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Massive
"I'm fat," I hear myself saying. I look in the mirror. My face has gone hot and red; I feel like I'm going to explode. "I'm fat." It sizzles under my skin, puffing me up, pushing me out, making me massive.
Weight has always been a big issue in Carmen's life. How could it not? Her mom is obsessed with the idea that thin equals beautiful, thin equals successful, thin equals the way to get what you want. Carmen knows that as far as her mom is concerned, there is only one option: be thin.
When her mother sweeps her off to live in the city, Carmen finds that her old world is disappearing. As her life spirals out of control Carmen begins to take charge of the only thing she can -- what she eats. If she were thin, very thin, could it all be different?
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
89 people are currently reading
4830 people want to read
About the author
Julia Bell
57 books61 followersLibrarian note: there are multiple authors with this name on Goodreads.
I was born in Bristol but raised in Wales (I can speak Welsh!) and have published two novels for young adults - Massive and Dirty Work, both published by Macmillan in the UK. In the US Massive is published by Simon and Schuster and Dirty Work by Walker Books. Massive has also been translated into ten languages, including Thai! I also wrote and co-edited the bestselling Creative Writing Coursebook while I was working at the University of East Anglia, which is also published by Macmillan.
I am a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University College of London where I teach on the MA Creative Writing and co-ordinate the annual publication The Mechanics' Institute Review and the new web portal The Birkbeck Writers' Hub.
I am currently working on my fourth novel - Bad Faith - and collaborating on work for the screen.
I was born in Bristol but raised in Wales (I can speak Welsh!) and have published two novels for young adults - Massive and Dirty Work, both published by Macmillan in the UK. In the US Massive is published by Simon and Schuster and Dirty Work by Walker Books. Massive has also been translated into ten languages, including Thai! I also wrote and co-edited the bestselling Creative Writing Coursebook while I was working at the University of East Anglia, which is also published by Macmillan.
I am a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University College of London where I teach on the MA Creative Writing and co-ordinate the annual publication The Mechanics' Institute Review and the new web portal The Birkbeck Writers' Hub.
I am currently working on my fourth novel - Bad Faith - and collaborating on work for the screen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
December 31, 2010
I wanted to like "Massive," since I've always had a particular soft spot for characters with eating disorders, but there was something so bleak about the lack of character development here that I really can't say I enjoyed it. We see snippets of a severely disordered mother, passing along her anorexic/bulimic ways to her young teenage daughter, but it's all so heavily mixed with random scenes that nothing feels accomplished. I either want to have great character development or a great plot line, and this delivered neither. I can't say I particularly cared what happened to any of these characters as I still didn't "know" them when the book was over. And, the ending was abrupt.. and again, bleak...
October 23, 2010
Some books are so good, they make you angry. Massive, by Julia Bell, is one of those books.
Set in England, Massive is the story of a teenager girl, Carmen, whose mother suffers from an eating disorder–one that she is slowly forcing upon her daughter. She’s moody, paranoid, and slowly unraveling at the seams. Honestly, sometimes you really want to punch this woman for what she’s doing to her daughter. And that’s part of the power of the book: hating Carmen’s mother while at the same time feeling a great sense of sadness for her.
Although it’s written in first person, you never get very far inside Carmen’s head. You see things through her eyes only, but in a very flat, almost unemotional way. This is one of the strengths of the book. Even Carmen isn’t sure of what she’s feeling, so you have to read between the lines. There’s a lot going on under the surface is Massive.
It’s a very powerful story, but the writing could have been stronger. I personally would have edited down the first half of the book, since it takes awhile to really get going. However, once it gets rolling, its does great things. I was also personally annoyed that they edited out all the British spellings. I know that’s common practice, but with a book like this, set in Britain, I found it jarring.
Set in England, Massive is the story of a teenager girl, Carmen, whose mother suffers from an eating disorder–one that she is slowly forcing upon her daughter. She’s moody, paranoid, and slowly unraveling at the seams. Honestly, sometimes you really want to punch this woman for what she’s doing to her daughter. And that’s part of the power of the book: hating Carmen’s mother while at the same time feeling a great sense of sadness for her.
Although it’s written in first person, you never get very far inside Carmen’s head. You see things through her eyes only, but in a very flat, almost unemotional way. This is one of the strengths of the book. Even Carmen isn’t sure of what she’s feeling, so you have to read between the lines. There’s a lot going on under the surface is Massive.
It’s a very powerful story, but the writing could have been stronger. I personally would have edited down the first half of the book, since it takes awhile to really get going. However, once it gets rolling, its does great things. I was also personally annoyed that they edited out all the British spellings. I know that’s common practice, but with a book like this, set in Britain, I found it jarring.
July 18, 2014
Horrible.
No character development. The characters are weak charictures of stereotypes.
Basic plot is that a mother is anorexic, keeps calling her teen daughter fat, daughter develops an eating disorder.
The daughter, by the way, is legitimately described as fat. The first half of the book talks about how she gobbles down Big Macs and piles of candy bars. The fat daughter is 114 pounds. (It would be fine to have someone think of themselves as fat and not be, which is what I assume the author was trying for here. But it failed.)
The fat-hate is crazy. Again, I assume the author was trying to show the disordered thinking and just missed the mark. But fat people's bodies are described as rippling, every time a fat person eats something they get it all over their face, etc. It's just so, so, poorly done.
I hate that people are going to check this book out of the library. At least they might learn some British slang.
No character development. The characters are weak charictures of stereotypes.
Basic plot is that a mother is anorexic, keeps calling her teen daughter fat, daughter develops an eating disorder.
The daughter, by the way, is legitimately described as fat. The first half of the book talks about how she gobbles down Big Macs and piles of candy bars. The fat daughter is 114 pounds. (It would be fine to have someone think of themselves as fat and not be, which is what I assume the author was trying for here. But it failed.)
