This book has been one of my favorite reads of the year! The characters are lovable, the storyline is incredibly compelling, and the last few chapters made me cry in the best way. Huge bonus: celebration of queerness and active reflection on society's messaging are woven seamlessly throughout the story, making the story feel that much more real, heartfelt, and meaningful. Highly recommend!

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down and read it in only two days. The book is well-written and touches on subjects that should be talked about more. The female main character Diana identifies as fat and queer. She is a writer and filmmaker that tackles one obstacle after another to get her work funded and produced. I could relate to her struggle to achieve her dreams. It's so hard to see less talented people that are connected get breaks when you can't get one no matter how hard you work.

I also loved the male main character Drew. His patience with Diana was so sweet, even though I had a hard time believing any guy would be so patient. I confess that I don't know much about the inner workings of the homosexual community and how they treat bisexual people, but it was discouraging that anyone would be criticized or ostracized because of who they are attracted to. I was glad when Diana decided to do what she wanted to without allowing the prejudice of others to dictate her behavior. That took a lot of courage. I also loved how faithful Diana was to her best friend. It also takes courage to defend a friend and go to the mat for them.

The book ends with a fairy tale ending that seemed a bit out of place with the challenges and troubles the characters went through, but I'm not mad at it. I lived vicariously through Diana as all of her dreams came true.

This book has diverse characters, tackles tough issues, but still has humor and sweetness in it. If that interests you, I highly recommend you check this book out.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing. All opinions are my own.

This book was amazing!! Diana never gave up on her dreams, even when it seemed like everything was going wrong. She's such an inspiration to other fat girls who feel like they cannot aspire to occupy spaces that are typically only for thin, privileged girls/women. Her relationship with her sister was so raw and real, showing moments that anyone can relate to. I was so proud that they could share their feelings through complicated arguments and work towards a better relationship. All the characters were so well thought out, and I loved them. Drew and Diana slowly progressed from a friendship to something more, and Drew was so patient and communicative, which made the relationship much sweeter. This beautifully written story will make you laugh and cry. I recommend that everyone read this incredible story.

Thanks to Entangled Publishing and Brittany Zimmerman for the arc copy. I'm so grateful that I was able to read this story.

I LOVED this book! Once I got started I only stopped because I had to work or was driving. What a funny (why yes, I did giggle aloud when I was by myself), lovely story! It must be made into a movie.

I was ALL IN with all of the character's told from Lauren's viewpoint within two chapters. And while the book did cover many serious and important topics, it wasn't in a way that stopped me from reading and taking in the story. Lauren beautifully weaves together narratives offering a glimpse into the world of otherwise ignored communities so it was educational in that way without being preachy or overpowering. Even though the characters have journeys I have not been on, they are relatable in some way to all of us.

Lauren wrote about connection and love and how it can flourish in the most unexpected ways. There's also fashion, fun, famous hot people, celebrity parties and a red carpet! It was truly refreshing to read. I had a smile when it ended and I didn't want it to end. Also, it's possible that is the best Epilogue I've read in a very long time! Thank you Lauren!

This book was not one that was on my radar for new releases prior to being introduced to it by Entangled Insiders. I was able to get a copy for their read along in the Facebook group. Initially I was drawn in by the title. As a plus size woman I always love to read a story centered around a plus size main character as they’re so infrequent.

Overall I would say I enjoyed this story. I have an interest in filmmaking as well, which made this a story that was up my alley. The plot centering around filmmaking kept my attention well throughout the book, and I ended up finishing it about a week before the read along ended, which stands out to me as I usually get behind in a read along.

Although the romance tended to take a backseat in this story, the romantic scenes became some of my favorite parts of the book. I actually found myself wishing there were more intimate scenes in this story, as they were very well written by the author. If I was to pick up another of their books, I would likely aim for one with more romance at the center.

There are some areas of improvement I would like to have seen in the book. Some of the humor/friendships in this book felt a little young adult to me. For example the quote “You’re fun as f*** and sexy as hell” came off as cringy to me. I couldn’t picture myself and a friend interacting in that way. I also found myself skimming some repetitive lines and dialogue here and there.

