Fat Girl Finishing School" by Rachel Wiley is a fearless and empowering collection of poetry that challenges societal norms and celebrates body positivity. Wiley's words are a raw and unapologetic exploration of identity, self-love, and the unyielding strength found in embracing one's own body. This collection is a compelling testament to the beauty and power that exists beyond conventional standards of beauty, offering a refreshing and affirming perspective on self-acceptance.

Fat Girl Finishing School explores themes such as self-love, gender stereotypes, and fatphobia as well as making commentary on societal norms in blunt and lyrical verses that express Rachel Wiley's thoughts with no apology.

This was a powerful book of poetry that really spoke to me. It did take me awhile to read it but I spent time really reading each poem. So many were about loving yourself and your body, which I know we hear about all the time but really hit home here.

Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley (2014 and reprinted in 2020) is the Columbus, Ohio area poetry slam artist’s first published book of poetry. It includes more than forty poems, including the widely-shared (and linked above) “10 Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy.”

Wiley is biracial and unapologetically fat and queer. Her poems speak to the beauty she has fought the world to find in herself. By doing so, Wiley shines a light so that other fat folks can see our own beauty, too.

Included are five separate love letters to her body (#3, #7, #8. #10, and #14), an Ode to Tracy Turnblad (from the musical Hairspray, her first fat role model), and a Poem for Amy Wineglass.

The Circus Fat Lady Eulogizes Mary the Elephant brought me to tears. I had never heard the story, but Mary was a circus elephant in Tennessee who killed a trainer in 1916 and was hanged from a crane shortly thereafter. Later, while taking her ivory tusks, it was found that she had an infected tooth on the same side where the trainer had struck her with a hook.

In Naked Atonement, Wiley promises “to stop letting selfish mouths/who do not kiss your belly into our bed.” I so wish those words had been written for me to read when I was young. In Love Letter to My Body #14, Wiley proclaims that “Shame does not live here anymore.”

Daylight, written for the 16 year old girl who no longer wants to leave her house, should be given to every young person who struggles with self-doubt. It’s such a lovely and encouraging pep talk that I plan on making it part of care packages for the two soon-to-be college freshmen in my life.

In full disclosure, I received an electronic review copy of this book from NetGalley in 2020 but didn’t read it in time before access to the copy expired. So I bought it, and am so glad that I did.

Fat Girl Finishing School is essential for any fat positive library.

Originally released in 2014, Fat Girl Finishing School is Rachel Wiley's first full-length collection of poems. You may recognise her name from Button Poetry’s YouTube channel where Wiley’s performance of “10 Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy” went viral. It has recently been re-released, now with a beautiful new cover and a new introduction from the author, Fat Girl Finishing School is a powerful exploration of size, race, sexuality, and altogether living in a body outside the allowance of normal.

Wiley’s background as an actress, as she mentions in the new introduction, really lends itself to her poetry in the way it can build a connection with the reader. The pauses in things unsaid, the feelings just below the surface most of us experience, allows Wiley to weave a broad scope of topics together. Being fat, being bi-racial, being a member of the LGBT+ community, it’s all presented in such a way I think anyone could identify a part of themselves in, and, by extension, empathise with the rest.

While her most famous poem may be about size, for me a standout poem in this collection was 'Americana'. It describes an experience at a high school party where a boy is happy to throw around the N-word but will kiss a bi-racial girl when no one’s looking. Clearly a poem about bi-racial identity in America, but for me - and I imagine a lot of fat women - it spoke to how we are made to feel about intimacy. While I won’t ever know the indignation that comes with the N-word being slurred in my face, but the self-hating ache of accepting attention from someone because “you’re fat and God knows when you’ll get another chance”? I felt that so hard I had to step away and make a mug of tea.

Likewise, while the lines “I am fat / no, you are beautiful / and I wonder why I cannot be both” hit differently when you are fat, I defy any ‘skinny’ person, particularly girls and women, not feel that too.

As a first collection, there is room to argue that there is a mix in terms of quality, but while I’m admitting this so you don’t think I’m completely biased, I don’t really think it matters. It’s a first collection, of course there is going to be a poem or phrasing that doesn’t quite sit right, and that’s before we get into the mess of personal taste. What I do think is interesting is how you can see Wiley’s development as a poet. If in one collection you can go from ‘reasonably good’ to ‘heart-thumping resonance’ just by flipping a page, I don’t know how you could not be excited to see what Wiley does next.

With an honesty that borders on raw, but never without humour or joy that is still radical to publicly hold when you’re fat, I cannot see how you would not enjoy this collection if you like modern or slam poetry at all. It’s bold and upfront, genuine with no hiding behind flowery or contrived imagery. In a fatphobic world that would rather bury the fat than embrace them, Fat Girl Finishing School is Rachel Wiley's bold Lady Godiva ride of a love letter - middle fingers raised high - to her body and those like it, and I loved it.