The fat-hate is crazy. Again, I assume the author was trying to show the disordered thinking and just missed the mark. But fat people's bodies are described as rippling, every time a fat person eats something they get it all over their face, etc. It's just so, so, poorly done.
I hate that people are going to check this book out of the library. At least they might learn some British slang.
August 3, 2013
I really did not enjoy this. Really. I'd previously read a really amazing ED book ('Monkey Taming' by Judith Fathallah) so was interested in trying out more of the same genre. But the book is barely about Carmen's dieting or ED, it's mostly about her cruel, crazy mother and the crap drama Carmen goes through.
I felt the book didn't give a proper insight into Carmen's personality or motives, despite the entire book being in a first person narrative. Her actions seemed pretty random at times and every time some sort of dieting-type/ED situation occurred I actually got surprised because the majority of the book had me reading about her family politics or messed up 'friends'. I would not have minded this so much if it wasn't for the blurb and the COVER of the book which obviously (mis)led me to believe this was a book on ED.
Carmen was not likeable at all - mostly because of this lack of insight into her personality. I did not pity or sympathise with her despite the problems she was going through, which in hindsight were pretty bad, but her 'personality' was just so poorly portrayed I couldn't muster any real emotion for her, or any of the characters actually. Her mother bothered me sometimes, that was about it. But mostly because her personality barely made sense either, at times she was a pretty good mother and other times I wanted to slap her or put duct tape across her mouth to shut her up.
The storyline is fairly random at times too and the entire book isn't amazingly written but it isn't totally awfully laid out either. Writing this review and thinking about the book is getting me somewhat frustrated so I'll cut it short so I can go back to blocking the story from my mind.
The ending was actually half decent, thank heavens for that, because I only finished it so I could kind of get my money's worth of a story and so I hadn't felt like I just wasted hours of my life.
All in all, it felt like a not very thought out story. All characters lacked depth and I think the cover is very misleading considering how little the book really addresses dieting/ED.
I was torn between giving this a 1 or 2 stars and decided on 2 solely because I believe other people may like this better and interpret it differently. I may also have had different expectations after reading 'Monkey Taming'. But in the end, Julia Bell, you wasted my time.
I felt the book didn't give a proper insight into Carmen's personality or motives, despite the entire book being in a first person narrative. Her actions seemed pretty random at times and every time some sort of dieting-type/ED situation occurred I actually got surprised because the majority of the book had me reading about her family politics or messed up 'friends'. I would not have minded this so much if it wasn't for the blurb and the COVER of the book which obviously (mis)led me to believe this was a book on ED.
Carmen was not likeable at all - mostly because of this lack of insight into her personality. I did not pity or sympathise with her despite the problems she was going through, which in hindsight were pretty bad, but her 'personality' was just so poorly portrayed I couldn't muster any real emotion for her, or any of the characters actually. Her mother bothered me sometimes, that was about it. But mostly because her personality barely made sense either, at times she was a pretty good mother and other times I wanted to slap her or put duct tape across her mouth to shut her up.
The storyline is fairly random at times too and the entire book isn't amazingly written but it isn't totally awfully laid out either. Writing this review and thinking about the book is getting me somewhat frustrated so I'll cut it short so I can go back to blocking the story from my mind.
The ending was actually half decent, thank heavens for that, because I only finished it so I could kind of get my money's worth of a story and so I hadn't felt like I just wasted hours of my life.
All in all, it felt like a not very thought out story. All characters lacked depth and I think the cover is very misleading considering how little the book really addresses dieting/ED.
I was torn between giving this a 1 or 2 stars and decided on 2 solely because I believe other people may like this better and interpret it differently. I may also have had different expectations after reading 'Monkey Taming'. But in the end, Julia Bell, you wasted my time.
May 13, 2018
Honestly, two stars is being a little generous.
This book was a hard read, and the only reason I finished it was because I had nothing else to do today and it was the only book I had on hand.
The author tried to tackle the horrors and reality of having an eating disorder and living with someone who has an eating disorder, but if flopped in my opinion. Most of the characters were dull and unlikable, and nothing made me want to root for Carmen. If anything, as someone who has an eating disorder, I am a bit insulted after having read this.
While anorexia can, indeed, make a person self-absorbed it alone does not turn a person into a narcissist. Most people with anorexia, in fact, are pretty empathetic and that contributes to their disorder. Few of them force their mindset onto other people, despite stereotypes that they do. There are some exceptions, and perhaps Carmen's mom is a narcissist, but it is never specified whether she is or isn't. Only two things are mentioned: 1) She has a history of bulimia and anorexia, 2) she has a history of depression (and possibly postpartum depression, though that is only mentioned briefly). If she is a narcissist, that should have really been specified. Without mentioning that, this book only feeds the stereotype that people with eating disorders are vain, narcissistic, and cruel. That is a harmful stereotype that needs to go away, not be pushed onto teenage girls (likely the target audience judging Carmen's age of 14).
Carmen herself isn't a very likable character. She has the personality of a wet rag, seems to go along with whatever anyone else around her is doing, and is unnecessarily cruel to Kelly (a character introduced about 1/3 into the book) for no discernible reason other than "she's fat". She acts surprised when she turns on her, and I cannot imagine why she would be. She is a mean girl, and I wouldn't like her, either, if I knew her. While reading the book, I could not empathize with Carmen because she was just that unlikable.
