Holding Up the Universe

Product Information

My name is Libby Strout. You’ve probably heard of me. You’ve probably watched the video of me being rescued from my own house. At last count, 6,345,981 people have watched it, so there’s a good chance you’re one of them. Three years ago, I was America’s Fattest Teen. I weighed 653 pounds at my heaviest, which means I was approximately 500 pounds overweight. I haven’t always been fat. The short version of the story is that my mom died and I got fat, but somehow I’m still here. This is in no way my father’s fault. Gorgeously written and oh-so-deeply felt - Nicola Yoon, author of Everything Everything and The Sun is Also a Star

Like ”The way I feel when I’m with her. Like I just swallowed the sun and it’s shooting out of every pore.” I’m sorry im not explaining this well but im just very, very confused bc its like the book doesn’t even know what direction its trying to take But then I see her. Libby Strout. She’s lowered from the ceiling by a crane, larger than life, larger than anyone, and she’s the only one with a face. I issued my warning at the start of my review because I'll admit I went in hoping for another All the Bright Places, so some of my disappointment was my own unrealistic expectations. But once I gave it a fair chance, I really enjoyed Holding Up the Universe. It's a book that deserves to be read on its own merit, and although it didn't touch my heart as much as Niven's last book, it still proved Niven's tremendous talent.But like it has the feel of discussing body image but its not really and its about prosopagnosia and then its not i understand that this is a hot-button topic. i understand that niven's thinness makes this a controversy. i understand that many people were offended by all the bright places (although not nearly as many as the number of people who loved it).

but then, soon, I was bored and didn't care very much about this entire story or the characters. I even found the writing irritating It is 3:38 a.m., and the time of night when my mind starts running around all wild and out of control, like my cat, George, when he was a kitten. All of a sudden, there goes my brain, climbing the curtains. There it is, swinging from the bookshelf. There it is, with its paw in the fish tank and its head underwater. I'm sure some readers will see the decision to have such different protagonists as an indication of depth, but I truly feel like this is a very shallow book. Stereotypes and cliches abound. Dress it up however you want, but this book is about an unpopular girl who sees herself as unattractive, and a popular good-looking guy who comes to see how said girl is so much better than all those hot, evil cheerleaders he's been dating. His hot, evil girlfriend constantly fat-shames and bullies Libby, obviously, because we all know pretty popular girls are mean, shallow and have no feelings. Holding Up the Universe was an interesting and moving read with complex characters and a unique storyline. I listened the the audio version of this book and once I hit play, I didn’t want to stop. When I read All the Bright Places earlier this year, I had the same feeling of being hooked. I’m happy to report the author was able to pull this off not once, but twice.

Beautifully written, Niven has sold me on anything else YA she writes in the future. I always love when an author has a book I didn't connect with has the ability to write something different, it shows variety in her writing style. And now my heart is nowhere on earth to be found. I can see it as it bypasses the moon and the stars and goes blasting into another galaxy. A major problem I have with this authors work in general is that the characters are incredibly one dimensional. Hell, I think it'd be too complex for them to even have a favourite colour - that's how much depth they have. Like in All the Bright Places, these characters are only their physical traits or illnesses and that is extremely harmful. I know that these things can be all consuming but there's a HUGE difference between it being all consuming and it being your entire personality and story. I really enjoyed this book, way more than I thought I would. I am not a fan of All the Bright Places, it was one of those books where everyone loved it except me. But I was intrigued by this book and I liked Niven's writing style so I wanted to give it a shot. I myself am overweight, and while I am nowhere near Libby's size I could easily relate to a lot of what she was going through, even though I am an adult. High school is hard enough without adding in the fat shaming factor and I really admired her strength and tenacity when dealing with the hateful comments of others.

Gorgeously written and oh-so-deeply felt, Holding Up the Universecontains one of my favorite characters of all time! You will absolutely fall in love with Libby Strout!”—Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Everything, Everything This element is what made the book for me. She was headstrong to begin with, because she made herself be so! Though there are romantic aspects, her problems didn't magically disappear, because there was a guy in her life. But she refused to hide her true self. Moving. . . . The true heart of the tale lies in personal growth and learning to love yourself." —BookishI still can’t picture how a prosopagnosiac person sees faces. It’s confusing, and may I say, NOT DESCRIBED WELL