Scan barcode
A review by anarchasemiyah
Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
When Danielle Allen crafts a slow burns she means exactly that. The journey of watching Aaliyah and Ahmad not only develop a friendship, fall in love, but also confront some deep rooted trauma was a journey worthy the ride it took to get there. Curvy Girl Summer is written adaption ready, and while that has some pros and cons, ultimately I think the author succeeded in crafting a RomCom enjoyable for those that love the genre.
With this being Allen’s first traditional release (I’ve read a majority of her catalog that was published independently), I was a bit apprehensive that stylistically there may be some changes in her writing to attract a bigger, mainstream audience. I genuinely think that regardless of whether this is your first or fifth book by Danielle, we can all agree that she is an exceptional storyteller that crafts compelling characters with undeniable chemistry. The callbacks to her books like “Instalove” felt like a gift to her readers that have been reading her work prior to this release.
Curvy Girl Summer engages with issues like fatphobia, fetishization of fat bodies, and fat girl stereotypes in way that is tasteful while not making it the book’s focal point. It functions as a part of the reality of what Aaliyah has to deal with on the daily which is true for black women that share a similar experience. I appreciate that Allen made our female MC confident and direct regardless of how other’s internalized fatphobia manifested itself.
While over half of this book is dedicate to building Aaliyah and Ahmad’s friendship with the entertaining (and sometimes downright awful) experience Aaliyah had with online dating interspersed throughout the novel, it almost feels like the reader doesn’t get a chance to fully bask in their union. Despite the ending being poetic justice, it felt a bit lackluster especially considering how closely we watched these two grow individually and inevitably together.
Overall, Curvy Girl Summer is the sensually entertaining black RomCom that deserves to be on screen and will be a treat for lovers of the genre. I sense that perhaps this could be a series considering Allen has a knack for setting her stories up that way and this novel is no different. Ahmad, Aaliyah, and the supporting kept me cackling and clutching my pearls and for that reason alone I feel like everyone should give it a read.
With this being Allen’s first traditional release (I’ve read a majority of her catalog that was published independently), I was a bit apprehensive that stylistically there may be some changes in her writing to attract a bigger, mainstream audience. I genuinely think that regardless of whether this is your first or fifth book by Danielle, we can all agree that she is an exceptional storyteller that crafts compelling characters with undeniable chemistry. The callbacks to her books like “Instalove” felt like a gift to her readers that have been reading her work prior to this release.
Curvy Girl Summer engages with issues like fatphobia, fetishization of fat bodies, and fat girl stereotypes in way that is tasteful while not making it the book’s focal point. It functions as a part of the reality of what Aaliyah has to deal with on the daily which is true for black women that share a similar experience. I appreciate that Allen made our female MC confident and direct regardless of how other’s internalized fatphobia manifested itself.
While over half of this book is dedicate to building Aaliyah and Ahmad’s friendship with the entertaining (and sometimes downright awful) experience Aaliyah had with online dating interspersed throughout the novel, it almost feels like the reader doesn’t get a chance to fully bask in their union. Despite the ending being poetic justice, it felt a bit lackluster especially considering how closely we watched these two grow individually and inevitably together.
Overall, Curvy Girl Summer is the sensually entertaining black RomCom that deserves to be on screen and will be a treat for lovers of the genre. I sense that perhaps this could be a series considering Allen has a knack for setting her stories up that way and this novel is no different. Ahmad, Aaliyah, and the supporting kept me cackling and clutching my pearls and for that reason alone I feel like everyone should give it a read.