Rachel Wiley's poetry strikes a sharp balance between heart-stopping honesty and evocative imagery. Through this collection, she confronts and explores ideas of sexuality, relationships, race, fatness and more, all while showing an intimate knowledge of glittering pop culture. While each poem can stand on its own, the narrative created through the assemblage of the poems, and the addition of the various, numbered "Letters to My Body" (3, 7, 8, 10, & 14) serve to further move the reader through the poems.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

I received an audiobook arc to review and I didn't have away to read it because the app I needed wouldn't work on my phone. I'm only writing a "review" so that my feedback ratio isn't effected.

I received a copy of this poetry collection via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you NetGalley, the publishers and the author.

This collection spoke to me, and not to sound cheesy but I felt seen. For one of the first times in my life. A lot of the poems I feel like I was writing them right along with Rachel Wiley as I felt the exact same things, and thought the exact same things. Wiley wasn't afraid to explore the many topics related to Fatphobia and discrimination, and I thank her for that. It's something that needs to be spoken out loud and not kept bottled up in our round bodies. As much as us plus size people think it may be obvious, to people who have more socially acceptable bodies don't realize what we may or may not experience because of how we look. Just the other day I was telling my friend that if I go to the doctor for something the first response is always, 'well loose weight, that's the problem' even if it's not and she was shocked. She had no idea. Hopefully people like her can read this collection and get to spend a few hours in our shoes

What an absolutely marvelous book - Rachel Wiley writes accessible and charming poems. I took my time reading them to savor; she makes great points and makes you laugh as you read about what it means to live in a fat body.

Rachel Wiley, an author who holds many intersecting identities has written Fat Girl Finishing School as a love letter to her living body.

I would normally not read a book filled with poetry but for some reason this one called to me and I am happy I got the chance to read it. It was emotional at times, funny at others. Some were great, some not so great, but overall a gem of book that will tug your heartstrings and for every reader there is a poem in there that hits home. Hard. Great read so even if this is not your thing; give it a chance!

*** An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

The author is:
Biracial.
Fellow member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Fat.
Unapologetic.

The poems are in-your-face and you do not need to have heard the author perform to understand their cadence. These are poems that ask to be read aloud and shared with the world. As of today, i have done both.

DNF

Started this book, and did not feel captivated enough to finish. Did not feel like there was anything special about it.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I love slam poetry. So when I found out that a poem collection by a slam poet was available for request, I had to read it.
This collection was raw. It had some pieces that gave me chills. Some of the lines I've written down in my quotes notebook because I wanted to keep them forever.
As an overweight queer woman this book made me feel seen.

My favourite poems were:
Love Letter To My Body #3: My Excuse
Love Letter To My Body #7
10 Honest Thoughs On Being Loved By A Skinny Boy
The Circus Fat Lady Eulogizes Mary The Elephant
Naked Atonement
Love Letter To My Body#14: Borrow

Today I am #reading: Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley (@dangerouslyinchub). Hands down one of favorites that I've read so far during the challenge. I feel seen as a young woman, a fat woman, as a person. I could honestly share half the book if I was picking favorite poems.

Rachel Wiley is most commonly know for her spoken word " The Fat Joke". Her spoken word is eloquent and powerful, and punches you straight to her heart.
I was a little apprehensive to hear this book because hearing poetry and reading poetry are two different experience. But, Rachel Wiley does not disappointment in Fat Girl Finishing School. This collection of poems are so beautiful and lyrical. This collection about radical self-acceptance all of you. Your sexuality, your ethic background, your identity as a woman and expectations placed upon us. This collection of poems really resonated with me.

I love how this collection of poems challenge many preconceived biased notions about body, gender, race, faith and the complicated experiences of being human. They are emotionally impactful, hard hitting and seething with a quiet rage against a world which would rather worship at the altar of stereotypes than love humans for who they really are. Rachel Wiley is a force to be reckoned with in the world of slam poetry/spoken word poetry and on paper her words burn as brightly too!

These are poems that actually spoke out to me and was like a tight hug out of the pages . Brass Knuckles, The Circus Fat Lady Eulogizes Mary the Elephant are a couple of my favourite poems.

However, I feel the title of this book and the cover do not do this collection of poems justice. Because it is so much more!

Poetry is so difficult to review because each poem is so different, there were some poems I couldn’t relate to but there were others that struck an enormous chord.

These poems are powerful and so vivid I can almost hear them being spoken aloud.

My favourites were the poems that felt like battle cries, that make you want to shout along as your heart pounds and your blood boils.

This poetry anthology spoke to me as a fat girl. I felt seen on every page and Wiley managed to speak of a shared experience I didn’t know existed. I would thoroughly recommend this collection - Wiley’s voice shines through.