Customer Reviews

Huge

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I ordered "Huge" after falling in love with the utterly endearing ABC Family series of the same name. Screen adaptations rarely live up to their original source material, so I was expecting big things (no pun intended) from Paley's novel. But if you're like me and are interested in seeing how the book compares to the television show, you're going to be disappointed.

Beyond the title, the name of the main character, and the fact that it's set at a fat camp, the book bears few similarities to its TV counterpart. The show is everything the book is not--complex, charming, layered, sweet, funny, sad. The characters, so real and so vulnerable on screen, are nothing more than cardboard stereotypes on the page. None of the show's most interesting personalities (Alistair, Becca) are present in the book. There is no camper-counselor flirtation that parallels the George-Amber storyline, nor is there any mention of the fractured relationship between the camp director (here a bubbly redhead called "Melanie") and her father. Pretty much all of the elements that make the TV series sparkle are noticeably absent, leaving us with a straightforward "summer camp" story, and not a particularly interesting one at that.

Near the end of the book, there is a scene where Wil is caught reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. It's a shame that Paley, obviously familiar with Chbosky's brilliant YA novel, didn't take a few clues from that work. Because even as general young adult fiction, "Huge" falls flat. The plot is thin, the characters one-dimensional. And although it's an easy read, there is very little incentive to keep turning the page.

Skip the book and check out the television series instead.

HUGE deals with a topic that is apparently in the media more and more these days (though I myself haven't seen it much): fat camp.

Wellness Canyon is a high-end fat camp where two very different girls, April and Wil, are paired as roommates. April has saved all year for this, despite a lack of support from her mom. She wants to lose some weight and gain the popularity she's always wanted. Wil wants to be anywhere but Wellness Canyon. Her wealthy parents have sent her there, as she's a public relations nightmare: they own the high-profile chain of Excalibur Gyms. Wil's revenge on them is to enter Wellness Canyon with a huge stash of sweets and be the first kid in camp history to actually gain weight while there.

Of course, as it's full of teenagers with raging hormones, there's more than weight loss going on at Wellness Canyon. When April and Wil start crushing on the same guy, football-playing hottie Colin, their relationship gets even more tense. Can they make it through the summer together and maybe even become friends?

A lot of HUGE is your typical summer camp story. Sasha Paley does a great job of creating at least two fleshed-out, interesting characters, though some secondary characters sometimes seem a little flat. Paley is a talented writer, but the popular-kids-are-mean message is maybe a little heavy, and, despite what the back cover says about learning to accept yourself, I felt like she was saying that being skinny is better than being fat, even if she never came out and said it.

Despite this, though, HUGE is a fairly satisfying read, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Sasha Paley writes next!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

HUGE (reviewed on May 1, 2007)

A clichéd, moralistic tale of lessons learned at fat camp. Two girls spar and then bond as summer roommates. Perky April has "saved all year... all of [her] birthday money. Christmas. Everything" to pay for Wellness Canyon because she wants to be thin and popular. (How birthday and Christmas gifts could possibly total "seven grand" for a girl with a single mother on disability is distractingly inexplicable.) Wil, in contrast, has rich parents who own a sleek gym chain; her fatness is their shame, so they force her to go. Both April and Wil lose weight over the summer, while they obnoxiously insult each other, become friends, kiss the same boy, plot revenge on him, fight more and make up. Paley unequivocally touts weight loss and repeatedly uses words like "waddled" about her fat characters. She also displays ignorance of physiology, equating fitness unquestionably with thinness. Appalling and simplistic. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 22nd, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3517-9
Page count: 272pp
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

I really love summer camp. I went to one for 14 years (!!!) including working on staff for a few summers. Unfortunately I don't see many books written in this setting - but was very excited to get a copy of Huge on an outing to a bookstore.
Huge is based at a weight loss camp, which kind of reminded me of Heavyweights (the movie). Unlike Heavyweights, I had a bit of a problem choosing which character to root for - because, quite frankly, I didn't like Wil OR April, the two roommates we follow through the camp adventures. After awhile they do start to grow on you, so they weren't ALL bad. I just found Wil to be a little too negative/rude and April a little too whiny/awkward for my tastes.

Regardless, the story was fun and I kept picking up the book to read more. There are the usual "Camp Olympics" (doesn't it seem like every book about camp involve Olympics?), and most of the events were very predictable, but those interested in reading this particular book are probably looking for entertainment rather than a deep, thought provoking read, and I think that this book certainly qualifies for the former.

Pretty predictable but fun nonetheless, Huge is a great summer or beach read, especially for those that have attended camp themselves!

Was really excited about this book.. :) Loved the show and needed the book asap. Thanks for the quick shipment.

I started to read Huge for I Heart Monster's Read Along a few weeks ago. I was happy to discover that Huge was a fun and easy read. The characters were interesting, and I was surprised that I ended up actually liking both April and Wil even though April is a much more likable character most of the time. It was nice to see April and Wil grow as characters as the book progressed.

Even though he is a minor character, my favorite character was Dave. He seemed like such a sweet guy, but I thought he was way too nice to April especially after the way she treated him. She was too blind by her selfish wants to see that he liked her, so I do not think that she deserved his kindness.

