Just a Few Inches by Tara Pierre Review!

All Carrie Roberts wants is to be a little bit smaller.

To fit into the perfect dress for the Valentine’s Day Dance. To look beautiful for her boyfriend, the school’s star basketball player. To keep his jealous ex-girlfriend, a rival cheerleader, away from him. And to be noticed by her classmates.

Exercising and dieting don’t work, but an advertisement for weight loss pills promises a quicker solution to her problem. As time runs out, she takes more than the recommended dose until she’s just a few inches slimmer. Heads turn when she arrives at the dance, and the wonderful night with her boyfriend is beyond what she dreamed it would be.

Days later, Carrie discovers that her body is changing in ways that should be impossible. While her doctor searches for a cure, she desperately turns to her friends and family for support. Everyone is noticing her now whether she likes it or not, and even the media is intrigued by her incredible story. Getting everything she once wanted has created new problems—problems that are growing more terrifying every day.

Because Carrie Roberts is shrinking.

 

                Just a Few Inches gave me a look at "the other side" as I like to call it because I am consider overweight for my age. I gravitate towards books like this because I can relate to those painstaking thoughts about being too heavy or just needing to lose a little weight. This book is different because it features a girl, who is considered underweight or below average weight for her age, wanting to lose weight, and that's so different because usually books about weight loss or insecurities feature girls who are considered overweight. Just a Few Inches made me really understand that being insecure about weight isn't just for people who are overweight, it's also for people who are underweight.

Carrie is someone who you automatically gravitate towards because most people know how insecurity feels and that empathy pulls you in. I immediately latched on to Carrie's character because I could practically feel her insecurity about her boyfriend being attracted to his ex and having feelings for her again. That immediately sparked my emotions. Plus, our shared hatred for Janelle also helped. She was a real witch, but I understood why she acted like that in the end.

Anyway, this book was full of typical high school problems but it also held a few twists and turns that you never expected from a contemporary novel. I love how different this book is in every way. The aspect of Carrie literally shrinking added an exciting and mysterious element to the story, and it kept my eyes glued to the book. I wanted to know what was going on, why this was happening, and where Carrie would end up. As the story goes on and Carrie continues to shrink, we see her change little by little and start to realize how much can change over a short amount of time, especially your outlook on life and yourself. I loved how different Pierre approached the issue of weight and the struggles of high school girls. It made the story that much more interesting. The idea of a weight loss pill actually making you shrink is something I've never seen written about. It's fascinating to see Pierre write a funny and entertaining story filled with high school drama and life issues, but also write a story with meaning and lessons to be learned. It's rare that you find books like that, and I really enjoyed Pierre's approach. I also like how she incorporated normal high school issues into the novel so that it wasn't just about a girl shrinking, but it was also about Carrie struggling with bullying and boyfriend issues. This book really had it all. Towards the end of the book I was terrified for Carrie and what would happen to her because of her shrinking. Usually, I know where the story is headed or it's slightly predictable, but with Just a Few Inches, I was left in the dark. I had no idea where the story was going and that terrified me along with the situation Carrie was in.

Also, the romance in this story is so sweet...but you have to wait for it. I can't spoil anything because that's mean, but just know that the person Carrie ends up with made my heart flutter multiple times. He was the kind of guy that loved Carrie no matter what, and I loved him for that.

When I finished this book I set it down and simply said "wow". The journey this book took me through was intense, nerve wracking, inspiring, and amazing. This contemporary novel with a twist shocked me on so many levels. I never expected the adventure I was taken on in Just A Few Inches, but I couldn't be more satisfied with it. I hope I explained my feelings about this book accurately, but if I didn't, just know that this book was awesome. I recommend this book to any of you who are looking for a contemporary novel with a twist of… science fiction? I'm not even sure how to categorize this. Basically this book is a genre all on its own. I highly recommend it to contemporary book lovers. I give Just a Few Inches five out of five stars!