The worst part of "Massive" is its lack of climax. The mom is hospitalized because of her low weight and her eating disorder, but Carmen's developing eating disorder (sounds like bulimia? or OSFED/purging disorder? It's never specified) is never addressed. No one in their family ever seems to realize how sick Carmen is getting despite the fact that she's losing weight drastically, chopping off all her hair, and lashing out at everyone around her. The entire family is full of narcissists!! The aunt is probably the best among them, but even she seems oblivious to Carmen's illness because she only notices her sister's. The book ends with Carmen returning to Paisley to be her friend because their other "friend" was the victim of revenge child porn (which is never addressed again despite that being pretty freaking big, and also they looked at it... wouldn't that make them criminals, too?) Carmen never receiving help for her disorder. I understand what the author was going for. Eating disorders can be lifelong. You don't recover over the course of a book. But I would have liked to at least felt like Carmen's illness was acknowledged.
It just wasn't a good book as far as eating disorder books go. It tried to tackle a social issue, but it failed.
This book was a hard read, and the only reason I finished it was because I had nothing else to do today and it was the only book I had on hand.
The author tried to tackle the horrors and reality of having an eating disorder and living with someone who has an eating disorder, but if flopped in my opinion. Most of the characters were dull and unlikable, and nothing made me want to root for Carmen. If anything, as someone who has an eating disorder, I am a bit insulted after having read this.
While anorexia can, indeed, make a person self-absorbed it alone does not turn a person into a narcissist. Most people with anorexia, in fact, are pretty empathetic and that contributes to their disorder. Few of them force their mindset onto other people, despite stereotypes that they do. There are some exceptions, and perhaps Carmen's mom is a narcissist, but it is never specified whether she is or isn't. Only two things are mentioned: 1) She has a history of bulimia and anorexia, 2) she has a history of depression (and possibly postpartum depression, though that is only mentioned briefly). If she is a narcissist, that should have really been specified. Without mentioning that, this book only feeds the stereotype that people with eating disorders are vain, narcissistic, and cruel. That is a harmful stereotype that needs to go away, not be pushed onto teenage girls (likely the target audience judging Carmen's age of 14).
Carmen herself isn't a very likable character. She has the personality of a wet rag, seems to go along with whatever anyone else around her is doing, and is unnecessarily cruel to Kelly (a character introduced about 1/3 into the book) for no discernible reason other than "she's fat". She acts surprised when she turns on her, and I cannot imagine why she would be. She is a mean girl, and I wouldn't like her, either, if I knew her. While reading the book, I could not empathize with Carmen because she was just that unlikable.
The worst part of "Massive" is its lack of climax. The mom is hospitalized because of her low weight and her eating disorder, but Carmen's developing eating disorder (sounds like bulimia? or OSFED/purging disorder? It's never specified) is never addressed. No one in their family ever seems to realize how sick Carmen is getting despite the fact that she's losing weight drastically, chopping off all her hair, and lashing out at everyone around her. The entire family is full of narcissists!! The aunt is probably the best among them, but even she seems oblivious to Carmen's illness because she only notices her sister's. The book ends with Carmen returning to Paisley to be her friend because their other "friend" was the victim of revenge child porn (which is never addressed again despite that being pretty freaking big, and also they looked at it... wouldn't that make them criminals, too?) Carmen never receiving help for her disorder. I understand what the author was going for. Eating disorders can be lifelong. You don't recover over the course of a book. But I would have liked to at least felt like Carmen's illness was acknowledged.
It just wasn't a good book as far as eating disorder books go. It tried to tackle a social issue, but it failed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2011
I've read many books about this disorder and to be honest, I found myself more annoyed with the mother than anything else. It's a bit like watching the movie Tangled only instead of keeping her child in a tower for her own use, the mother starves her child and calls her terrible names. I just found this to be a hard read as everyone I know with this disorder is kind to others and horrid to themselves. I don't feel like this book has shown the typical attitude of an Anorexic, it's just made a stereo type of disordered mothers.
June 28, 2017
I'm a sucker for books that takes place in England and for teen mental health stories, so I had high hopes for this book. Bell does an excellent job of creating depth to the characters of Carmen and her mother. Mom is thoroughly despicable from the beginning and it is heartbreaking to watch Carmen wrestle with the demons that want her to resist and become her at the same time.
The other characters weren't as engaging and I got bored in the middle a bit, when I could predict where things were going, so the tension wasn't there for me. It was just fine, overall.
The other characters weren't as engaging and I got bored in the middle a bit, when I could predict where things were going, so the tension wasn't there for me. It was just fine, overall.
August 20, 2021
Je n'ai pas du tout aimé. Les personnages n'avaient aucune personnalité. Ils faisaient souvent des actions sorties de nulle part dans que l'on sache la raison. Je n'ai pas du tout aimé la fin du livre, en plus de ne pas avoir l'impression de connaître les personnages, ça fini sans que j'ai l'impression d'avoir avancé dans l'histoire. Le roman aborde un sujet important et pourtant il n'a pas été abordé directement au cours de l'histoire. Les problèmes d'alimentation sont présent, sans que ceux-ci soient vraiment abordés, ce qui me déçoit un peu.
April 14, 2016
'Massive' is a story focusing on eating disorders, particularly bulimia nervosa, so if you're sensitive to issues regarding eating disorders and you find it to be triggering, please don't read this review!
'I must try harder, I write, pressing the biro into my biology book, not to eat. It is this which is at the root of my problems, I have decided. Not Mum and Dad, or Nana or Kelly or Maxine and Paisley, but this: my puffy face, my swelling breasts, my belly. If I was beautiful, I could have everything I wanted.'
'Massive' is Julia Bell's debut novel, and was first published way back in 2002. It tells the story of Carmen, whose mother has had bulimia since Carmen was born. Carmen has grown up with a deeply ingrained love/hate relationship with food, as her mother has begged her to keep food diaries, participate in her diets with her, and avoid the food that her step-father, Brian, would cook for her to keep her eating.
