with her size and being single. It seems like that is an impossible ask (if you know of any please tell me!). There were moments where I thought the relationship could be cute, but Emily is so happy that she’s finally got a boyfriend that it just annoys me because she’s putting her self-worth on a boy’s opinion of her. I know that in the end she does understand that a boy who doesn’t value her isn’t worth her time, but Rutter doesn’t leave it be and ruins that ending by introducing a new ‘cutest guy [Emily’s] ever seen’. It frustrated me to no end.

I really liked that each of the chapters was titled with a song, starting with Like a Virgin by Madonna and including The Cure, Lady Gaga and Pet Shop Boys. It was an interesting mix of music and I kind of want to make this playlist.

Overall, this book had a brilliant message that, in my opinion, wasn’t executed as well as it could have been and that was frustrating. I know that my opinion is probably unpopular but I give No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter two stars.

C🌙