I don't normally read nonfiction, but when I saw this on NetGalley, it immediately caught my attention (not just because of the gorgeous cover), because I care so much about LGBTQ+ causes (being part of the community myself), however, the least represented letter in my reads is T, so I was drawn to this. And what a way to start, the intersectionality in this is amazing, and not just for fat people, which is already clear on the title, but for people of color too!
The book has several different formats, like essays, short stories, and poems, so I found it very dynamic and entertaining.
Like all anthologies, I had my favorites, but for me the golden piece was Carmen Maria Machado's, I already had a couple of her works in my tbr, but they will certainly be moved to the top of it!

this was so beautiful! as expected, my favorite essay in this collection was Machado's, and it's a beautiful exploration of fatness within relationships with other people and with yourself. i loved the variety of perspectives shared within this collection.

my only complaint is that i think some of the themes could have been spread out more - it felt like the first half of the collection carried a very similar tone, and then it switched somewhere in the middle and the second half became darker and a bit repetitive. while i still enjoyed the majority of these stories, i wanted a chance to reflect on the story i had just read without comparing it to the one that came next.

overall, this is a beautiful book that has the potential to support and reassure queer and trans fat people around the world!

I have no objectivity for this review - sorry rainbows.

I am Fat and Queer.

Everything about these stories, poems, and truths is me. These writers are sharing my thoughts and feelings leaving me ripped open raw with their honesty. These voices who share their pain, their everyday, their accusser’s judgment are all me. I didn’t have a Jewish grandmother like Leah Harris, but I had an aunt. To hear my story, or part of it, come out of Harris’ is at once comforting and sad.

Where did I hide the potato chips?

I have to admit to having a good chuckle over Tiff Josha TJ Ferlini’s conversation with their mther about how being born premature caused them to be queer. The following thought Ferentini had made me chuckle all day.

Man, Weight Watchers seems to have been involved in all of our lives. I gained weight on WW which is kind of funny.

I love Hannah Propp’s poem “To all the Fat Queers on the First Day of School.”

I identify with “Your Fat Friend.” As an activist Itoo have felt the frustration mixed with happiness when items pass or move one step closer. The emotional swings of activism are exhausting and then to still have friends and family be unsupportive in other ways. I feel you My Fat Friend Huge hugs.

Fat and Queer Anthology is a brilliant collection of hearfelt stories and truths that everyone should read. I am tired of trying to explain to thin, healthy, heterosexual, rainbow, single, coupled, and those with friends and family who I am or how I feel. Here is my diary...for I am all of them.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I don't have much to say about it. The stories are:
- unapologetic
- empowering
- sometimes sad
- magical and metaphorical.

This mixed array of stories, ranging from fantasies of flying to detailed descriptions of struggling with eating disorders, is as varied as the people who wrote them. The stories show that what society sees or wants to see is only a fraction of what fat and queer people feel and experience, and that their lives go beyond what society would like them to focus on (weight loss and self-hatred, I guess). There is no one way of being queer and no one way of being fat.

My only issue with the anthology is that the stories were quite short and there were so many of them it would be difficult to review each separately. Maybe a series of anthologies would have been a better solution.

Being both fat and queer myself, it was such a joy to read a book that shows my experience. I think this book is great for educating those who maybe are slimmer or straight. It enables them to see from a diverse perspective of the world, dealing with fatphobia, homophobia and dysmorphia. The only flaw in my mind is the lack of trigger warnings. This book went into a lot, and a trigger warning at the front wouldn't be difficult to add but would be helpful for a lot of people.

Absolutely loved this book! Intersectionality is such an important conversation that needs to continue in this country. We have all been impacted by intersectionality and I love the rawness with which Queerness and Fatness is discussed in this book.

Loved this. A much needed book about the intersectionality of fatness and queerness. Please check the trigger warnings before reading, because there are some heavy topics discussed in this anthology.
4.5 stars.

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Never have I felt more seen and understood by a book before, so this hit me RIGHT in the heart and soul tbh! It felt nice to see that my experiences aren't only my own, but that a lot of other people, both in the past and now, have struggled with the same things as me, or had the same feelings!