I did struggle to enjoy a lot of this book because it felt like I was being lectured. It felt very “in your face” rather than showing issues and allowing the reader to come to a conclusion on their own. It needed to enact more “show don’t tell”. I also didn’t love the ending/epilogue. While I could find it believable for the movie to be a success, I think winning so many awards was over exaggerated.

I feel fortunate to have received this book as part of the publisher's read-along. The story follows Diana, a queer plus-size personal shopper in a high-end Hollywood store for celebrities. She lives with her sister in the suburbs but dreams of becoming a writer, director, and actor. When Andy starts to pursue her, Diana tries to keep him in the friend zone, insisting she's only interested in women. As Chris and Drew invest in Diana's script for a film and they start working closer together, Diana begins to question her feelings for Drew and whether she, as a fat queer woman, can have a relationship with a hot movie star and be accepted in both Hollywood and queer societies.

This emotional self-discovery journey showed a lot of character development for Diana. She needed to learn to trust the people who love her and herself. It conveyed the message that being different and pursuing your dreams outside the norm is okay. I particularly enjoyed Drew's character and his determination to never give up on Diana.

Because Fat Girl by Lauren Marie Fleming was a really great story.
I could not put this book down! It’s so well written and the characters very engaging.
I just adored these characters.
I was so invested in this story, and just felt so sad when it ended!
I couldn't put it down, read it in less than a day.

Thank You NetGalley and Entangled: Amara for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

At first, I was worried that this book was about to fall victim to a queer woman just waiting for the right dick to straighten her out, but the author not only acknowledged this harmful idea but subverted it by having Diana expressly voice her worries about allowing herself the freedom to fall for Andy and losing her queer community in return.

I really appreciated that this story didn’t try to gloss over the fact that Diana, who identifies as a queer woman, fell for a cishet man, especially when the book is advertised as LGBTQ+. She was forced to examine how her own sexuality and preferences might have been impacted and influenced by her past and harmful comments made by queer people about queer people.

Something I was a bit turned off by was the fact that Diana so often preached about loving her body as it was, looking at it as a sign of how far she had come from self-hating and harm; yet her monologues were full of those same self-hating ideologies that I would think to be harmful for plus-sized readers.

Once she got past the idea of losing her community by being with Andy and examined her sexuality, she was still stuck on how their relationship would be portrayed in the media and belittle her while shining a redeeming, progressive light on Andy — mainly focusing on her weight and Andy’s lack of.

I did enjoy the book, and I respect what the author was attempting with this story, but it wasn’t spectacularly written or epiphanical by any means.

Thank you, netgalley and Entangled for this arc. All opinions are my own.

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️

A must read for curvy girls everywhere!!! Now many books make you fell seen but this hits so many targets for me! The writing was fun and easy to read!

Diana is surviving life dressing the stars. She helps one celebrity and gets an invite to a party’s. She meets child actor Drew. He starts to pursue her but Diana is queer and curvy preferring female company, right?!

The characters are amazing and the was so well thought out. And I leave the book with a life long mantra!

Because fat girl!!!

ARC Review of Because Fat Girl by Lauren Marie Fleming
* * * * *
A comedic contemporary romance read filled with struggles, friendship, feelings and hurdles as our mian girl Diana faces issues such as depression, prejudice towards her curves, negativity on sexuality and trying to make her dreams come true.
I jumped in not knowing what to truly expect or who she would fall for, how things would evolve and how our girl was going to deal with her troubles. Her relationship with Drew was great to follow, and loved their pinkie promise to God regarding their OSCAR goal. Her friendships face struggles as dreams are met with the harsh backstabbing reality of Hollywood, and trying to still overcome these challenges to make her dreams come true. Then there is the depression she faces with the passing of her brother, and how she can always think of him no matter the conversation.
Got a few giggles out of me. It was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC.

This was a fun, occasionally sob-inducing (mostly at the end), beach read of a book (if you keep your sunglasses on to hide the crying). Diana is a fat girl in L.A., a Hell I cannot imagine, but she is also a filmmaker and writer who put her dreams on hold to mourn the loss of her brother. When a famous actor hits on her, she has difficulty taking him seriously–in part because he's famous and buff, but also because he's a dude and she's been over dating cis men for a while now.

The book can be a little 101 at times when it comes to body positivity, but likely some of the readers will find the info new so it's probably necessary. It also has some great flawed characters and a romance that isn't as important as watching this woman succeed in her career.

