Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Grace Michaels is determined to be thin, even if she dies trying.

Part of the in-crowd at Providence High, she is steps away from being asked out by the most desired guy at school, winning a prom queen nomination, and her parents’ approval. If she can just get skinny enough, be pretty enough, and popular enough.

But Grace is thin on the outside and fat on the inside. No amount of weight-loss ever seems enough. Convinced the melting pounds will solve her problems, every pound lost brings her closer to her goals. But flesh and bone can only hide the weight of her secret for so long.

Fans of the emotional and thought-provoking contemporary YA fiction, such as Before I Fall, Tell Me Three Things, and All The Bright Places will fall in love with Souder’s heart-wrenching novel, SOMETHING OF SUBSTANCE.

Review

This book takes a deep look at body image and how it affects people today, especially women. The dangers of anorexia are real but it isn’t worth your life.

Grace is a character that you will probably love and hate at the same time. While she was once “fat” (approximately 40 lbs by the text), she decided that she did not want to be overweight so she attends a “fat” camp and works at reinventing herself. However, it spins out of control as she obsesses with her weight, how many calories she is eating, and being a part of the popular crowd. She becomes the person that we all remember from high school – not quite a bully, but not nice either. I think she feels bad about how her “friends” treat those that are overweight as she was once that girl.

Grace’s family is dysfunctional too but you don’t find out some of the real reasons why until the end when her issue is discovered by her family. I do think her parents set her up to be this way because she was not a star athlete like her sister Kelly. We really don’t know a whole lot about Kelly’s life and perhaps a story from her perspective during the same time period could be interesting to see how she deals with her sister’s anorexia. We do have a little peek into her life, but not enough to really get to know her well.

Then there is her best friend Cara. I think Cara knows something is going on but perhaps is too afraid to confront Grace or even tell a parent so that this could have been addressed sooner and before it became almost fatal. But at the same time, it is hard when you are younger to betray your friend even if it is in their best interest.

Of course, since this is a high school there are boys. I am definitely Team Jake all the way. Yes, he is Cara’s younger brother (by about a year) but he had grown up and filled out and knows Grace perhaps better than she knows herself. Luca is a bit of a wild card and many times I wondered what the real story was with his interest in Grace. Was it real? Was it part of a bet or something stupid that boys sometimes participate in with each other? As that story unfolded I knew that it wasn’t going to end well.

This was a book that I loved and hated. Remember how I said you would love and hate Grace at the same time? I loved that this character brought to life an issue that we see all too often – body image and what is acceptable or not acceptable according to society and the media. At the same time, I did not like how obsessed she was with losing weight and wanting Luca. She was self-absorbed through much of the book, but then when interacting with her family I felt sorry for Grace because she wasn’t receiving attention from her parents and the focus was on her sister.

I think a great addition to the end (or in the author notes) would be signs to look for and who to tell if you suspect someone you know is going through the same situation.

We give this 4 paws up

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