The main reason for the drama in the book was Colin, the jock of fat camp. Both April and Wil ended up crushing on him. Obviously, they ended up fighting with each other over him, and he turned out to be a huge jerk and player. Big surprise. Oddly enough, the experience actually caused them to become good friends in the end.

Huge is a great summer/ beach read. There are plenty of funny moments to keep you entertained. I have watched a couple episodes of the show on ABC Family, and I have discovered that the show is loosely based on the book. I did not see many similarities at all.

Side note: The chapter headings were yummy! They made me want s'mores every time I started a new chapter.

I think the only thing that I can really say about this book is that it came off as very unrealistic to me. I would have a hard time believing that the author really understands what it's like to be an overweight teenager. I also think that the messages in this book leave much to be desired. I basically got the message that you can't be happy unless you're thin, and that losing weight is about becoming popular and getting boys. I personally think that weight loss should be about making yourself happy and being healthy. I mean, it's an interesting story I guess, but more than a bit misguided.

the book for the tv series known as "Huge" came out wayyy before it aired. in my opinion, the tv series butchered the book on screen and now just because the cover has the lead actress on it now people will want to buy it, deeming it a bad copy of the television show. NO!! love the book, hate the series. so fake in the acting

Huge was an outstanding book. I enjoyed reading every page of this book. I am sure my students will, too. The best part is that there are so many things to discuss in this book: overweight/obese kids vs. nearly chubbies, rich kids vs. poor kids, cool kids vs. the outcast and parents' selfishness vs. kids' selfishness. I can not say enough about this book being a discussion book. One thing I adored was that every music group, magazine and pop culture items were current, such as the use of iPods, ibooks, 7-11, workout equipment and lets not forget the concert tickets to "Death Cab for Cutie". Below, like every other book I read, I suggest the focus group that should definitely read this book. Please understand everyone should read this book, big or small, just because it is a great book. The kids I suggest should read this book are:
-Kids with parents who are into their own self image.
-Overwieght students
-Wealthy students (To realize that everything handed to them, it is not available to everyone.)
-Kids that feel like outcast of the popular kids
-Kids that trying to hard to fit into the popular crowd
-Kids going away to summer camp
-Kids who have to deal with a roommate
-Single child families
-Punk/Gothic students

This book, called Huge, is about two overweight girls, Wil and April that go to "fat camp," officially named Wellness Canyon. Wil blatantly does not want to lose weight, and decides she would rather gain weight. April, on the other hand, is very much into losing weight and the fact that she weighs over 200 lbs. does not bother or deter her at all.
I would like to mention how shallow and dull the characters are. Wil's parents are hotel entrepreneurs and Wil has a personal weight trainer. Wil is also overweight. She takes the attempt to lose weight for granted and she thinks it's a plot to harm her. She does not want to follow the plan, and when she is forcibly sent to Wellness Canyon, she vows she will come back gaining weight. In reality, no fat girl wants to gain weight. Wil is a shallow, un-developed character.
I could not stand the character April. She was not even depressed about weighing 205. In fact, she was happy about it throughout and her problem solving skills were nonexistent. All she did was complain about how she hated Wil's attitude.

The lexicon in this book is extremely simple. I can almost imagine the writer of this book being a child at most. I was extremely frustrated that the wording was so awkward and was unable to convey real feelings.
This book does not follow real life situations. In such a camp, in reality, there would be bulimics and people with food issues. The only problem these girls have is being overweight. And, no one, no girl is the least bit upset about it. It might as well take place in a more realistic setting, say a school, if the unique antics of a fat camp are not correctly applied.

Also, the author's attempt to create stereotypical school cliques in a fat camp have disastrously failed. Paley attempts to create the pretty blond skinny girls in a fat camp by dubbing them "Barely Chubbies" (This is extremely childish wordplay for an adult author, and keep in mind, they are in fat camp). She also adds two obese boys to the mix, who are described to, "weigh several hundred pounds," and yet are still handsomely attractive with, "light brown hair...striking blue eyes, and long dark lashes....more muscle-y than chubby." Here she a trying, but failing to create the hot boys that the hot girls go after. The most pathetic thing is that there is a feeble romance between these two cliques.

She also tries to make the "followers" which is equivalent to the group of people that believe and follow whatever the popular people say. They follow the pops like, "a trail of little ducklings."
There's even a scene where Paley tries her hand at drama, by creating a situation where April has to do sit-ups and doing a meager six sit-ups caused a," symphony of pain in [April's] neck, stomach, back and arms joined together to form a concert of pain." Then she goes on to describe how vivid the sky and grass are, like a dying man seeing the world for the first time.

I did not finish this book. I barely made it through the first three chapters because it was that pathetic. At one point, I could not stop from laughing at her terrible writing. I believe Paley wasted a year in her lifetime to write and edit such a novel. She should have either aborted this idea (which I would highly recommend), or spent more time streamlining and enhancing the realism of this book. I say, do not buy or read this. It is not worth your time and not worth your money, however little the cost.