Thankfully she has a great psychiatrist who helps her restructure her thinking, reevaluate her worth, and use tools and techniques to stand up and advocate for herself. Easier said than done but it helps a lot when Ellie starts going to therapy. But we gradually see Ellie start to challenge the negativity about fatness as she builds inner strength. Starfish shows some of the harsh realities, misconceptions, and stereotypes bigger people are subjected to. But there’s clearly more to it beneath the surface. Not that that knowledge would excuse her mistreatment of Ellie. And I still think there’s way more baggage to why Ellie’s mom did what she did than what’s said in the book.

I just think he should have done more and that the mom got off easy. He does defend Ellie here and there and truly does seem to love Ellie. How the dad never divorced the mom or did more for Ellie’s safety and mental health boggles my mind. Ellie’s often despondent and self-loathing mantra of the Fat Girl Rules was painful to read. The most troubling was with Ellie’s mother whose extreme micromanagement of her daughter’s weight made her feel less than and unlovable. There were numerous rage-inducing moments. As if being fat gives others the license to bully, ridicule, and shame anyone who doesn’t fit in the thin-preferred world. Classmates, strangers, her mom, and her brother. What’s truly heartbreaking about Starfish is how cruel a lot of people are towards Ellie. Ellie deserves to be loved just like anybody else. She’s perfect as she is and it’s sad that so many choose not to see that. REVIEW: As my first novel-in-verse, Starfish was an excellent, incredibly heartbreaking story with a relatable main character in Ellie.Įllie is kind, wonderful, a talented poet, and a great friend. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life–by unapologetically being her own fabulous self. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie’s weight will motivate her to diet. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules–like “no making waves,” “avoid eating in public,” and “don’t move so fast that your body jiggles.” And she’s found her safe space–her swimming pool–where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. ABOUT : Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this debut novel-in-verse.Įver since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight.

Starfish by Lisa Fipps