Saffron’s Mum, on divorcing her husband, used SlimIt to achieve her goal weight and has now become an avid dieter, constantly avoiding anything unhealthy and obsessing over her daughter doing the same.
Saffron and her best friends have been separated since they left school with Freya in a job and long-term relationship and Poppy partying her way through her first year in university while Saffron continues to live at home, hardly venturing out.
When Saffron tries a dating app which involves chatting first before revealing photos of one another she feels positive until it gets to the reveal stage where suddenly the boy on the other end loses interest. So she tries an experiment of using an alter ego, Sydney, an impossibly beautiful AI-generated Instagram photo of her real self. Saffron finds she now can retain the interest of boys. But when real life conflicts things start to get messy.
Our body-obsessed, internet-perfection world collides with best friend dynamics, dating and betrayals.

Every girl needs to read this book. Sage has crafted such a good story with authenticity and truth. Well done! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really wanted to adore this book as it's on a topic that I believe is incredible important in YA literature - body image. The discussions surrounding weight, dieting, and self-confidence I totally agreed with and it is so amazing to have a YA dedicated to this sensitive subject matter.

Yet aside from the major themes, the story itself was lacking for me. The characters seemed quite one-dimensional to me, as pointed out by Reviewer 1573687 in their review. Also the catfishing plotline didn't feel very grounded in reality and the reveal of the catfisher at the end felt out-of- the-blue for me? I struggled with the writing too at times due to the addition of quite modern phrases/slang that, whilst may be used online by teens, felt out of place written down. Shorter chapters would have been great.

However, I would still recommend this novel to teens and young adults as the messages put across could be really positive and productive for people to read about!

Immensely relevant and incredibly accessible. Girl, Ultra-Processed is a book that I could have probably done with reading when I was younger. Looking at social anxiety, feeling lost and disconnected at university, losing touch with childhood friends as you grow into adults and grow apart, body-positivity, identity, and the weird cults of slimming clubs (SlimIt in the novel but we all know what clubs this was based on).

Girl, Ultra-Processed tackles a lot in it's relatively short 320 page run but it doesn't feel crammed in or awkward at any point and Saffron's story is told with warmth and humour. For me personally it's a little too on the nose and forced in some places, but as a YA novel this style of writing works perfectly.

In Girl, Over-Processed, we follow Saffron, a girl trying to navigate life while struggling with body image issues and the beauty standards women face daily. I really loved her, she was an honest and funny main character whose character growth was inspiring to read! Her voice was refreshing and her experiences were all too relatable.
Sadly, she was the only character who was developed… like, at all. The others all felt like stereotypes (the cool best friend! The green flag floor mop- I mean boyfriend-! The mean bestie! The comic relief brother! The plot device… I mean niece!). I wish I would have felt anything for these characters but…
The plot itself was quite predictable and yet I didn’t dislike it. The very end of the book was downright lovely. Overall, three stars- it was a fun time and if you’re looking for a fun fiction book that tackles body positivity, diet culture, and self-love, I do recommend.

Saffron dislikes how she looks. She thinks she’s too fat and so she’s unlovable, forever doomed to be the extra, the one no one wants. After yet another bad encounter on a dating app, she creates a false persona, Sydney. Sydney, who is skinny and perfect and everything Saffron thought she wanted to be. But when she moves out, she begins to realise that maybe she can like who she is in her current body and maybe she is allowed to eat what she wants, instead of restricting herself to a crazy diet. Her life starts to look upwards, but then Sydney’s actions threaten to undo everything Saffron has built.

GAH. Just, simply put, GAH.

If I could shove this book into fifteen-year-old me’s face, I would. Hell, eighteen-year-old me. The me who thought I would only look pretty if the dress I wore hid my figure, even though I felt so horrible in dresses like that. I’d give it to nineteen-year-old me who found the perfect dress at New Look and finally started to get what it felt like to like how you look. This book is all of those emotions piled into one and amplified to one hundred. Coming to terms with your body and loving how you look isn’t easy and at twenty-one, I still haven’t figured it out. I have days where looking at pictures people have taken of me, and seeing a double chin—even a slight one—will send me into a fit. Days where I want to reactivate my gym membership and give it all I’ve got. But then there’s days where my boobs sit just right, when my hair is perfect, and I feel so pretty, it’s like nothing can stop me.