I especially liked the many stories or pieces that explored how being fat can make it harder to be queer, especially since weight and appearance and physical traits are gender coded in some way! Really interesting, and I could also relate to a lot of the emotions and thoughts behind it!

Like all antologies, however, the pieces are either SUPER good or not. None of these were necessarily bad, in my opinion, but at least 1/3 of them could have benefitted from being shortened or edited a bit more. When a piece or story would have had the same impact or just generally showcase the same thing with half the words, then you know it's a bit too long. These stories made me skim through instead of actually read it properly, and made me procrastinate reading it for ages.

Overall, would give this a 3.5⭐️ rating, but would consider buying a physical copy for myself!

This does what it says on the tin - queer and trans people discussing the experience of living in a fat body, through short stories, poems and essays. So many lifestyles, sexualities, gender identities and points on the body loathing/positivity spectrum are represented in this collection, it's incredibly well curated.

As someone who has lived in many different sizes of body, and who has resided in a fat one for a number of years now, I have always been aware of fat as an identity as well as a measure of adiposity (whether it is an identity we choose, or one which is foisted upon us by society). Although neither queer nor trans, I was also aware of those being identities too. What I probably didn't appreciate were the intersections of those identities, and how the intersectionality means that being fat and queer &/or trans is not only different from being "normal" weight and either queer/straight/trans/cis, but is also different from being fat and straight/cis. As a fat straight/cis woman, I do have some commonality with fat trans/queer people, but they are also dealing with things I do not have to face, both within their own communities and in wider society. This collection also has a variety of race/cultural representation too, which adds on yet another intersection. It's a fascinating window into how other people are seen and how they see themselves, and how there isn't just one fat experience.

As with any collection, particularly when it's lots of different contributors, not every piece will hit a reader in the same way. There were ones that I found were stronger than others, but on the whole it was a collection that gave me a lot to think about.

As a fat and queer person I’ve never felt more seen by a book. Reading this anthology was like a warm hug that helped me feel less alone.

I liked the variety of writing included, it made for an interesting and enjoyable (and sometimes difficult) read.

This book, y'all. This book.

At first, I thought this was going to be a quick, easy read, instead I got an incredible, moving anthology. There are personal essays and anecdotes, poems, and pieces that just really dive into fatness and gender and how these two impact each other. As another queer, fat person, this was both amazing and overwhelming--taking all these personal experiences and opinions and stories that I never thought I'd connect with but turns out they're exactly what I needed.

I love how diverse the contributors and the pieces are. I love how every part criticizes and challenges the fatphobic society and perspective most people have. I love how every piece also talked about gender and sexuality and their fluidity.

I don't have any more words (I don't even think I can explain it properly *cries*), but this was truly impactful. I hope many more fat and queer people find this book.

Exact rating: 4.5

Loved this anthology so much! Every single story or poem is different and brought different things to the book. With any anthology, there were stories I liked better than others, but as a whole I can't recommend this book enough.

The intersection of fatness and queerness is one that is so unique yet also experienced by so many. While I wish there were at least one story that discussed how asexuality affected it, there are two stories with aspec rep where it's barely mentioned in one and kinda mentioned in the other. I do realize that it's impossible to cover every experience with an anthology and really appreciated the diverse queer rep we did get.

This collection is so great. It has a range of different types of writing, different lengths and different experiences represented. Each story/ poem was insightful and moving. Each author represented their ideas around fatness and queerness and how they intersect so well. I loved seeing so many of them learn to embrace themselves in such a beautiful way!

Thank you to Netgalley and and Jessica Kingsley publishers for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great collection of stories by OWN voice fat and queer voices. Voices that are extremely under-represented in media. Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a copy of this and I highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this, but it unfortunately left me with pretty neutral feelings on it. Like most anthologies, some pieces really shined and others fell flat. Carmen Maria Machado's concluding essay was the real stand-out for me. I really appreciated all of the poetry, and I wish we had gotten a little more poetry or other forms of art. Still, I think this is a really radical anthology that explores the intersection of queerness and fatness and I found many of the essays really important and powerful.

