Review: 45 Pounds (More or Less)

45 Pounds (More or Less) by K.A. Barson
Published by Viking Juvenile
Format: Hardcover
Publication Date: July 11th, 2013
Pages: 256
Genre: YA Contemporary
Reviewed by: Stephanie
My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Here are the numbers of Ann Galardi’s life:

She is 16.
And a size 17.
Her perfect mother is a size 6.
Her Aunt Jackie is getting married in 8 weeks, and wants Ann to be her bridesmaid.
So Ann makes up her mind: Time to lose 45 pounds (more or less) in two months.

Welcome to the world of infomercial diet plans, terrifying wedding dance lessons, endless run-ins with the cutest guy Ann’s ever seen—and some surprises about her NOT-so-perfect mother.

And there’s one more thing. It’s all about feeling comfortable in your own skin -- no matter how you add it up!

"Deliciously relatable with a lot of laughter on the side." -- Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times best-selling author

45 Pounds (More or Less) pretty much had me from the snarky excerpt on the back of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed Ann's voice and character. Her journey was realistic and the lessons she learned were beautiful.

Enter sixteen-year-old Ann. She's a size seventeen. Her mother doesn't seem to understand why she can't stop eating. Her father is a complete and utter jerk. She hasn't heard from her brother in months. Her only friend has drifted away and barely talks to her anymore. When things go wrong, Ann eats whatever food she can get her hands on. Now Aunt Jackie is getting married and Ann is a bridesmaid. Enter stage: a new diet plan.

While I did find Ann humorous at times, it didn't take long for me to feel sorry for her. She hates the fact that she's over weight so much that she imagines no one could like her because of it. She believes that random people are disgusted by her. Honestly though, all of these thoughts were mostly hurtful for her because it was how she thought of herself. It was sad. Some times I just wanted to tell her to stop. Stop thinking those things. Stop demeaning herself. And to speak up! Half of Ann's problem was that she swallowed everything. Someone would say something insensitive or cruel and she'd swallow it. Then later, she'd sit down and comfort herself with food. The thing about Ann though is that you can't keep her down for long. She will get up. And she will try again. Even if she doesn't think it'll work. She'll try because she refuses to give up on herself.

I instantly liked Rayne. She was genuine and kind from the very second Ann met her. Rayne was the type of friend Ann needed. Jon had a very small role but he was just adorable and sweet. Courtney. *shudders* Courtney was evil. Ugh. How I hated her. When Courtney went on to lie about Ann at one point, I was sitting there just thinking, "Don't let her do that!" She was a vile, vile girl. Cruel. Dishonest. Mean. Horrible. Evil. And Ann's father? What a jerk. He purposely misled her into believe he would actually be spending time with her. Instead he used her so he could get out of the house. When Ann and I realized what was happening, I wanted her to march back out to her car and leave.

I did love Ann's brother though. He was absent for most of the book but when he came back and just hugged Ann, the little sister in me had an, "Awwww. He's a good big brother." moment. Yes, he made some mistakes, but he loved her and was still looking out for her even from a distance.

Also, I must mention her step-dad because I really liked him. You could tell he cared about his family. But the ending there at the wedding when he was talking to Ann? That stole my heart and I loved it. I was sitting there pretty much thinking, "Yes!" I'd been waiting for Ann to realize how good he actually was to her. How lucky she was to have him in her life.

Plot wise, I am extremely happy with how things turned out. Ann learned to love herself. She also learned a great deal about her mother that explained things. I absolutely love that Ann's initial efforts didn't work. Nothing worked until she started thinking about the effect her actions had on her little sister. She had to look outside herself. That was beautiful.

45 Pounds (More or Less) almost made me cry quite a few times. Everything was brilliantly executed. This earns a solid two thumps up. Thank you, Miss Barson.