Saffron felt so real to me, like an echo to all of those thoughts and feelings I’ve had over the years, but paired with the thoughts necessary to make it all feel okay. To not panic when you notice those extra stretch marks after a particularly good few weeks. Or to not stress when the scales never say the same number twice. Her journey will feel personal to so many girls out there, of any age. And it’s so important to hear the message in this book, that you are good enough, even if there are rolls on your stomach or jiggly fat on your arms.

I loved how Saffron went back and forth sometimes, how she had good days and bad days, as this made me connect even more to her because I felt her despair in those bad days, and I felt her happiness in those good days. I love how she found people who looked like her because this allowed her to feel better about her body. I love how the people in her life were so supportive. I sped through the last fifty percent because I was so enticed by everything. I wanted to read on, to see where she was going to go, what she was going to do. It made me want to stand up and go stare at myself in the mirror, to tell myself that I am enough. We’re all enough. I love how she was also allowed to make mistakes and come back from them. I feel like a lot of people who don’t fit societies’ standard for how a girl should look stress so much about being perfect, never doing anything wrong for fear of someone using you against you. It feels as if the moment you give them something to be mad over, it’ll confirm their ugly thoughts that because you’re not skinny, you’re a bad person, a dirty person, a person not to be trusted. But Saffron made mistakes, and she owned up to them. She was allowed to fall and build herself back up and that felt so important and personal. It tells us that we’re allowed to not be so careful, we’re allowed to be who we want to be and learn as we go.

This book feels so important, something that should be shared because the message is something everyone will need to hear, at least once in their life. It’s a struggle every girl shares, no matter her size. I did truly love it, as I loved Sage’s debut. She seems to have a knack for pinpointing struggles that most of the population face and trying to deconstruct them to show people that you’re allowed to be exactly who you are.

Literally my only criticism is that I hated that there were no chapters. It’s so painful to read when you’re a person who likes to read chapter by chapter and the ‘chapters’ are fifty pages apart. Please add chapters next time or I fear I won’t get through the next book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

**Book Review: *Girl, Ultra Processed* by Amara Sage**

In *Girl, Ultra Processed*, Amara Sage crafts a thought-provoking and nuanced narrative that examines the pressures young women face in an image-obsessed, hyper-digital world. The story follows 17-year-old Lia, who is struggling to navigate the often toxic world of social media, societal expectations, and the concept of "perfection" that seems increasingly unattainable yet relentlessly pursued. This book tackles complex themes around body image, self-worth, and the darker side of our culture’s fixation on appearances.

Lia’s journey is intensely personal but highly relatable, particularly for readers in the digital age. Through Lia’s eyes, Sage invites readers to question how technology, media, and consumer culture shape our identities and priorities. Sage does not shy away from exploring the mental health implications of online life, as Lia’s inner turmoil reflects the difficult balance between self-expression and the desire for external validation.

The novel’s style is engaging, with sharp prose that moves briskly yet allows for introspection. Sage’s approach is both empathetic and critical; she handles Lia’s struggles with sensitivity, making readers empathize deeply with her while prompting them to think critically about their own engagement with digital culture.

While the book is marketed as young adult fiction, its themes resonate beyond that demographic, making it suitable for readers of all ages who want to understand the profound impact of social media on self-identity. For those familiar with contemporary issues of body positivity, mental health, and the performative nature of online life, *Girl, Ultra Processed* is both relevant and resonant.

In essence, *Girl, Ultra Processed* is a powerful and necessary exploration of the challenges young people face today. It’s a wake-up call to rethink how we measure self-worth in a world that often feels over-curated and ultra-processed.

I really enjoyed read this book and found it to be quite healing as I thought over the own diet cultures I've been sucked into. Saffron's story is empowering yet messy and it's exactly the kind of story that teens need to read.

An important exploration into diet culture and the media we consume.

For a long time first year university student Saffron has hated her body, comparing herself to her slimmer and apparently happier friends and to her mum who is a spokesperson for Slimit. Her belief that people will not like her as she is, has been reinforced by her experiences with online dating apps. As New Year rolls around, she resolves to re-join Slimit, lose weight and improve her social life by moving away from home and into a shared student house.
I loved this book. A whole melting pot of issues is explored; body image, toxic relationships, eating disorders, catfishing, the perils of online dating and the value of true friends. Can Saffron find herself in amongst all the challenges that are going on in her life? This is a very hopeful and life affirming read for a YA audience.

This isn't my usual type of book but it was a really impressive young adult novel that I think will speak to a lot of young people