Thursday, January 29, 2015

45 pounds (more or less): Week of 1/26

Prompt: Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why or why not? I think that the characters are realistic

Pages Read: 1-Finished

Before I start talking about this book that I've already finished surprisingly, I would like to talk about the previous story that I had stopped reading which was called, "Schizo". When I first started reading that story it had caught my attention, but then I started to slowly lose interest. Personally, I didn't really understand the characters, and I found that the it was taking a long time for the plot to finally settle in. I really don't like giving up on books, but at the time I wanted to read something that actually had a good plot, and well developed characters. Therefore, I chose to read "45 pounds (more or less), which I had first found out on goodreads, and decided to check it out.

This book is about a girl named Ann, who has a lot of struggles going on through her life. At the age of 16, she's already a size 17, while her "perfect" mother is a size 6. Her whole life, she's been dealing with issues involving her body, and has also been made fun of for being "fat". In Ann's perspective, her life is a mess that only has broken pieces. Her mother had re-married with a guy named Mike, who is now her stepfather. Ann also has an older brother but he he had left due to issues with the family, and hasn't spoke to anyone since. As for her father, her mother had kicked him out due to the fact that he had cheated on her with his assistant. But now that she was appointed to be a bridesmaid, she wants to lose about 45 pounds to look good. Overall, she goes through many situations, that can be really hard to deal with.

Reading this story, I think that the characters are indeed realistic and seem like they can be real. There are many people who go through tough situations like Ann. A lot of individuals have weight, family, and friend issues that a lot of people don't really understand. The main character feels like she's alone in the world, and I feel like many others feel the same as well. At her age she basically encounters the same problems a normal teen would, which can be really challenging. Although, some individuals probably don't connect to Ann at all, I believe that a good majority do. Overall, I really loved this book a lot which probably explains why I finished it all in a day. Not only that, but I think the author really expressed a great message to the reader, that I'll never forget. 






I commented on JesusAthzirySarai

2 comments:

  1. Leanna,
    Great blog this week, I really enjoyed it! This book seems really interesting the way you describe it, and Ann seems realistic to me as well! What she's going through IS sad, but normal like you said, for a lot of people. Though , what makes Ann's situation even worse is that her own Mom, who is much older than her, is 10 sizes smaller in clothing! Even though everyone always tells us to love ourselves no matter what we look like, it can be extremely hard knowing that people see you as "fat". I think that it's amazing that Ann had the drive to lose all of that weight! Did she actually end up losing 45 pounds in the end? Anyways, I think you did an excellent job explaining the book and why you think the main character is realistic, and I look forward to reading more of your blogs in the future!

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  2. I can definitely relate to that feeling of finding a book less and less interesting over time. Your new book reminds me of several books I've read before, actually. Not that they all have similar plots, but that your book contains bits and pieces that I can see in some of the books I've read. From your description of the book and Ann, I imagine she's not very happy. The things you described sound like they would really hurt! Feeling like you're all alone in the world sounds terrible. Does she ever feel otherwise? Your description of the book and Ann's feelings was just really good. You had a really good blog this week!

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