"Big Girl"

by Danielle Steel, AF, 2010, Playaway, 11hrs, rating=2.5

"Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious L.A. Her father, Jim, is tall and slender, and her mother, Christina, is a fine-boned, dark-haired beauty. Both are self-centered, outspoken, and disappointed by their daughter’s looks. While her parents and sister can eat anything and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch everything she eats, as well as endure her father’s belittling comments about her body and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods give her comfort, but only briefly. The one thing she knows is that she has to get away from home, and after college in Chicago, she moves to New York City. Behind Victoria is a lifetime of hurt and neglect she has tried to forget, and even ice cream can no longer dull the pain. Ahead is a challenge and a risk: to accept herself as she is, celebrate it, and claim the victories she has fought so hard for and deserves. Big girl or not, she is terrific and discovers that herself." (cover blurb)

This book started out strong and I was really liking it because I could relate.  It was straight forward and was quickly telling the events right after the other, building sound character developments.  But somewhere before the last third of the book, it went downhill.  From there, the book dragged on and took too long to get to the resolution.  This resulted in saying the same thing over and over again and so Victoria's character got too whiny and so dense.  Poor girl, when it rained it pours.  Hence, her great potential got weird and in someway the story went all over the place and unnecessary side stories crept in. 

I was liking what it started to offer ... a strong and sweet sister-sister relationship, courage to be independent, evolution of true friendship, and determination to overcome an emotional scar.  But it didn't wrap it up neatly for me in the long run.  Before the point where it went downhill for me, I could have closed the book there and would have given the book at least 4 stars ... bummer!

P.S.  I sure wanted to smack (at the very least) Victoria's narcissistic father and enabling mother!!  Grrrrr!!!!!