The Book Cookies

This is my non-spoiler review of Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall. 

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars. 

"I hear the bullies at school and the bully in my own mind."

1. Summary

Sugar centers around an overweight Puerto Rican-Polish girl who doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin-she goes by the name "Sugar" Legowski-Gracia and at age seventeen, has to take care of her obese mother (who cannot move from her bed) as well as her discourteous brother, Skunk. Due to her large size, Sugar constantly receives ridicule, from her classmates at school to her brother and mother. Then, when she meets Even, she gets to go through the experience of having a friendship with someone who sees her for who she is on the inside instead of the outside. Soon Sugar will have to choose whether she should do what's best for herself or her family. 

2. Summarized Thoughts

Aside from some of the problems I had with some of the characters (whom I felt to be very cliche) and the writing, this book was a great eye-opener to much of the ridicule and issues overweight/obese people go through. Definitely not the best book on obesity, but a nice read nonetheless. 

3. The Romance

What I liked about the relationship between Sugar and Even was the fact that they had a strong friendship before going into a romantic bond. The only negative thing I have to say about their relationship is how perfect Even seemed to be; his character developed, but it would've been nice if Even wasn't portrayed as utterly amazing from the moment his character was introduced. Other than that, I enjoyed seeing their relationship flesh out throughout the novel.

4. Cliches

When it came to the bullies in this story, they seemed very typical (especially the female characters). Some of the things they said felt like they could ripped from the script of the average high school movie. Otherwise, the bullying seemed very real and made me sympathize with Sugar immediately.

5. The Writing

The writing wasn't that impressive (which was expected, seeing it was a self-published novel), but contained quite a few eye-opening quotes that I'll look back on.

In conclusion, Sugar is a book I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking to pick up a quick story on self-image and developed relationships.

Buy it @ Amazon