*This isn't a review... Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas*
Hi Brats... :)
*Please Note: This is not a normal review or rant, although it was a beautifully written story and I would recommend this to every woman out there!*
I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get through this without crying like a girl *SNIFFLE*...
I've just finished Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas and it may not be filled with death or tragedy but boy oh boy it comes with its own kind of sorrow and heartbreak and *BEAUTY*... It will have you balling your eyes out but make you feel good all the same!
Synopsis:
Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two.
When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes.
When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.
Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again.
But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground.
Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.
** ** ** ** When most books make you ugly cry, its usually because your favourite character dies or because you find out about a characters tragic past. But this book had me sobbing for a completely different reason... I was 10 years old the first time I was put on a diet. Of course at 10, when someone tells you you're fat, you believe them. You just don't realise that THEIR belief about YOUR body eventually becomes your own belief too. That was the start of an 10 year obsession with my weight - I was on a new diet every month and only after the age of 14 did it become *my* choice to do it. I was the fat kid in high school and I was 15 the first time I played with an eating disorder. Boys wouldn't look at me and girls, well you know girls, they made fun. My confidence was the size of a jelly bean and as a result of that and all the teasing, I quickly became depressed. It was a struggle.I hated my body, so much so that I tortured it with my eating disorder on and off until I was 19. After a breast reduction at 19 and losing 24kg's in weight, I started a year long journey to learn how to love myself - in my own body. I have the most incredible mom who never stopped telling me how beautiful I am, but it took a while for her voice to be louder than the voice in my head. I'm almost 22 now and learn to love my body a little more each day! The main character in this story, Cat, weighed the same as I once did and I read this book *IN* her frame of mind the entire time. When she met Nate I cried, because he praised every fat roll and every bump on her body - he made her feel beautiful. When she found out that he used to be one of the people who judged people for what they look like I cried, because I know how much it sucks to be rejected for not having a certain 'type' of body - it is however a double edged sword (Which you will see when you read this book). But I flat out *UGLY CRIED* when she came to the most important realisation of all... "I was so depressed, it was starting to get hard to function. I saw a therapist, and she told me to get back into modeling - nude modeling. That's how I met Nate. But then... he hurt me. And I cried." I laughed, trying to hold back tears at that moment. " But then I got my act together, and realized that with or without him, or any guy, or any modeling gig in my life, I was just fine. I was still me, still lovable and worthy and attractive. No matter what I looked like." Cat said something else that is also rather profound, it made me realise it's not about whether or not *OTHER* people think you're worthy. Its about whether or not *YOU* think you're worthy ... "I didn't find any models for this project. Every model is me. Because this journey is mine, and I am a real woman." We are all different and we may not all have drop dead gorgeous figures (according to the status quo) but we have the bodies that are just right for US... Every woman, whether tall or short, skinny or pudgy, is BEAUTIFUL. GORGEOUS. STUNNING. The world will tell you who you are, until you tell it... <3 Thank you Alessandra, for writing this <3 (Please tell me where you're hiding Nate? I want one!! ) Tam xxx
*Please Note: This is not a normal review or rant, although it was a beautifully written story and I would recommend this to every woman out there!*
I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get through this without crying like a girl *SNIFFLE*...
I've just finished Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas and it may not be filled with death or tragedy but boy oh boy it comes with its own kind of sorrow and heartbreak and *BEAUTY*... It will have you balling your eyes out but make you feel good all the same!
Synopsis:
Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two. When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes.
When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.
Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again.
But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground.
Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.
** ** ** ** When most books make you ugly cry, its usually because your favourite character dies or because you find out about a characters tragic past. But this book had me sobbing for a completely different reason... I was 10 years old the first time I was put on a diet. Of course at 10, when someone tells you you're fat, you believe them. You just don't realise that THEIR belief about YOUR body eventually becomes your own belief too. That was the start of an 10 year obsession with my weight - I was on a new diet every month and only after the age of 14 did it become *my* choice to do it. I was the fat kid in high school and I was 15 the first time I played with an eating disorder. Boys wouldn't look at me and girls, well you know girls, they made fun. My confidence was the size of a jelly bean and as a result of that and all the teasing, I quickly became depressed. It was a struggle.I hated my body, so much so that I tortured it with my eating disorder on and off until I was 19. After a breast reduction at 19 and losing 24kg's in weight, I started a year long journey to learn how to love myself - in my own body. I have the most incredible mom who never stopped telling me how beautiful I am, but it took a while for her voice to be louder than the voice in my head. I'm almost 22 now and learn to love my body a little more each day! The main character in this story, Cat, weighed the same as I once did and I read this book *IN* her frame of mind the entire time. When she met Nate I cried, because he praised every fat roll and every bump on her body - he made her feel beautiful. When she found out that he used to be one of the people who judged people for what they look like I cried, because I know how much it sucks to be rejected for not having a certain 'type' of body - it is however a double edged sword (Which you will see when you read this book). But I flat out *UGLY CRIED* when she came to the most important realisation of all... "I was so depressed, it was starting to get hard to function. I saw a therapist, and she told me to get back into modeling - nude modeling. That's how I met Nate. But then... he hurt me. And I cried." I laughed, trying to hold back tears at that moment. " But then I got my act together, and realized that with or without him, or any guy, or any modeling gig in my life, I was just fine. I was still me, still lovable and worthy and attractive. No matter what I looked like." Cat said something else that is also rather profound, it made me realise it's not about whether or not *OTHER* people think you're worthy. Its about whether or not *YOU* think you're worthy ... "I didn't find any models for this project. Every model is me. Because this journey is mine, and I am a real woman." We are all different and we may not all have drop dead gorgeous figures (according to the status quo) but we have the bodies that are just right for US... Every woman, whether tall or short, skinny or pudgy, is BEAUTIFUL. GORGEOUS. STUNNING. The world will tell you who you are, until you tell it... <3 Thank you Alessandra, for writing this <3 (Please tell me where you're hiding Nate? I want one!! ) Tam xxx
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