The publisher’s blurb says that Fat Witch Summer by Lizzie Ives (pub. June 13, 2023) is “Dumplin’ meets The Craft” — I’ve not read The Craft, but I think they’ve oversold the comparison to Dumplin‘. It is YA, and the lead character is fat, so maybe that’s enough?
Teenage Theodora has chosen the name Thrash (for some unknown reason–I didn’t care for the name and didn’t think it fit her as a character) and she has just gotten her “knack”–her ability to do magic. In their world, set in a different North America separated into “Thirteen States”, witches are given one of four “Gifts” such as “Sight”, or “Glamour” that they study after getting their knacks and then they proceed along a specific pathway. Thrash is a loner after one of her moms passed away a year ago, but a clique of three popular girls befriends her in the library after she gets her knack. They have a plan to choose their own Gifts, but they have to go across the country to get them, and Thrash agrees to go along with because she’s not so sure she wants the Gift of Glamour that her mother plans to give her.
I liked the friendship, and that the assumed cliquey girls welcomed her into their group and didn’t make a big deal about Thrash being fat. But also, in some ways, the characters could have engaged with Thrash’s fatness a little more. It seemed like more of an internal journey for Thrash herself, to accept that her fatness was part of her. I liked that each of the girls had something going on–Em, the mermaid, needed accommodations for her legs and needed frequent baths, Saki had anxiety, Cresca, tall and beautiful, was black from a family that didn’t have magic, and Thrash was fat, dealing with the death of the parent she was closest to. They each were dealing with something and could step up for the others when needed.
I thought the title was misleading because Thrash’s fatness is not a major part of the storyline. It’s more about a journey, friendship, and standing up to a parent who doesn’t seem to understand you. Maybe that’s the point, to have a fat character have a journey that’s not about being fat.
I was intrigued by the world–the Thirteen States–and the similarities between it and our current world, and I would like to see more stories–perhaps one dealing with each of the friends. I did enjoy that there was little romance but the story was focused on the friendship between the girls and on Thrash’s relationship with her mother.
In some ways, I really liked how Thrash’s fatness was just part of the story–she was a teenager doing teenager things, and her fatness didn’t affect many of the major choices she made–the ones about her Gift, or deciding to go on the trip–so it was good to see a fat character just being a person who happens to be fat. So that is progress!
Thanks to NetGalley for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
Reading While Fat 