When Carmen's mother decides to leave Brian and move them both to Birmingham, things get worse for Carmen. Being alone with her mother means that there's hardly ever any food in the house, so Carmen struggles with her eating, over-eating when she's at her grandmother's house and then starving when she gets home. As well as this, her mother takes all of her frustrations out on her - regularly calling Carmen a piggy, and criticising her for the clothes that she chooses to wear because of her fat face and the fact that she can no longer fit into a size 12.
Carmen's mother continues dieting, forcing herself to get thinner and thinner, so it's no real surprise when Carmen starts purging too. Her grandmother is obese, so she goes to her house and feels disgusted at the weight that she's seeing, then she internalises it and she feels disgusted with herself also. Lisa, her aunt, is concerned about her, as is Billy, her mother's ex-boyfriend, but because Carmen is nowhere near as dangerously thin as her mother, nothing is really done to assist her.
I have a lot of issues with this novel, and the primary on of them is this: if you're talking about eating disorders, and if you're calling people fat and using abusive language about them, please don't use real sizes. Keep it vague, keep it impersonal, and it will be a lot better for a lot of people. I am a size 12, so I know that I am not big at all - I can see that what Carmen's mother is saying to her is illogical and is a form of mental abuse to keep her in line. However, a reader who is a size 18 or a size 20 might (I'm saying 'might' because I don't know, but it just seems like a possibility) just see a personal attack to their size and it might make them feel uncomfortable and unhappy, and that's not the point of reading - even if you're reading something harrowing and heart-wrenching.
Also, Carmen is just a horrible character.
Read the rest of my review here!
'I must try harder, I write, pressing the biro into my biology book, not to eat. It is this which is at the root of my problems, I have decided. Not Mum and Dad, or Nana or Kelly or Maxine and Paisley, but this: my puffy face, my swelling breasts, my belly. If I was beautiful, I could have everything I wanted.'
'Massive' is Julia Bell's debut novel, and was first published way back in 2002. It tells the story of Carmen, whose mother has had bulimia since Carmen was born. Carmen has grown up with a deeply ingrained love/hate relationship with food, as her mother has begged her to keep food diaries, participate in her diets with her, and avoid the food that her step-father, Brian, would cook for her to keep her eating.
When Carmen's mother decides to leave Brian and move them both to Birmingham, things get worse for Carmen. Being alone with her mother means that there's hardly ever any food in the house, so Carmen struggles with her eating, over-eating when she's at her grandmother's house and then starving when she gets home. As well as this, her mother takes all of her frustrations out on her - regularly calling Carmen a piggy, and criticising her for the clothes that she chooses to wear because of her fat face and the fact that she can no longer fit into a size 12.
Carmen's mother continues dieting, forcing herself to get thinner and thinner, so it's no real surprise when Carmen starts purging too. Her grandmother is obese, so she goes to her house and feels disgusted at the weight that she's seeing, then she internalises it and she feels disgusted with herself also. Lisa, her aunt, is concerned about her, as is Billy, her mother's ex-boyfriend, but because Carmen is nowhere near as dangerously thin as her mother, nothing is really done to assist her.
I have a lot of issues with this novel, and the primary on of them is this: if you're talking about eating disorders, and if you're calling people fat and using abusive language about them, please don't use real sizes. Keep it vague, keep it impersonal, and it will be a lot better for a lot of people. I am a size 12, so I know that I am not big at all - I can see that what Carmen's mother is saying to her is illogical and is a form of mental abuse to keep her in line. However, a reader who is a size 18 or a size 20 might (I'm saying 'might' because I don't know, but it just seems like a possibility) just see a personal attack to their size and it might make them feel uncomfortable and unhappy, and that's not the point of reading - even if you're reading something harrowing and heart-wrenching.
Also, Carmen is just a horrible character.
Read the rest of my review here!
October 25, 2014
The main thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it's mostly set in Birmingham which is great because I haven't been able to find much Birmingham-based YA (we're the second city people, start writing fiction about us!) I really enjoyed reading about places that I know where they are (or were, this book was published in 2002) and there was even a bit of politics with discussion of the Bull Ring and the new building.
As for the book itself, I kind of enjoyed it but it's a bit scattergun with lots of things being brought up and never really being fully addressed (for example, bullying ). I didn't feel that Carmen's eating disorder was really that well developed and I'm not sure how much insight we got into the perspective of someone with an eating disorder through the book. I think the family close to Carmen get some decent characterisation (her mom, nan and aunt) but secondary characters feel a bit stereotypical and not fleshed out (the fat, unpopular girl, the clingy hanger on, etc.)
I would probably give this book a 2 to 2.5 objectively, but for me personally the Birmingham connection bumps it up and I'd give it a 3 (just). I accept that that's subjective but it did make me enjoy the book more than I usually would so it's only fair to recognise it.
As for the book itself, I kind of enjoyed it but it's a bit scattergun with lots of things being brought up and never really being fully addressed (for example, bullying ). I didn't feel that Carmen's eating disorder was really that well developed and I'm not sure how much insight we got into the perspective of someone with an eating disorder through the book. I think the family close to Carmen get some decent characterisation (her mom, nan and aunt) but secondary characters feel a bit stereotypical and not fleshed out (the fat, unpopular girl, the clingy hanger on, etc.)
I would probably give this book a 2 to 2.5 objectively, but for me personally the Birmingham connection bumps it up and I'd give it a 3 (just). I accept that that's subjective but it did make me enjoy the book more than I usually would so it's only fair to recognise it.
August 21, 2014
Halfway through I didn't think there were any nice characters in this book however i do think that Lisa is a likable character, but thats pretty much it.
This book deals with a lot of serious issues, the main one being eating disorders, but also bullying, homophobia (Slightly), family issues, poverty, markets being closed for superstores, small busnisses being forced out. But it doesn't do it well, it is all very flat and nothing really happens, and though i know that not all books need happy endings it just really didn't have a happy anything. Instead of helping anyone it just spiraled downwards.
