Bodies to Die For

I have mixed feelings about Bodies to Die For (publication date June 11, 2024) by Lori Brand. Many of the characters live their lives as fitness influencers, tracking every gram of carbs they eat every day, terrified of becoming fat. Gemma is the main character, and she is a former fat person, now a fitness coach and influencer, with tight control over everything she eats because she is competing in a bodybuilding competition. In fact, at the beginning of the book, each of Gemma’s chapters begins with her weight, and how many protein, fat, and carb grams she gets to eat each day. In that way, it can be hard to read since I usually avoid that kind of content. And “Fat Gemma” lives in her head–the specter of Fat Gemma coming back keeps Gemma on her diet culture path. But soon “fit girls” –other influencers around Gemma– start dying, and Gemma thinks she may be next.

But Brand also did a fairly good job of creating a fat character, Ashley, a software engineer. Ashley is subjected to all of the anti-fat bias that the world throws at us, from “concerned about your health” relatives, to being yelled at from (and almost run over by) a car, to being subjected to weight loss advice when she goes to get stitches for her knee. All of these things drive her to go to a bariatric surgery presentation, where she meets a fat activist, Lydia, who had crashed the meeting. Thus begins Ashley’s involvement with Lydia’s radical fat liberation group, where she gets in over her head doing things that aren’t quite legal, but she also learns how to box and feels like she has purpose, as she starts to get stronger, both emotionally and physically.

Bodies to Die For changes perspective often–primarily alternating between Gemma and Ashley–but Brand also includes the perspectives of more minor characters. And it’s all wrapped up in a high body-count thriller / mystery.

The anti-fat bias throughout was difficult to voluntarily subject myself to in a book, but I think overall Bodies to Die For has the potential to introduce fat liberation concepts to a wider audience than would normally read anything with the idea that fat people are deserving of respect and being treated like people. I would recommend it with the warning that it primarily takes place around a bodybuilding contest and you can’t really avoid the anti-fat bias that is inherent to those events and the fitness influencer industry. But the author did a good job of making a fat character who is a whole person and not just a stand-in for negative qualities or disgust.

The idea of a radical fat liberation guerrilla group is reminiscent of the brilliant Dietland, which I reviewed on my old blog, bbwesquire.wordpress.com. Dietland is so much more. but Brand did give Ashley romance and a possible happily ever after, and Gemma seemed to come around to the idea that being strong is more important than being thin, although that still has problems and is an ableist view, as strength is not possible for everyone. Gemma does seem to grow through the challenges she faces during the book, but I wonder if she has grown enough to really shed diet culture, as in my experience, fighting diet culture is, unfortunately, something that I’ve had to do my entire life.

So it is far from perfect, but I think Bodies to Die For definitely includes both anti-fat and fat positive portrayals.