Explore Holding Up The Universe Narrated By Jennifer Niven In Readable Copy

thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed "America's Fattest Teen, " But no one's taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is, Following her mom's death, she's been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief, Now, Libby's ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer, In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High, I want to be the girl who can do anything,  

Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too, Yes, he's got swagger, but he's also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in, What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can't recognize faces, Even his own brothers are strangers to him, He's the guy who can reengineer and rebuild anything, but he can't understand what's going on with the inner workings of his brain, So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming, Be hilarious. Don't get too close to anyone,

Until he meets Libby, When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school gamewhich lands them in group counseling and community serviceLibby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised, Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel, Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours, REREAD! I fell in love with this book allll over again! I adore Libby, I adore what she stands for, I love what this book stands for, The hope it instills. How personal it is to the author and how appreciative I am that she shared her story with us, I'm rooting for this book! I'm rooting for myself, I'm rooting for all the readers who have ever felt less than, As Libby would say about herself, I am magic!, and so, as are you,



Initial review!
I'm sure a lot of you will remember the ton of backlash this book received when the blurb was revealed.
I mean, let's not get into that aspect of people having the audacity to judge and writeoff a book when they haven't read a single page of it, It's aggravating to the core!

So, having read the book, yes, there is a lot of 'fatshaming' that's mentioned throughout the book, Fatshaming that the main character has to deal with, i, e. the bullying she goes through, because of her weight, But also the main character 'fatshaming' herself, because of her insecurity, as a direct result of the bullies and other factors,

I personally don't see how this is a problem, to bring to light this sort of issue, Yes, it was slightly uncomfortable to read at times, making it real and raw, But we ask for diverse and complex books/characters, then moan when a 'controversial' topic is raised, This is exactly the kind of realistic bullshit some people unfortunately, have to deal with, as ugly as it may seem, As well as the insecurity and the mentalhealth issues that come alongside it, I don't understand how it was even assumed that the author was ridiculing people who deal with weight and mentalhealth problems, If perhaps they'd waited a little longer for some clarification, and did their research, they'd have known that this topic is quite personal to the author,

But that's not all that the book is about, Yes, the character struggles with her weight, she's insecure to an extent, but she's absolutely fuckin' strong!!! She's almost sure about who she is, As sure as a teenager can be, She refuses to let her weight define her, stand in her way of her dreams, and fights the fuck back against anyone that dares to ridicule her, And she's happy, dammit!

This element is what made the book for me, She was headstrong to begin with, because she made herself be so! Though there are romantic aspects, her problems didn't magically disappear, because there was a guy in her life.
But she refused to hide her true self,

Because of this, I feel that this book is so empowering! A book that those who feel that can relate to Libby, can find strength in, Though Libby encompasses aspects of her personality that may contradict or clash i, e. being insecure, yet not giving a flying fuck about anyone it's a great message that one can take away, You're never fully one or the other, anyway,

This is what I personally got from this book, I guess, like every other book, people will interpret it differently, according to their own understanding and worldview, And this is mine.


Initial review:
Okay, wow, It'sam. Read this book in less than a day, My heart is floating. I'm dying with feels.

I was not expecting to love this book so much, Español English

La historia está narrada desde los puntos de vista de Libby y Jack,

Libby hace varios años y siendo una niña sufrió una pérdida muy grande en su vida, lo que la llevó a comer para llenar el vacío de su corazón.
Llegó a ser "La chica más gorda de América" y después de muchas terapias y de años estudiando desde la casa vuelve a la escuela.
Tendrá que probar muchas veces que es mucho más que su peso,

Jack desde hace años sufre una terrible condición que lo obliga a estar todo el tiempo en alerta y a tener por amigos y novia a las personas menos indicadas.
Pero cuando el destino lo une a Libby comenzará a ver todo de manera diferente y aceptar lo inimaginable,

Adoré este libro, me hizo llorar algunas veces, pero fueron lágrimas de felicidad, Libby siendo aún una adolescente te puede enseñar unas cuantas reglas para aplicar en tu vida y Jack es el mejor ejemplo,



The story is told from the points of view of Libby and Jack,

Libby several years ago and being a little girl suffered a very great loss in her life, which led her to eat to fill the emptiness of her heart.
She became "The fattest girl in America" and after many therapies and several years of studying from home she goes back to school, She will have to prove many times that she is much more than her weight,

Jack has for years suffered a terrible condition that forces him to be on alert all the time and to have for friends and girlfriend the people less indicated.
But when destiny unites him to Libby he will begin to see everything differently and accept the unimaginable,

I loved this book, it made me cry sometimes, but it was tears of happiness, Libby being still a teenager can teach you a few rules to apply in your life and Jack is the best example, i received an advance copy of this book from the author,

let me begin by saying i wrote my first review of this book nearlymonths ago, i have been anticipating this book since i finished all the bright places in march of last year, i have been waiting for this copy to show up on my front porch, eagerly, for a month, atbp was one of my favorite reads of last year and the book that got me into reading, the book that fills the first posts of my bookstagram account.


so my expectations were high,

amp despite being in a fantasyonly reading slump, i read this in a couple of hours, so that says something.

i enjoyed this book, i liked the characters. the faceblindness and weight facets of the book are so important, as with atbp, this book intends to help, which is so good, i can't say i didn't cringe a few times, or have a few WTH moments, but it was so much more artfully done than that first fateful goodreads synopsisthe one that inspired myriad onestar reviewswould have indicated.


this book was wellwritten and unique and so goodhearted, i did not fall in love with this book, but i am in love with the idea of niven as an author, i am so happy that there is a kind soul like her, writing great books and making things lovely, i hope, in a couple of years, to be reading her next!



