Artichoke's Heart - Suzanne SuppleePages: 244
Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.
Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extralarge helping of Southern charm. A truly uncommon novel about an increasingly common problem. -Goodreads.com
Well, before I begin, I picked this book up because I think it pertains to so many of us in the world. Not that we are indeed fat, but that if we are the slightest bit out of the norm, people discriminate against you and relentlessly badger your self-esteem into the dumps. I have problems with my own self-image, and this book was really enlightening to me. I loved it, even though some of it was cheesy, it was still a great read for me. (:
Rosemary Goode is everything her mother, Rose Warren, isn't. She is overweight, shy, and a push over. Rose Warren is thin, confident and successful. Rosemary has never like her Aunt Mary and mother for pushing her to lose weight. She just wishes that she could be accepted for who she is. Only her Grandma understands her and wants her to be happy. But when Rosemary experiances her first high school crush and a new high on the scale, she is determined to shed pounds. Going through endless dollars on a weight loss shake, and almost completely swearing off all food of substance. She begins to see improvements, and she drops almost 50 pounds in the end. Along the way, she makes friends with an outcast popular girl, who becomes her workout buddy, and stands up to her tormenters. And when Rosemary's mother encounters her own struggles, they both truly open up to each other.
This book was so sweet. (: I loved almost every minute of it.
This book is written in first person, told from Rosemary's POV, and in a sort of stream of consciousness style. At one point, I was utterly fed up with the constant mindless blabbering, but when you're insecure, that's kind of how we think. Towards the middle of the book, I stopped noticing it as much, because Rosie was losing weight and it seemed like a bunch of her mindless chatter ceased. I'll almost say I kind of missed it. haha (:
The relationships in this book really pleased me. The mother-daughter relationship going on with Rose and Rosie is so frusterating! It's almost like the roles are reversed; Rose never wants to tell Rosie anything, so instead, Rosie bottles up her own emotions and thoughts as well. As the novel wears on, they come to terms with both of their needs, even though Rosie was originally mad at her mother for scheduling her to a "therapist" and buying her a treadmill.
Rosie and Aunt Mary are two explosive personalities that clash often. Just think of two male deer going at it with their antlers all the time and you have these two.
Rosie and Kay-Kay. Oh, they're just the cliche sort of friends. Outcast friends former popular superstar. But I really enjoy Kay-Kay and I love her bubbliness, so I can overlook the cliche and be happy. (:
And then there's Kyle and Rosie. Rosie has had a crush on Kyle since she saw him in the school paper. She never thinks there's any chance she will ever land a spot in his life unless she loses weight. When Kyle finally does make his move, its Rosie's dream. He reveals to her, at the end of the book, when and why he started to love her, and, cheesy as it was, I wish my boyfriend(if I had one!) would say it to me. (:
My favorite character has got to be Kay-Kay or Mrs. Bertha. They're positive and enlightening and all around great.
A good book, maybe depressing at the beginning, but it really does improve! I loved it even more because of how much it rings true in society. I think it's a worthwhile read. Everyone should read some sort of book like this, as it really is a dose of reality in your fiction.
Rating: 8.5 of 10
Until next time,
Addy
I love your review of this book! I read it a while ago, and I agree with you on a lot of things. I did not like Aunt Mary at all. I didn't like the mindless babble that much either to begin with. I picked it up just on a whim, but it's now one of my favorite books. I'm glad you liked it.
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