I want to give a huge content warning for eating disorders. The descriptions at time were quite graphic and caused me to have to skip a few essays in their entirety because I couldn't handle the description. If that is potentially triggering to you, you may want to skip this one. I also want to assert that this collection is largely focused on non-binary and masc presenting people who are allosexual. If you're ace, you will probably not find your experience reflected here.

This a radical look into what it means to be queer and fat, how society treats you, whether you are out or not, how these facets interact with other parts of life, and how to love yourself despite the world telling you not to.

"I never managed to starve myself into heterosexuality." - Edward Kelsey Moore

It's a hard read. I am not very comfortable with the topic (as a female-presenting woman, I, like so many others, have body issues to work through) which is why I was all the more interested in reading these personal stories. The contributors did not hold anything back, baring their inner thoughts and desires, exploring past traumas, and evaluating their life so far. From disordered eating, internalized fatphobia, and generally terrible experiences, it hurts to hear about their struggles. Especially when parents are involved and seeing the vicious cycle being passed on to the next generation.
Many of the topics touched are widespread problems: diet culture, our obsession with the ideal beauty standard, health. Inconsiderate jokes, off-hand comments, unwanted advice; everyone has experience with such things but the magnitude and severity fat, queer people experience them are brought to list as piece after piece after piece describes past interactions of similar nature. You can't escape them. While it might be possible to pass as straight, it's harder to hide your body unless you are in online spaces. The writers don't shy away from these realities and supply counterarguments, offer solutions and hope.

"In some ways I'm still a kid, seeking others' permission to accept myself." - Nora E. Derrington

Of course, many found acceptance, online and offline, learn to love their body and strive to be their best selves, fat and happy and beautiful. It challenges the reader to look past assumptions and opinions they thought to be "fact" and gain something through reading this anthology.

"Our culture believes that fat people have no agency in their fatness, that they are victims of it. Maybe for some people that is true, but there is no counter narrative." - Bruce Owens Grimm

Some pieces are very short or written in verse which did not work as well for me. The introspective pieces about personal relationships with oneself and other people were more up my alley. I still got something new out of every single story, no matter its focus. It offers a great start to begin examining how your own words and actions are impacting people around you and are upholding fatphobia in society.

Thank you Net Galley for the digital copy!
it took me a long time to read it, it’s not a genre that I read a lot, especially in English (not my native language). But this book was great!
Sometimes it was really hard to read. Diet culture the homophobia, body dysphoria, transphobia, fatphobia… Everything the writes (and/or character face) can be hard to read, especially when you face some of them.
Bt now, I can say that I like anthologies. And that I want to read more of them. Especially queer anthology.
The writing? Beautiful. The stories? Great. The book? Wonderful. And yeah, you don’t have to be heterosexual, cisgender, and/or thin to be great. You can be you, and be wonderful.
This is the perfect book if you’re questioning if you have a bad image of yourself. If you need to read about people like you, by people like you.
Also, most of the authors are authors of colors.
Like, read it. Even if you’re thin, heterosexual, cis… trust pe, you’ll learn something!

I consider myself a 'pudgy' individual and identify as a member of the LGBT+ community, and unfortunately I really didn't like this anthology. I found the stories/ recounts to be really repetitive and they all kind of had the same message of acceptance at the end, and although these stories are so incredibly valid and I'm not talking them down in anyway, there is so many people out there that aren't comfortable with themselves. I think this book would be great for an individual who is just coming to grips with their sexuality/ gender and do have body image issues, but for me, I just found the 'happy-go-lucky' vibe of the book to be a little unrealistic.

I really enjoyed this!! Thanks so much for the E-ARC! it was written in short essays & poetry pieces but a number of fat queer people!! As the proud larger bisexual, i really related to a lot of stuff that was talked about in this book! I found it really moving, but also so informational. Pride months coming up & im so excited to learn even more about the LGBTQIA+ community. I really learnt a lot about being proud of who I am and being proud of the body I was born into.
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I didn't really like this anthology. The idea of it was really interesting and to be honest, it does discuss a lot important topics and has a lot of great lessons. However, I feel like a lot of the stories in this anthology had the same progression. Almost all the stories had the same take away and, honestly, this whole thing just felt very repetetive. I feel like some essays could have been really great but the impact of them were lessened because the previous essays talked about the exact same ideas/lessons/problems.