Anyway, loved it. And now I have to rehydrate.

I really enjoyed this one! Because Fat Girl has strong FMC with a strong cast that highlights not only diversity, but the many struggles people of diverse backgrounds deal with on a daily basis. She didn’t shy away from it, but found a way to bring light and levity to the situations.

Loved the growth of the FMC as she worked through her own demons and biases to get to her dreams. But mainly, it was just a really fun read! Good character development with a witty writing style.

I loved the premise of this book, but my rating is lowered because as much as I enjoyed the story itself, it was hard for me to not feel some exasperation with the ruminations of the FMC. Having a book that highlights and embraces diversity and addresses the many difficulties of living as a member of a marginalized community is so important - but this one just missed the mark for me as I spent too many moments simply feeling lectured or wanting to shake the FMC. A lot of the book is the FMC expounding how judged she constantly feels for being fat and queer, but she also is a very judgy person herself who often discounts other characters simply for not being fat or queer. That dynamic results in this book not necessarily feeling as empowering as it could have felt. Also, as a pansexual woman myself, who is married to a man, I really struggled with her opinion that if she dated a man then she was no longer queer or her queer community would shun her. That depicts the queer community as not much better than the hetero community that the author is portraying as not accepting of a spectrum. I still enjoyed the story itself, but sadly this one was somewhat of a miss for me.

I simply couldn't get past the main character's attitude and self-grandiosity. She is INSUFFERABLE. I couldn’t even finish it.

I want to thank NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Keep in mind the following content warnings: Mentions of Sexual Assault, Disordered Eating, Grief, Cancer, Death, and Mental Health Struggles. More graphic, some scenes deal with homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, fatphobia, and discrimination toward sex workers.

As a bisexual man, reading this book was everything to me. I seriously need more books that address the biphobia in our society and force bisexual people to choose. Diana is dealing with so much internalised and externalised biphobia but it was amazing to see her grow and choose her own happiness. It was slightly frustrating at the beginning noticing her internalised biphobia, but I knew she was meant to grow out of it.

However, this book goes way beyond the romance and I want to focus on much more than that. This is ultimately the story of a queer fat genderqueer woman fighting for her dreams in the harsh and excluding environment that is Hollywood. All while still dealing with grief and her own insecurities that sometimes still get the best of her. Diana is such a real character who is nowhere near perfect and I love that about her. Honestly, the entire cast is full of real and imperfect characters that are hard not to love. Even the few characters closest to being perfect have moments of realness, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This book is perfect for the person who needs to be reminded to fight for their dreams and that is okay to live your life as who you are, but most importantly, that sexuality can and is fluid and that's perfectly okay too.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC!

I am having a hard time getting all of my thoughts out because this was one of the best books that I have read this year by far. It completely took over my thoughts from the moment I started until I finished it. I did not want to put it down and when I had to, I was dying to get back to it.

I related so much with the main character and all she was going through internally about her sexuality, her body, and how people perceived her. It’s hard when you you feel and on some level know that the world is against you and things are always going to be harder for you. It’s something that queer, black/brown, and other minority communities have had to deal with for so many years. But I felt so seen while reading this book.

I loved the relationship dynamics, the friendships, and just everything about this book honestly. I liked how the romance between two of the main characters was more of a sideline to what the book was actually trying to show. But, it was so amazing to see the author tackle all of these important issues with such care and grace. You had a little of everything and it was intense and beautiful to see it all come together.

I truly believe everyone needs to read this books because there is so much to get from it! I highly recommend it!

This is an easy 5 stars from me! ⭐️🩷

This is a story of self-discovery, social justice, and family of choice. In the beginning, the story went a little slow. The characters could have opened up a little sooner about themselves. I became more interested as more personal details were revealed. Having those smaller characters' identities revealed sooner and be a more prominent part of the story would have been nice. Either that or future Novella/s about the other characters and their personal stories.

The main character is Diana. Diana is a strong queer femme. I immediately felt connected to her. In a lot of ways, we are similar. She stands up for what she believes in, even though sometimes she makes mistakes. She loves deeply and wholeheartedly. At times, she has a hard time showing it. She is happier when she starts trusting others more and following her dreams.