It also annoyed me that the whole beginning of the book everyone is going on about how fat Carmen is. Not just her mother, everyone and it details that she eats a lot, as in buys a meal on the way home from school, then cooks herself a meal, then has a meal with her mum, then her dad brings her a meal home, then she eats a load of crisps and chocolate. Every single night. However she is still a size ten. i get that the book is talking about body dysmorphia, but as an actual fat person, saying that people who eat that much and that 'fat' is size ten is ridiculous and aggravating and damaging to people who actually have dysmorphia who are reading this book.
It is not until she can't get into a size 10 that she develops bullimia, this is not fat and it doesn't fit with the amount she is eating. i might be over reacting with this, but it really annoyed me.
I didn't like this book, the characters turned out awful and it jsut wasn't a nice read. Sorry.
This book deals with a lot of serious issues, the main one being eating disorders, but also bullying, homophobia (Slightly), family issues, poverty, markets being closed for superstores, small busnisses being forced out. But it doesn't do it well, it is all very flat and nothing really happens, and though i know that not all books need happy endings it just really didn't have a happy anything. Instead of helping anyone it just spiraled downwards.
It also annoyed me that the whole beginning of the book everyone is going on about how fat Carmen is. Not just her mother, everyone and it details that she eats a lot, as in buys a meal on the way home from school, then cooks herself a meal, then has a meal with her mum, then her dad brings her a meal home, then she eats a load of crisps and chocolate. Every single night. However she is still a size ten. i get that the book is talking about body dysmorphia, but as an actual fat person, saying that people who eat that much and that 'fat' is size ten is ridiculous and aggravating and damaging to people who actually have dysmorphia who are reading this book.
It is not until she can't get into a size 10 that she develops bullimia, this is not fat and it doesn't fit with the amount she is eating. i might be over reacting with this, but it really annoyed me.
I didn't like this book, the characters turned out awful and it jsut wasn't a nice read. Sorry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2012
I thought Massive was going to deal with weight issues - eating disorders and body image. However, it's really a book about family and how some families can be destructive for those in them. I found Massive to be really dark and disturbing. I'd like to say it was unrealistic in that I can't believe that none of the family members saw what was happening and stepped in. However, I do know that in life those closest to a bad situation often turn a blind eye. I had trouble connecting to the characters, and I didn't see significant character development in the book. Combine that with a less than satisfactory resolution to the novel - to me it seemed like the author stopped after the climax (and keep in mind The Giver, with it's ambiguous ending is one of my favorite books), I found the novel a less than gripping read.
January 2, 2019
I picked this book up and then lost interest and then powered through it over a weekend. It was “gritty” in the grand tradition of unsentimental books about British teenagers having a bad time. There were no characters who weren’t psychologically stunted and wildly disconnected. Still it was kind of satisfying to read.
Are retail jobs more important in England than in the US? If someone moved to a different city for a retail job in the US I would assume they were lying and on the run from the law. It was presented as a logical part of the plot. And: she had to be thin to work in retail? Friends, you just have to be not currently be incarcerated to work in retail.
Are retail jobs more important in England than in the US? If someone moved to a different city for a retail job in the US I would assume they were lying and on the run from the law. It was presented as a logical part of the plot. And: she had to be thin to work in retail? Friends, you just have to be not currently be incarcerated to work in retail.
May 3, 2012
This book was an intense story dealing with a problem that many girls deal with: the pressure to be thin. Many don't have to deal with a mother with an eating disorder, though. The book was well-written and dealt with the problem in a realistic way.
The only complaint I had was the ending. It either needed to get rid of the last page and a half or add another page and a half to properly end the story.
The only complaint I had was the ending. It either needed to get rid of the last page and a half or add another page and a half to properly end the story.
May 17, 2019
Written by a friend of mine so I'm hugely biased, but my (adolescent) kids give it five stars too.
2002 notebook: good on the drug-like pull of biscuits and big Macs, cake and crisps and chocolate bars, the soft sweet mess in your mouth, tongue slick with it. How you feel the grease and weight of it in your gullet.
2002 notebook: good on the drug-like pull of biscuits and big Macs, cake and crisps and chocolate bars, the soft sweet mess in your mouth, tongue slick with it. How you feel the grease and weight of it in your gullet.
July 24, 2023
3.1 not much action, the story was kinda jumping things and it felt unfinished and the character were not lovable
May 1, 2025
Took this book with me while traveling abroad & casually read it over the course of a couple months -- on flights, between flights, on trains, before falling asleep, after waking up, & to avoid a few awkward encounters with a friend's relatives.
I wasn't particularly involved in the story or affected by it, so it made for the perfect dispassionate travel read to pass some idle hours. Though it did hold my interest enough to where I preferred reading it than idly scrolling my email or sleeping during a flight.
Previously I'd attempted reading it in 2015ish, but after getting to page 54 I had to stop because it just seemed far too bland & monotonous at the time. So 2.5 stars for managing to generally keep me entertained this time around.
Anyway, I'm not sure I'd call Massive "grim" or "gritty". Though maybe it could be seen as a "real" enough snapshot into the mundane life of a boring teen girl with a psychotic & immature mother who is a mere bite of apple away from veering completely off the rails into yet another psych ward, while setting her daughter on a similar path of misery, food obsession & failing health.
Carmen has about as much personality as a brick wall -- even her mum confirms what the reader can see plain as day.
She is an entirely unremarkable character. Flat, basic. No hobbies or interests in anything, except maybe eating junk food & playing some video games. No sense of self, easily swayed to join the ranks of school bullies. All in all hardly an interesting person, even for a 14-year-old girl (though supposedly at her heaviest she only weighed 114lbs?!? Made me wonder just how much of a "weight problem" she really had -- unless she's super short it doesn't add up).
