Book Review: If The Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

Thank you to Edelweiss and Disney for a digital review copy of this book. If The Shoe Fits tells the story of Cindy, a plus-sized fashion designer who, like a lot of early twenty-somethings, has no idea what she's doing with her life. Out of options, with no motivation to design, she hops on a plane back to LA to move in with her stepmother and stepsisters. On the flight, she instantly connects with a

handsome stranger, and they bond with each other the way two people stuck in a metal can hurdling through the air do. Once she lands, though, the mysterious handsome stranger is nowhere to be seen.

Let's make one thing clear- Cindy hasn't had an easy life. A mother that died young from cancer, her father dying while she was in high school, and a well-meaning but slightly patronizing TV executive mother, who happens to run the largest reality TV show in the country.

When two contestants drop out last minute, Cindy shrugs, says 'fuck it', and prepares becomes the first-ever plus-sized person on a mainstream reality TV show. Wouldn't you know it, who is the contestant? The guy from the plane.

Was this book similar to One To Watch, which came out about a year ago and blew my socks off? Yes. Was it worth reading anyway? Also yes. I love the plus-sized characters now being included in books, and what made this one really special is that it didn't shy away from the isseus that plus-sized people face on a day-to-day basis, from airplane seatbelts to finding something that fits in a store to being called 'brave' for having the audacity to be fat in public- and yes, fat is not a bad word.

What made this book really stand out in my mind is that Cindy never once doubts Henry's motivations or her own attractiveness. She never goes down the fat person spiral of 'does he really like me or is he doing this for attention?' or 'why does he want to date a fat girl?' She just owns it.

I blazed through this book in a 24 hour period, so safe to say it was worth it. Readers will also enjoy minor representations of a non-binary and bisexual characters. They also teased the premise of a queer version of the show that I am NOT SO SILENTLY BEGGING THE AUTHOR TO DO A FOLLOW-UP SEQUAL ABOUT.