ORIGINAL JANUARY REVIEW
can everyone please take a chill pill in regards to this book please

i understand that this is a hotbutton topic.
i understand that niven's thinness makes this a controversy, i understand that many people were offended by all the bright places although not nearly as many as the number of people who loved it,

but cheese and crackers, people, for a community that reads so much it's kind of bananas how none of you are considering reading the description as a potentially misguided attempt at young adult language!

the "lifted out of her house by a crane"/other uses of fat as an insult: like i said, probably misguided.
but definitely a reflection of the girl's selfimage certainly something that will be a theme throughout the work rather than an attempt to insult overweight people,

"rejoin the human race": oh my gosh, you guys, this is the misreading that really gets me, this is clearly an attempt at imitating quirkygirl diction, NOT A SUGGESTION THAT HER BEING OVERWEIGHT MAKES HER NOT A PERSON, that's ridiculous! that would be so incredibly offensive, and whether you appreciate niven or not you should apply common sense to her wording,

and finally, i wish people would stop rating books before they come out and before they've read them, that's not what this is for, this might be a truly beautiful work, and if you don't want to read it you can keep that to yourself, there is no need for you to rate a book one star because you misread its description,

thank you for reading this, i hope i didn't offend anyone, have lovely days! Edit: Looks like they updated the synopsis,



I hope this book is less offensive than the synopsis, Ive decided to review my least favorite book ever at least for the moment because I like to torture myself apparently,
Im going to keep this spoiler free since I dont remember much, I have blocked it from my mind and it is just better that way,

Before we start, theres one thing you need to know about me, It takes A LOT for me to dislike a book, Ive enjoyed plenty of trashy books, Im talking about no structure, nonexistent plot, plain characters, messy storylines, those commonly known as guilty pleasure reads, I'm not hard to please and I hate giving low ratings,

Hold that thought, . . now we can start. Having read All The Bright Places, I had high expectations for this, That was my first mistake, Hearing the main character struggled with selfesteem and body issues made

me think I was going to relate to her, That was my second mistake,
DONT EVER GET YOUR EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH FOR A BOOK, Trust me on this.

I cant really say at what point this went from being average to being something I hated, I know hate is a strong word, but its what I feel, Libby is the most annoying character I have ever read about, Call her strong, call her brave, or any of the things she was set out to be, but I dont see it and I never will, For me she was whiny, annoying, selfcentered and just straightup unlikeable, The other main character I dont even remember his name has a condition that should be interesting to read about, But nope, its boring and it goes nowhere, Why dig deeper on something interesting and original when you can fill pages with unnecessary romantic angst, am I right

Nothing happens other than the two teenagers falling in love and even that part felt forced to me.
Libby makes a few statements blah blah blah, And it goes on for likepages,pages of unnecessary drama and clichés, I couldnt wait for this book to end, I never skimmed so I read every single word, Maybe I shouldve just DNFed it, Thatshours of my life Ill never get back,

In conclussion, this sucked and every time I see this cover I mentally groan and roll my eyes,
If you want to read this, go ahead, This is just my honest opinion, While I liked the chemistry between these two characters, I had a really hard time with the fat shaming, The author tried to portray Libby as a person who is fighting against bullying but she refers to herself as fat many times, It felt like a convoluted message, stars!

sitelink

Holding Up the Universe was an interesting and moving read with complex characters and a unique storyline, I listened the the audio version of this book and once I hit play, I didnt want to stop, When I read All the Bright Places earlier this year, I had the same feeling of being hooked, Im happy to report the author was able to pull this off not once, but twice,

Our story centers around Libby Strout and Jack Masselin, Libby is formally Americas Fattest Teen, Shes spent a lot of her young adult life getting healthy and she is nowhere near thin, but shes happy with herself, She decides to take the plunge, stop homeschooling and go to high school, Libby is a fantastic character, I loved that shes just herself, She has a great relationship with her dad and meets some good friends throughout this journey for her, She also meets Jack Masselin in a very unconventional way,

Jacks got it good in high school, or so everything thinks, Hes popular, has a pretty girlfriend and a lot of friends, Hes funny, charming and cool, But he struggles every single moment of every single day, See, Jack has this secret, He cant recognize faces. I cant even imagine how that would feel, To wake up each morning, look at my husband and not recognize his face, Thats how it is for Jack, He knows his brothers hair style, and he can tell his other brother by his ears, but the system is not flawless, Libby is the only one who knows about this and is able to help him, He doesn't always deserve her help, but that's not the point, It's just the way Libby is, I love her for it,

Jack and Libbys relationship is complicated at first, The way they meet, the reason theyre spending so much time together, Their friendship grew and developed as the story progressed, I loved them both and I loved that they had each others backs, Jack won me over early on, just knowing he was rooting for Libby from the very start warmed my heart, Even though there were some hard to read moments, the story, overall, was a positive one, I felt happy when I finished, I give this onestars!

Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours,