Cookie Vonn is a fat-turned-skinny fashion blogger and designer who advocates for body positivity yet still believes that her life will be better after she loses the weight. And, in some ways, it is: her work in fashion is taken more seriously, she gets the chance to design a capsule collection for plus-size women with famous designer Gareth Miller, and she gets the guy -- even though it's not the guy she's always wanted. However, none of these good things is quite as good as she expects, and she's still not happy.

The book is a back-and-forth between her perspective as a fat woman losing weight and a skinny woman with the world at her feet, which was an interesting choice but one that may not work for all readers. The book simplifies the issues with fashion and bodies into fat vs. skinny when the reality is much more complex -- fashion is not friendly for anyone whose body deviates from the arbitrary ideal shape in any way. The relationship between Cookie and Gareth was really unsettling, as he's twice her age and in a position of definite power over her.

However, I generally enjoyed the story itself and found Cookie to be a relatively compelling character. I really liked Piper.

Fat girl on a plane is a wonderful emotional read that will have you falling in love with Cookie and rooting for her till the very end!!!

Cookie Vonn is fat. And while she doesn’t want her weight to rule her life, she’s interested in fashion design. And in fashion, size is everything. Her dreams of getting out of Scottsdale, attending Parsons, an elite fashion design school, and becoming a fashion designer for women of all sizes might not work out if she can’t lose the weight.

Fast forward two years. Thanks to insane self-control and the power of NutriMin (a stand in for Weight Watchers) Cookie has lost the weight. And the opportunities do start to roll in. She’s offered the chance to meet her idol and cover his fashion show for NutriMin. Better yet, after a breakfast meeting with him, she gets an offer to design a special plus size line that will be released as a preview for his upcoming Winter/Spring Collection. But even as Cookie’s life seems to be exactly what she wanted, she finds being skinny isn’t a panacea. Somewhere along the way, she might have lost not only the weight, but herself.

This is a great new adult coming of age novel that I ate right up. It’s not my normal fare – I typically don’t read YA romances unless the protagonist is a person of color. While Cookie is white, she is fat, and that is definitely an underrepresented group of people in most modern literature, so I decided to take a chance on this one, and I’m really glad I did. I think some overweight readers will balk at the idea of this being a Cinderella story, but that’s not what this is – a lot of the book really centers on Cookie realizing that while her weight might be part of her identity, it’s not what makes her Cookie, and that realization is what makes this a strong coming of age tale.

The book switches back and forth between past and present Cookie (fat and skinny), a literary device that worked well here. We know Cookie gets skinny, but we learn why and how in the “fat” chapters, and we get to learn how she reaps the fruits of her labor in the “skinny” chapters. I wanted to know what happened to both versions of Cookies, and I found myself staying up way too late one night reading this. Cookie herself is a smart, resourceful young woman, and while she makes some seriously stupid decisions, they all seem in character and are the sort of decisions an inexperienced young woman might make – especially when the adults around her were often giving her awful advice. I hated both of her relationships, but they seemed pretty realistic, and hopefully young women can learn from Cookie’s mistakes. I wish she had cut both guys out of her life as they were both toxic (one of them gets off way too easily), but that is my only major complaint.

I really liked this one, and I think new adults and older teens who enjoy contemporary reads will as well. If you like Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella or Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’, this book is definitely for you. 4 stars.

This book was very absorbing. It was thought provoking and evolved around character development. I really enjoyed how seamlessly the time jumps melded together. The characters were flawed but the only one I could not reconcile was Tommy. I would definitely recommend this book in my library.

Empowering, fun, and amazing. FAT GIRL ON A PLANE was a wonderful debut full of body posivity and fashion! I loved it, how easy and quick it was to read. The voice, which stood out and felt authentic. DeVos' writing was just perfection!

I thought I would like this book more than I did. The skipping back between timelines format was confusing and I am not a fan. That said, it was a quick read about a strong female character, Cookie, before and after she lost weight. She is kind of judgmental about others which made me not love her character either which was frustrating to me as the reader. The story was inspirational in that she lost weight and changed her life but I am not a big fan of "thin girl's lives are better than fat girls" stories. SO I guess this book wasn't really for me, except that I went to ASU and I loved all the ASU references!!! That was awesome!!! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!!!

This book was such a disappointment. The subject matter sounded fascinating and I even liked the first few chapters, but wow! after a bit, the story gets so slow and the plot feels endless.

I just could not get into this one at all.

Sigh. I loved the plot and imagery. What I didn't like is the fact that this is an accurate portrayal of our society. The two-part story of both times in Cookie's life (thin and heavy) was full of body shaming and mean people. I mean, I know that not everyone is nice- and there was enough personal growth to give Cookie a happy ending- I still felt sad about girls being body shamed on both ends of the spectrum. No one should ever judge anyone on their personal appearance. *steps off soapbox* I think YA readers can gain something from discussing this story, but I would follow up with some discussion after handing it to a teen girl.

Simply stunning. This book restored my faith in contemporary fiction. I mean the main character is plus size! That NEVER happens!

An interesting, funny, chewy read. Would recommend.

A strong debut that I finished in one sitting. Really enjoyed the dual timeline and Cookie's growth throughout the novel.

Cookie is fabulously flawed. Like many of us, she is looking to be rescued by someone, anyone, but preferably a man. I love the empowering ending.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I think YA and adult audiences alike will enjoy reading it as well. The narrative is told in alternating time frames. One of them is while Cookie is "fat" (term used in the book) and participating in NutriNation, a Weight Watchers facsimile. The other time frame is when she is "skinny."

Despite being the story of a 300+ teen who loses weight and reaches the superficial goals she has, the story does convey that looks and weight loss bring happiness. During the "fat" times, ,she has many people around her who love and support her for who she is. "Skinny" Cookie doesn't have that. There are also decent messages about friendship and pursuing your goals (not relationship goals).

With this being said, I think the family drama was a little too melodramatic and unbelievable. I also felt the last 1/3 of the book was Cookie whining about everything, and I didn't really like her even though I really wanted to.

I so enjoyed this book! I fun story about a woman who realizes life isn't about what your body looks like.

So I am not going to lie, I chose to read this because I am fat. I understand what it feels like....the title and description intrigued me.

I really enjoyed the 2 different POV one from when she was overweight and one from when she was skinny. I thought it was very interesting to compare how people treated her and how she treated herself.

However, I do think she was an emotional eater.

What I thought was a little far fetched was the fact that all of this was taking place when she was 17 and 19. That for me was a little unbelievable.

I don't feel like all of the emotional problems got tied up or addressed. I felt like the father issue was rather pushed aside.

Overall I enjoyed the story.

I've been looking forward to this book ever since the first time I read the first page, I think perhaps in a contest, although I can't remember for sure where. I really enjoyed this book on multiple fronts. It starts with an author's note saying "This is not a Cinderella weight loss story." As a reader, I appreciated knowing up front what I was getting into, the honesty of that statement, that this book would not be about a girl's life magically improving because she lost weight.

I really loved the focus on fashion throughout the book, but most of all I enjoyed Cookie's growth as a character and how she figured how who she truly wanted to be as a designer and person. The relationships were also very well-drawn.

I found the alternating timelines very well-done as well. It's hard to move back and forth and reveal information without giving too much away from the past, but Ms. deVos does this extremely well.

I loved the ending, which fit very well with Cookie's growth and left me satisfied as a reader.

My only caveat about this book is that the older timeline felt much more like an adult book, both in content and theme. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the book, but it caught me by surprise as it's classified YA--and I see that the younger timeline is very YA. So that's a tough one. All in all, I liked the book very much and would recommend it for any teen reader who's fine with the adult content.

2.5

I had high hopes for this, but it didn't quite live up to its potential, in my opinion.

Cookie's grown up with a model mother and doctor father, and Cooke is known for clothing designs. She's fed up with fat shaming and decides to lose weight. The story is told in a dual timeline, before and after the weight loss. While some parts may be quite relatable, the characters' actions are a bit frustrating at times. This is more than a weight loss story, however, and it does have an inspiring overall message.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I wasn't required to give a positive review.

Don’t you dare feel sorry for Cookie Vonn! This talented young woman has already been recognized for her fabulous clothing designs. But when she finally has had enough of “fat shaming,” Cookie makes the commitment to lose the weight. She knows an overweight fashion designer will not be taken seriously.

Told from two perspectives of Cookie, Fat Girl on a Plane is great YA writing that will resonate with all readers. It is not a duckling to swan story. Although Cookie loses the weight, there is so much more to her, inside and out. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I didn't realize this had a before-and-after-weightloss storyline. As a long-time fat person I prefer stories like Dumplin' where the story is about a fat main character just living their life. There's something sensationalist and objectifying about a storyline like this.

Cookie is the daughter of a super model mom and a doctor dad. Her dad is always away on save the world doctor missions, so never any time for Cookie. Her mom cares more about her modeling career and her boyfriend, Chad then her, so never and time for Cookie. Cookie was pretty was raised by her grandma.
I did not like this one. I realize it is YA, but it reminds me of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Cookie had crappy parents, but she had her grandma, yet she still had an "I hate the world" attitude. Cookie was overweight because she didn't want to be like her super model mother, who she blamed for pretty much everything.
Cookie lost over 100lbs, wore a size 4 and still had stuff to complain about!
The whole book irritated me with how juvenile the Cookie character was.