*2.75 stars rounded upThe introduction starts of with eye opening, inspiring, and profound quotes that immediately pulled me into the book and made me eager to read the stories. I grew up in a world where people around me would make fatphobic remarks and only in my late teens was I able to release how wrong they are. This book is letting me see into another type of life and body that I haven’t experienced and for that I am grateful. It’s nice to finally read something that accepts every body as

Hi Everyone! I'm Cass, the creator and also a contributor, in Every Body Shines. EBS is an intersectional collection of stories about fat bodies written by 16 fat authors. 16 stories who show fat kids finding their happiness. Fat kids are allowed to have a "hero's journey" arc. They deserve love, joy, neutrality. But they also deserve self discovery, self reflection, self recognition of internalized fatphobia. They are allowed.Also, fat stories deserve to be looked at through a world's lens. If

IM SO MAD. THIS WAS NOT VERY POSITIVE AND INSTEAD BROUGHT ME DOWN. 1. guilt trip- claire kann:while i’m loving the fat poc leads, shes kind of whiney. i mean shes not lovably stubborn or anything like that, it’s just plain self-pity and often treating others (good people) badly. the arc was pretty good for this short of a story, but still. it didn’t go far. 3/52. shatter- cassandra newbould:this one about a bus crash and crazy exes threw me off. i’m not sure what even went down there. for the au...

i'm glad this collection exists, but i was really fooled by the cover/blurb: these are not all about "living fabulously fat." many of the characters encounter fatphobia or are working through their body image, relationship to food, personal style and fashion, eating habits, etc., in really emotional, heartbreaking (and potentially triggering?) ways. they aren't all sad, there are some fun moments - with the flavor of early 2000s romcoms, some of the stories were cute and straightfoward. however,...

Just what this world needs more of; diversity. And that doesn’t just mean race, religion, class but also something that has been affecting youth and adults to their inner core; and that is body diversity. This book is one of the few books I’ve seen that deals with body positivity, acceptance and also unfortunately those people that induce the fat shaming. But to be able to hear 16 stories about body diversity from characters that are fat themselves is a breath of fresh of air. It allows young ad...

going to write a lil review with a rating for each story!because i am addicted to my genius project and i don't know how to stop.story 1: Guilt Trip by Claire Kannrealized this story is by the same author as Let's Talk about Love due to the similarly bratty protagonist.anyway this is actually very sweet and had more satisfactory character development in 18 pages than that book did in hundreds, so it's a win in my eyes.rating: 4story 2: Shatter by Cassandra Newbouldthis was simply trying to do wa...

"Fat girls and boys and nonbinary teens are: friends who lift each other up, heroes who rescue themselves, big bodies in space, intellects taking up space, and bodies looking and feeling beautiful."This just sounds so incredibly good and I am especially happy to read that the stories are "written by authors who live these lives too"! I truly cannot wait for this 💜Instagram | Blog | Booktube Channel | Twitter

I’ll go with a rating of 2.5 stars rounded up. I had great difficulty putting a rating on a book like this that is a collection of stories because some short stories that were okay (e.g. letters to Charlie Brown was one of the cuter ideas) but others short stories, like Shattered, were confusing and tougher to read, and they left me kind of wondering whether to even continue reading. I went into the book thinking it would be a bit more of a celebration of all types of bodies and spread a bit mor...

It's hard to rate anthologies, especially this one, because several individual stories were good, and many more were mediocre or downright terrible. "love spells & lavender lattes" and "Letters to Charlie Brown" are undoubtedly the worst - just skip them, seriously, if you decide to read this. My favorites were "Breathe You In" and "Letting Go", and I also enjoyed "Orion's Star". I really objected to the "fat girl realizes her own value and beauty because skinny, handsome boy likes her" plot tha...

The sign of a good story collection: I want full-length novels from these stories and find out what else happens to everyone!

So it’s not “every body shines” it’s only fat bodies. So the title is misleading and disappointing and frankly discriminatory. But whatever. I don’t know why I picked this book up, but it was in the thrift store for $3 so, why not? Some of these authors just sound angry and passive aggressive the whole time... the space one was a little decent though. But, come on... do we really need to whine and make other people who are healthier and in shape be the bad guys or can we all just get along? I do...

16 stories about fat teens loving themselves? we love to see it 💜

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(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) TW: fatphobiaBefore I even began, I loved the premise of Every Body Shines. The ways that these stories celebrate fat characters existing and living their best lives. Of being able to read about the little things you might never have thought of in your own life. Used by society as bodies to be shamed or made fun of, Every Body Shines is heartfelt as it both examines fatphobia but

This book is everything. Full disclosure, I'm one of the authors, but I'm also a massive fan of Fat Positive YA, and these stories are INCREDIBLE and the forward made me cry. Each story is written from a place of love and acceptance, we have sci-fi and fantasy, contemporary and romance. It's enormously inclusive. And in each story, the fat mc is celebrated and centered. I'm so in love with all of these stories and these authors.But most of all, I cannot wait for this book to find the readers who...

I received a physical arc of this anthology and the editor is one of my agent's clients. This does not impact my rating or the substance of my review.I am not the target demographic of this fat-positive YA anthology--and yet, I somehow still felt seen while reading many of the stories. A lot of this has to do with the choice of contributors. There is a diverse range of authors in this collection, from New York Times bestsellers and multi-award winners to those for whom this anthology is their fi...

As a contributor, getting to read all the stories was such an interesting and emotional rollercoaster of an experience. I had no clue what to expect other than some of my favs(and new authors to me) writing about bodies like mine in their own worldviews. I was really excited when I finally got my hands on a copy and spent the rest of my day doing nothing but reading. Every Body Shines definitely celebrates body diversity and fat acceptance, and while a lot of the stories are about fat joy (which...

I really, really hate to write this review. I had so many high hopes for this anthology, and I've been excited for it since it was announced on twitter. But unfortunately, it was not what I expected at all. I think my number one problem is just how much fatphobia is in here. I don't want to dismiss the authors' experiences, especially since I've dealt with fatphobia my whole life. But nearly every single story was about people feeling shamed for who they are, and then at the last moment, magical...

Actual Rating: 2.5 starsI really love the idea behind this anthology: intersectional stories about being fat and fabulous. Sounds awesome! In practice, I have much more mixed feelings about the collection. Namely that there is a LOT of fat phobia in this book. A lot. From family, from friends, internalized, vicious...and is that often the lived experience of fat people? Yes, to a greater or lesser extent. However, I went into this hoping for more stories about joy and body positivity and falling...

An anthology of short stories with fat main characters is my jam, and I am here for it. Reviewing each short story separately, as I read:1. Guilt Trip by Claire Kann is the story of 15-year old Mia, who has struggled with her weight throughout her life. She looks nothing like her ballet prima donna mother or her elder sister, and despite being a good bass performer has always preferred the shadows to the spotlight, until she gets a chance to perform with her favourite band. With a little help