LitPick Review
Just A Few Inches is about cheerleader Carrie Roberts, a senior in high school dating Todd, the school’s best basketball player. Carrie constantly feels threatened by Todd’s ex, Janelle, the popular cheer captain. Though Carrie is the one dating Todd, Janelle seems superior to her in every way.
Carrie is going to the Valentine’s Day Dance with Todd and goes dress shopping with her best friends, Lauren and Trish. Trish finds the perfect red dress for Carrie, but when Carrie tries it on, Trish can’t get the zipper up. The perfect red dress is just a few inches too tight and leaves Carrie feeling discouraged and too large. Despite the size of the dress, Carrie purchases it anyway in desperation.
Carrie thinks she needs to fit into that dress to make Janelle jealous, impress Todd, and catch her peers’ attention. Carrie attempts avoiding most food and exercising but needs results faster. As a last resort, Carrie purchases weight loss pills she saw on a misleading commercial. At first, Carrie follows the recommended dosage but doesn’t see enough of a result. Almost out of time, Carrie takes more pills than recommended and finally gets her wanted results.
Carrie has a great time at the dance, looks amazing, and surprises Janelle. After the incredible night, the consequences of the pills kick in. Carrie tries to hide it, but she is undeniably shrinking. Carrie has to deal with unwanted attention and rapid changes, while pushing through mental and physical challenges. Carrie has to stay strong while facing an unanswerable question: how small will she become?
Opinion:
Just A Few Inches was a very enjoyable and interesting read. I found all the characters very relatable, especially Carrie in the beginning of the book. As a reader, it was fun to see Carrie change through the book, physically and mentally.
The setting was easy for me to picture, especially Carrie’s house and Cray’s Lookout. The plot was very captivating, but I wish it would have gone more in depth about Carrie’s family dynamic. It would be interesting to know more background about Carrie’s family. The book also mentioned that Carrie doesn’t know her biological father but never elaborated much on this. Yet, I loved the ending because there was a lot of closure.
The ending answered most of my questions and left me in a good mood. I also love that this book pointed out flaws in advertisement and how images are misleading and touched up. The book had a strong positive message about body image as well. I feel like the author did achieve her purpose in writing this book and provided a positive and inspiring tone. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, and I think it is a great book for teenage girls to read.