I was extremely excited to be chosen as an ARC reader by Entangled Publishing. I received an ebook copy through NetGalley. Thanks again! All thoughts and opinions are my own and honest.

🎞️ All Diana has ever wanted is to create films that show folks like her on screen - queer and fat and loud. When Diana finally starts to get recognition, disaster strikes and she’s forced to put her dreams on the back burner. Living with her sister’s family and working in retail, Diana doesn’t think she’ll ever get a second chance to make it big in the film industry, but that all changes when she meets Drew.

Drew is a Hollywood heartthrob - the conventionally attractive and very straight action star, so Diana is shocked when he takes an interest in her diverse and personal script. Can the two of them work together to get the film of Diana’s dreams made or will the sparks flying between them get in the way? 🎞️

Let me start by saying that I really, really wanted to love Because Fat Girl. I’m also a queer and fat aspiring artist, so I was hoping to connect with Diana’s story - and that’s why it sucks so much that I just didn’t.

Because Fat Girl was not a bad book, but I also don’t think it was that good either. This one ended up getting three stars from me, so let’s take some time to dive into why.

This was a book that could not decide who it was for. At times it read like a Diversity 101 lesson, but then a quick turn would leave the main character judging or mocking anyone who may need those lessons. I think there’s room for both stories - for folks who genuinely want to learn and also for folks who are exasperated with having to be the teacher. Getting that to work in one story is hard, and I felt that if Because Fat Girl had chosen one specific audience (the students or the masters I suppose?) then it would’ve been a lot better.

Up next is the romance between Drew and Diana. I wanted, so desperately, to be swept off my feet by their love story. I was not. I just…well, I just didn’t believe it. Diana always seemed to be physically attracted to Drew, but her thoughts were so focused on why she couldn’t/shouldn’t love a conventionally attractive cishet man that I didn’t feel there was room for any sort of relationship to form. In essence, Drew felt like less of a character and more of a caricature - and so I couldn’t make myself believe that Diana loved him.

I did appreciate that Diana’s character was forced to face her own biases and shortcomings throughout the book. This includes everything from acknowledging communication problems with her sister, to belittling the struggles of fat men, to assuming someone is cishet based on a public persona. Diana works exceptionally hard to make sure to lift up marginalized voices, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t make mistakes. It was great to get to see her learn and grow and become an even more powerful force for the communities she and her loved ones are part of.

So, I can’t go out of my way to recommend Because Fat Girl to anyone - but I’m also glad that a book like this exists. I’m not exactly sure where that leaves me, but check out Because Fat Girl for yourself when it is released on October 22nd!

First of all, I’m so grateful I got a chance to read this book as an ARC! I will always pick up books w/ fat rep, and this one was on my radar for awhile.

The thing I loved most about this book was honestly how realistic the MC was. She was relatable, struggled w/ being comfortable with not just who she is but who she was after a big loss and shifting focus off of her dreams. I feel like any adult would relate to that because life just keeps happening even when great things are going on, like this MC finding herself in a will they/won’t they love story in the midst of juggling a lot of other big life events and changes.

This was not a trope-filled love story (which I LOVE, don’t get me wrong) but this story really pulled in so many other topics that the love story just fit seamlessly along for the ride. The blending of grief and family dynamics and learning to find your dreams again after you’ve stumbled were so genuine and made you love the characters even more.


I absolutely loved this book & can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. ♥️

I'm not embarrassed to admit that I cried- big ugly tears down my face-through the last chapter of this gem. That so rarely happens for me but golly I was totally invested in Diana's journey. A plus size queer woman who once had high Hollywood hopes, she is, at the beginning, living with her sister and working as a stylist at a department store. A chance meeting at a party she wasn't really invited to changes her life because Andy well Andy is not only a movie star he's a good guy and he saw her first film. And so we're off on the quest to make her movie alongside her BFF, Andy, Chris (who is more than he seems), and the rest. I know some of this is implausible (I mean, seriously) in terms of Hollywood but I don't care- and I wish it weren't. I adored Diana, Andy, his mom, and all of them (except perhaps for one client's mother although were it not for her...). Diana's wavering about Andy and her realization that she didn't fit as neatly in a box as she thought adds a nice bit of tension. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A terrific read- I'm looking forward to more from Fleming.