One could even argue that some of the supporting characters are more dynamic (compared to Carmen), including her mother Maria. Speaking of which.
It's easy to see how Maria might have negatively impacted her in multiple ways, including stunting her personal development & growth. Problem is, Maria herself is stunted.
She is essentially the embodiment of the mother as the unstable child -- emotionally & psychologically immature, insecure in her person, unpredictable & erratic, underdeveloped even.
At 1 point in the story, she actually mentions how she'd thought that she & Carmen "were going to be like sisters", insinuating that she'd like to accompany her daughter to a teen classmate's party, to just be one of the girls.
Case in point:
Maria: "Reckon I could still cut it?"
Carmen: "...It's a girls' party."
M: "Oh, and I'm not a girl anymore then?"
This sounds a bit odd coming from a woman in her mid-30s who apparently looks decades older due to the severity of her illness (essentially she's been in menopause for years already).
I think all this is worth noting because:
1. She occasionally sees her own daughter as actual competition, especially once Carmen herself plunges into ED territory;
2. She overtly envies her daughter's youth & the fact that her entire life is still ahead of her, brimming with endless potential;
3. Much of her ongoing angst & lashing out towards others stem from subconscious regrets, insecurities & endless ruminations on "what if" scenarios.
Constantly bemoaning her past decisions, wondering (out loud) just how different her life might've been if only she'd stayed single & child-free. Feeling like she'd wasted her life away, missed out on years of living because of how young she was (~21) when she had Carmen (indeed, we realize pretty quickly that she prolly got knocked up by accident).
The main reason she impulsively upended their life just to suddenly escape to Birmingham was because of severe FOMO coupled with a need for "adventure"/finding herself/getting tf away from her boring n dull husband/reclaiming her independence/"seizing the day"(???)
In a sense though, you can hardly blame her goin all YOLO cuz her ED hasn't allowed her to truly live or experience life since she was a teenager herself. And in her never-ending quest for skeletal thinness, she's lost all her youthfulness & vibrancy along the way -- which Carmen notices repeatedly & which Maria outwardly mourns on several occasions throughout the book.
But it seems her character is mostly overlooked & under analyzed, with much of the focus falling on Carmen's one dimensionality. In reality, Maria is more so the driving force, even if behind the scenes at times, & the story largely hinges on her actions & the subsequent fallout.
I wasn't particularly involved in the story or affected by it, so it made for the perfect dispassionate travel read to pass some idle hours. Though it did hold my interest enough to where I preferred reading it than idly scrolling my email or sleeping during a flight.
Previously I'd attempted reading it in 2015ish, but after getting to page 54 I had to stop because it just seemed far too bland & monotonous at the time. So 2.5 stars for managing to generally keep me entertained this time around.
Anyway, I'm not sure I'd call Massive "grim" or "gritty". Though maybe it could be seen as a "real" enough snapshot into the mundane life of a boring teen girl with a psychotic & immature mother who is a mere bite of apple away from veering completely off the rails into yet another psych ward, while setting her daughter on a similar path of misery, food obsession & failing health.
Carmen has about as much personality as a brick wall -- even her mum confirms what the reader can see plain as day.
She is an entirely unremarkable character. Flat, basic. No hobbies or interests in anything, except maybe eating junk food & playing some video games. No sense of self, easily swayed to join the ranks of school bullies. All in all hardly an interesting person, even for a 14-year-old girl (though supposedly at her heaviest she only weighed 114lbs?!? Made me wonder just how much of a "weight problem" she really had -- unless she's super short it doesn't add up).
One could even argue that some of the supporting characters are more dynamic (compared to Carmen), including her mother Maria. Speaking of which.
It's easy to see how Maria might have negatively impacted her in multiple ways, including stunting her personal development & growth. Problem is, Maria herself is stunted.
She is essentially the embodiment of the mother as the unstable child -- emotionally & psychologically immature, insecure in her person, unpredictable & erratic, underdeveloped even.
At 1 point in the story, she actually mentions how she'd thought that she & Carmen "were going to be like sisters", insinuating that she'd like to accompany her daughter to a teen classmate's party, to just be one of the girls.
Case in point:
Maria: "Reckon I could still cut it?"
Carmen: "...It's a girls' party."
M: "Oh, and I'm not a girl anymore then?"
This sounds a bit odd coming from a woman in her mid-30s who apparently looks decades older due to the severity of her illness (essentially she's been in menopause for years already).
I think all this is worth noting because:
1. She occasionally sees her own daughter as actual competition, especially once Carmen herself plunges into ED territory;
2. She overtly envies her daughter's youth & the fact that her entire life is still ahead of her, brimming with endless potential;
3. Much of her ongoing angst & lashing out towards others stem from subconscious regrets, insecurities & endless ruminations on "what if" scenarios.
Constantly bemoaning her past decisions, wondering (out loud) just how different her life might've been if only she'd stayed single & child-free. Feeling like she'd wasted her life away, missed out on years of living because of how young she was (~21) when she had Carmen (indeed, we realize pretty quickly that she prolly got knocked up by accident).
The main reason she impulsively upended their life just to suddenly escape to Birmingham was because of severe FOMO coupled with a need for "adventure"/finding herself/getting tf away from her boring n dull husband/reclaiming her independence/"seizing the day"(???)
"Besides, I wasn't sure until just now. I've just got to get out of here, Carmen. I've got to go. We've got to go now. If we don't go now, I'll miss the moment."
"Everything's changing, Carmen. We can't afford to stand still. I can't afford to stand still. I want a piece of the action. I'm not too old. I'm only thirty-five you know, that's not really very old at all."
