Customer Reviews

Something's Wrong with Your Scale!: A Romantic Comedy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought Something's Wrong With Your Scale! because I read Beeperless Remote, and really liked it. When I first started reading SWWYS! I didn't think I was going to like it. But after about the first chapter, I started to warm up to the book. And I really started to feel for Sonny and Kayla, especially in the scenes where other people treated them like they weren't even human just because they were overweight. I have never had a weight problem myself, but I think Whitfield did an excellent job of showing me what it feels like to have a "battle of the bulge." I particularly liked the scene where Sonny, Chet, and E got drunk, and Sonny finally told them about themselves! They had bigger personal problems than Sonny, yet they had the nerve to treat him like some kind of outcast because of his weight, and because he was dating an overweight woman. Even though Whitfield told Sonny's story in a rather comical, lighthearted manner, he made some pretty serious points about the level of disrespect shown to overweight people, and about the need to lose weight because of internal factors, instead of external ones. Even in Sonny's relationship with Kayla, Whitfield was making a BIG statement in showing us how even an overweight man has problems with dating and being seen in public with an overweight woman. Big GUYS definitely get cut more slack than big GIRLS in this society. I think that may be why Kayla appears to never really win her battle with the bulge. It seems like she was almost rebelling against everyone else's insistence that she lose weight. She was a pretty good woman (smart, doing well financially, funny, witty, bold, and just an all-round nice person), yet she was treated like a leper because of her weight (especially in the clothing store scene). Well, as you can see, I got a lot out of the book, even though it's a light easy read. I see some of the criticism of other reviewers of this book, but I find Whitfield's writing to be different from the standard popular African-American authors out today, so I enjoy reading his books. He's different, and after all, variety is the spice of life.

If you've read Beeperless Remotes and Guys In Suites you will definately like Something's Wrong With Your Scale. This book mixes comedy with romance and keeps your attention (which is one of the things I like most). If you don't read this you'll be missing a treat. Warning: It may seem to move a little slow at times but believe me it WILL pick up and when it does you WILL be hooked!

Sonny Walker is a single thirty-something brotha. He's funny, personable and has a decent job. However, most sistahs won't give him the time of the day.

The problem? Sonny is 75 pounds overweight. He is addicted to food and he can't get go over the fact that his ex-girlfriend Marsha dumped him over his weight gain.

Sonny wants to win Marsha back. His plan is to lose weight. He joins the FutraSystem weight-loss center. The food is horrible and the petite sized trainer has never been overweight. The only good thing about the program is another FutraSystem participant Kayla.

Kayla has it all- career, money and a house. However, Sonny cannot deal with her size 24 body.

Together, they embark on the FutraSystem program. Sometimes following it and most of the time, they make late runs for midnight dinners and snacks.

Kayla and Sonny become friends and this causes Sonny to exam his views on beauty and romance. After all, can't a woman be attractive and not be thin?

His friends say answer "no" to his question; whereas, Sonny's heart tells him "yes". Sonny grapples with society's prejudices against large sized women. He learns that beauty is not limited to cover girl models.

SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOUR SCALE is a hilarious romantic comedy. I would highly recommend this book.

If you have ever struggled with your weight. Wondered and made conclusions in your mind about your relationships in comparison to your weigh, this is the book for you. Sonny Walker, the main character, is dumped by his slim and attractive girlfriend; after he gains weigh from eating all of her wonderful meals and desserts. One day she looks at him, and saw his size and not his personality. Causing her to end their relationship, without allowing him to finish off her wonderful peanut butter cheese cake. He joins a weigh watchers club, and meets Kayla, who has a talking parrot, who continuously calls him fat boy! Sonny finds the bird offensive and annoying. But, he finds in Kayla a friend that evolves into something so much sweeter. He is embarassed to tell his friends about Kayla, because of her size. But, eventually he sees her heart. Together they become quite a couple. He begins working out, she continues to eat excessively, but they find in each other, the greatest gift, of love and acceptance and understanding.

The title itself was catchy. I had just begun a workout program, when I purchased it. I found the book to be hilarious at times and serious at other times. It demonstrated a man's perspective to being overweight. Recalling the part when he and Marsha first split, and his thoughts were on that cheesecake...had me rolling! It recalled something I've done myself, the segment when he cut a slice big enough for two people; knowing that the other party wasn't going to want any of the cake. Whitfield has his own style of writing. I like his style and I appreciate not reading something that sounds like the masses. Keep you own style Whitfield and I will continue to buy and read your novels. "Something's Wrong with Your Scale" has motivated me to keep working out. After reading it, I got a message: You have to learn to accept who you are or even what you've become whether you're overweight or bulimic. If a change needs to be made you need to be the deciding mechanism.

I recommend this book to anyone that appreciates a good love story, and needs inspiration and motivation on a quest for weight loss. For anyone that is struggling with their weight, they will find that a book like this serves as a reminder that they are not alone, and that others understand what they are going through. The author nailed the character of Kayla. She represents all of our mothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, and best girl friends.

This book is often funny and, at times, reads as if it were a stand up comedy routine. It tells the story of an overweight young man, Sonny Walker, who is dumped by his erstwhile girlfriend, Marsha, for his having put on about seventy five pounds more than she could stand. He then goes on a personal odyssey to lose weight, joining a weight loss group, where he meets the obese but luscious Kayla. This book is their story.

Funny and irreverent, the book suffers at times from stereotypic, one dimensional characterizations. It is a plot driven book that often has the reader thinking that something good is just around the corner on the next page. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. The book has its ups and downs.

I absolutely adored this story, but more so the writer's style. Mr. Whitfield is a bright new author on the horizon, I'm so happy to have found his work, only by accident through knowing someone in his personal circle of life. I was amazed at his ease of telling a TRULY HEARTFELT account of a man's personal battle with the bulge. It is never easy to watch someone struggle with their weight, but Van Whitfield's portrayal of these genuinely likeable characters makes you stand up and cheer for their success. I laughed right out loud with some parts, and really enjoyed his unique story-telling style. Keep up the DYNAMITE work, Mr. W.!!! You're a shooting star on a sometimes quite bleak literary landscape.

In a vastly growing community of "up-and-coming" African American writers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find someone with a unique voice and approach on relationships.

Van Whitfield has successfully done just that. While Terry McMillian and Eric Jerome Dickey contiue to provied interesting stories about the young, black and always beautiful, Whitfield shows us that sometimes the beautiful may not posess a 36-24-36 figure.

His characters are genuine, sensative and very real. Humorous would be an understatement. But most of all the story, situations and emotions expressed are very believable.

If you want read a book that takes you into the lives of other people but still allows you to stay on the planet of reality, this is the book for you.

I was first introduced to this novel by one of my best friends as he and I rode down the street. "You've got to read this," he said. I admit that by the time we reached out destination, I was a bit turned off by the idea that Marsha would dump Sonny based on a few pounds: "...you're telling me that you're going to let a little weight come between us?" "No Sonny...YOU let a LOT of weight come between us..." However - I was also moderately interested. I couldn't help wondering if Sonny was going to lose the weight or continue to lose out to Cheesecake! This book would DEFINITELY NOT rank on my top ten list of all-time favorites, but it would not finish dead last, either. It's an okay read (better than Whitfield's first book - "Beeperless Remote") I think anyone who has ever struggled with any type of weight loss will get a couple of giggles out of this novel.