In a sense though, you can hardly blame her goin all YOLO cuz her ED hasn't allowed her to truly live or experience life since she was a teenager herself. And in her never-ending quest for skeletal thinness, she's lost all her youthfulness & vibrancy along the way -- which Carmen notices repeatedly & which Maria outwardly mourns on several occasions throughout the book.
But it seems her character is mostly overlooked & under analyzed, with much of the focus falling on Carmen's one dimensionality. In reality, Maria is more so the driving force, even if behind the scenes at times, & the story largely hinges on her actions & the subsequent fallout.
March 18, 2021
Why?
That's my one question, why? Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying the author should have never written this book or anything of the sorts. The writing was probably the okay Est this with this book. Where should I start? Oh I know how about the bullying? I am only at page 97 and I already get chills THINKING about finishing this book. Im barley 1/3 of the way through and I'm already triggered and the thing is. Im not triggered by the actually thing the book is supposed to be based on. I am triggered by the bullying. Did having carmen bully some random girl who is heavier than her and is clearly already being bullied by some other b****. Why did bully have to be in this book, I so wanted to like this boo, trust me I DID.
If you have to have your plane jane of a protagonist bully some girl whose heavier than her than maybe you need a new plot and a new character because NOBODY like a bully.
Carmen was boring. She had no arc no aha moment. Nada (nothing in Spanish).
Lisa was the only cool character but even then, we barley get to see her.
Also, the way she stereotypes fat people is sick. Fr example every time kelly eats she is described to drool get stuff all over her face. Carmens mom makes a remark basically saying she should go on a diet. Carmen even describes how discusting she is when she eats.
I could go on and on but I wont.
Bullying is monstrous. Bullying pushes people off the edge. And bullying is the reason I probably won't continue reading this book.
Kudo's to the author for though, you can tell she tried to make a point though. So its not her fault its just a off and because she missed the mark with her writing its off putting but no shade to julia bell.
That's my one question, why? Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying the author should have never written this book or anything of the sorts. The writing was probably the okay Est this with this book. Where should I start? Oh I know how about the bullying? I am only at page 97 and I already get chills THINKING about finishing this book. Im barley 1/3 of the way through and I'm already triggered and the thing is. Im not triggered by the actually thing the book is supposed to be based on. I am triggered by the bullying. Did having carmen bully some random girl who is heavier than her and is clearly already being bullied by some other b****. Why did bully have to be in this book, I so wanted to like this boo, trust me I DID.
If you have to have your plane jane of a protagonist bully some girl whose heavier than her than maybe you need a new plot and a new character because NOBODY like a bully.
Carmen was boring. She had no arc no aha moment. Nada (nothing in Spanish).
Lisa was the only cool character but even then, we barley get to see her.
Also, the way she stereotypes fat people is sick. Fr example every time kelly eats she is described to drool get stuff all over her face. Carmens mom makes a remark basically saying she should go on a diet. Carmen even describes how discusting she is when she eats.
I could go on and on but I wont.
Bullying is monstrous. Bullying pushes people off the edge. And bullying is the reason I probably won't continue reading this book.
Kudo's to the author for though, you can tell she tried to make a point though. So its not her fault its just a off and because she missed the mark with her writing its off putting but no shade to julia bell.
June 2, 2022
initially thought of giving it 3 stars, but now want to bring it down to 2. my main gripe with this book is the writing style. there is nothing lyrical to it and the first person perspective of carmen is absolute crap. bell did a horribble job of conveying the nuances of the scenes and carmen's own thoughts were almost never published. carmen seemed to just DO things (mostly bad things) without too much of an explanation on her end, and with practically no remorse or any other emotion whatsoever. the ending was SO abrupt, i turned the page fully expecting to see another chapter. the ending is not hopeful nor does it explain a message. it's just sort of THERE, unexplained and incomplete. did the book give some insight into how someone with an ED might behave?? yes. and i think that's about the only portion of it that i cared for. the rest of the cast of characters are mainly Carmen's mother's family and they seem to, for the most part, skirt around her mother's obvious ED, and disregard Carmen's own absorption of her mother's insecurities and dieting ways. i was quite bored pretty much the entire way, there isn't much redeeming this book. i'm sure there are better books dealing with EDs out there. this one's just meh.
August 20, 2017
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
I don't know what to say. Just that there were some really good parts that I really would have loved to see more of in Massive. Some scenes showed good character development but I felt like some scenes may have been redundant and that the story could have focused more on scenes that were more powerful.
I guess that's the problem with writing about mental illnesses. It's such a touchy and subjective issue, it's a really hard topic to write about, much less make it a central theme in a story. But Julia Bell definitely gets credits for having the courage to try and doing it to the best of her abilities.
I don't know what to say. Just that there were some really good parts that I really would have loved to see more of in Massive. Some scenes showed good character development but I felt like some scenes may have been redundant and that the story could have focused more on scenes that were more powerful.
I guess that's the problem with writing about mental illnesses. It's such a touchy and subjective issue, it's a really hard topic to write about, much less make it a central theme in a story. But Julia Bell definitely gets credits for having the courage to try and doing it to the best of her abilities.
May 3, 2018
Carmen's life is about to get a bit messed up in this book. Carmen is a teen in high school and well, she's fat. She just doesn't care. Her mom goes on all these diets, her dad sneaks her candy and she eats all the time, hiding everything from her mom. Then suddenly, her mom takes Carmen and they move. Carmen now has to find new friends in her new school and cope with gross diet food and her dad being gone. Carmen's new friends are the schools 'it' girls, so Carmen tries her best to fit in. Will Carmen ever get to be one of those 'it' girls? Will she ever cope with not going back home with her old friends and family?
July 19, 2023
Brilliantly rendered, insightful and nuanced
This story reads like a memoir it's so true to life. It's a brilliantly rendered portrait of how the disease of anorexia develops as a symptom of a dysfunctional family dynamic and progresses, afflicting not only its primary victim but also future generations.
Each scene contains a character arc, moving the story further in a linear yet multi-layered matrix of events. The pace of the action is quick, and the author never once resorts to narrative to explain rather than show its meaning.
Massive is one of the best coming-of-age novels I've ever read--and I've read many.
Thank you Julia Bell. I'm moving on to your next book asap!
This story reads like a memoir it's so true to life. It's a brilliantly rendered portrait of how the disease of anorexia develops as a symptom of a dysfunctional family dynamic and progresses, afflicting not only its primary victim but also future generations.
Each scene contains a character arc, moving the story further in a linear yet multi-layered matrix of events. The pace of the action is quick, and the author never once resorts to narrative to explain rather than show its meaning.
Massive is one of the best coming-of-age novels I've ever read--and I've read many.
Thank you Julia Bell. I'm moving on to your next book asap!
April 23, 2020
DNF @34%
The protagonist’s mother doesn’t just have an eating disorder, she may also have a personality disorder. If nothing else, this is veering very strongly on child neglect and it makes me too angry to keep on reading. (The mum pretty much forgets to feed her daughter?) Even the dad, who seems like a normal guy, doesn’t do anything?? I felt especially betrayed by that.
I could read literally anything else and have a better time so I won’t make myself finish this for the sake of finishing it.
The protagonist’s mother doesn’t just have an eating disorder, she may also have a personality disorder. If nothing else, this is veering very strongly on child neglect and it makes me too angry to keep on reading. (The mum pretty much forgets to feed her daughter?) Even the dad, who seems like a normal guy, doesn’t do anything?? I felt especially betrayed by that.
I could read literally anything else and have a better time so I won’t make myself finish this for the sake of finishing it.
January 21, 2021
A problémakör valós lehet, de a könyv közel értékelhetetlen – az utolsó húsz oldal legalább valamerre elindulna, de az is túl későn, komótosan. A magyar fordítás is gyengének tűnik, nyelvtanilag nem egyeztetett szerkezetek itt-ott, borzalmasan kellemetlen szóismétlések mondaton belül. Azért nem hagytam abba menet közben, és kínlódtam végig, mert párhuzamosan olvastam egy nehezebb könyvvel, és legalább ehhez nem kellett ész. (Hozzátéve, hogy ez is egy nehéz témát boncolgathatna, ha hajlandó lett volna elkezdeni.)
June 29, 2023
SPOILERS AHEAD
honestly it didn't feel like other than Carmen developing a worsening ED there was any character development at all.
I didn't feel particularly attached to any of the characters at all. Carmen and her school friends were bullies, Carmen's mother was straight up damaging/abusive to her daughter, her Nana and Lisa didn't seem like they really addressed Carmen's weight loss until the very end.
2 stars because it was a fairly decent depiction of generational struggles with an ED, but unfortunately the lacking characters limit my rating to what it is.
honestly it didn't feel like other than Carmen developing a worsening ED there was any character development at all.
I didn't feel particularly attached to any of the characters at all. Carmen and her school friends were bullies, Carmen's mother was straight up damaging/abusive to her daughter, her Nana and Lisa didn't seem like they really addressed Carmen's weight loss until the very end.
2 stars because it was a fairly decent depiction of generational struggles with an ED, but unfortunately the lacking characters limit my rating to what it is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2018
TW: eating disorders
I felt like this was a really good representation of eating disorders (not specified as to which one it covers specifically) but it was very slow to start with. I wish it was a little longer and we got to see the after of everything that happened at the end of the book but other than that it was a solid read. I'd recommend it if you are looking for a raw representation of an eating disorder.
I felt like this was a really good representation of eating disorders (not specified as to which one it covers specifically) but it was very slow to start with. I wish it was a little longer and we got to see the after of everything that happened at the end of the book but other than that it was a solid read. I'd recommend it if you are looking for a raw representation of an eating disorder.
October 13, 2018
This book takes place in England. Carmen is a typical teen who is trying to maintain friendships and and get along with her mom. The latter is hard because her mom is a terrible person, constantly ridiculing C for eating. Maria is anorexic.
Maria decides to leave her partner of many years and the only father-figure in C’s life. Maria returns home. C meets Billy, an old friend and her aunt who is a nail manicurist. C develops bulimia.
Maria decides to leave her partner of many years and the only father-figure in C’s life. Maria returns home. C meets Billy, an old friend and her aunt who is a nail manicurist. C develops bulimia.
June 27, 2022
J'appréhendais, vu la note moyenne donnée à ce livre.
Au final, je l'ai dévoré.
Niveau écriture, on a la sensation de survoler simplement la vie de Carmen, sans trop d'émotion. Quelque chose me dit que c'est fait exprès. Ça fonctionne quand même.
Niveau intrigue, XXL est un joli roman sur l'impact que peut avoir les autres, et surtout la maman, sur une jeune ado, même quand on semble prendre la direction opposée.
Au final, je l'ai dévoré.
Niveau écriture, on a la sensation de survoler simplement la vie de Carmen, sans trop d'émotion. Quelque chose me dit que c'est fait exprès. Ça fonctionne quand même.
Niveau intrigue, XXL est un joli roman sur l'impact que peut avoir les autres, et surtout la maman, sur une jeune ado, même quand on semble prendre la direction opposée.
November 7, 2022
Just not great really. The plot was all sorts of too slow for the first 200-odd pages, and then the end bit, where her mother gets hospitalized, was really rushed. I liked the ending scene, but everything felt all choppy and odd, and the characters weren't really likeable, even if they were trying to be the kind you could relate to and all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2022
I found this to be a very slow read. About halfway through I started getting more involved in the story and it started keeping my attention only to have a very abrupt ending which was a huge let down. The book worked on building such a character story and then just ended it all within what seemed like the last 5 pages.
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