Fat & Disabled Book Rec!
Why I gave Laurel Holl's SPARKS WILL FLY five stars
July is Disability Pride Month and I’m tickled pink to have a fabulous book recommendation for you that deals with disability and fatness. Laurel Holl (on IG and Threads as at laurelhollbooks) has written a delightful nerdy romance full of beautiful and realistic representation of fatness and disability.
Sparks Will Fly is a nerdy sports romance about Mari Williams, a gorgeous fat woman with pink-and-purple hair and a pink cane which helps her deal with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). (Oh, and don’t forget the pink leather jacket!) Mari has a passion for bot fighting.
That’s right, you heard me—bot fighting. Do you remember the opening scene of Disney/Pixar’s Big Hero 6? Refresh your memory here—
Well, Sparks Will Fly centers around robotic showdowns. It’s not cartoonish, but it is very nerdy. Which is definitely up my alley.
I have to admit, I was not prepared for the premise when I started the book. Honestly, the book cover is hella hot and I was in when I learned about the fat and disability representation. That’s what kept me going through the initial pages, but by page 10—I was hooked! I have never been so invested in robotics before!
Mari faces a lot of challenges in her life, hEDS being one of the most constant. She practically raised her little sister, and she has been dealt some blows—her dad has had his own disabling event, and her mom abandoned their family. Bot fighting is a constant in her life, though, bringing her joy and purpose. But when that is compromised?
Of course, it’s a romance novel, so there’s love—or is that hate?—in the air when she encounters her nemesis, Jacob Moore. Who also happens to be super attractive and really good at bot fighting. They’ve gone up against each other a lot and are currently tied.
Mari and Jacob’s chemistry is what kept me going, even after I was invested in the bot fighting.
There’s so much to love in this book. For starters, the book cover—swoon!—gives a great image for the mental playground of living in the book’s world. The writing is crisp and compelling. The way Laurel Holl writes both disability and fatness sincerely moved me. And it’s pretty steamy, which doesn’t hurt. 👀 And the story is simply delightful.
It definitely earned FIVE STARS from me and I’m telling everybody about it on Threads! Who wouldn’t want to read a plus-size FMC with a smart and swoony MMC who knows how to use a 3D printer for disability purposes?!
You can get your copy through Kindle Unlimited or a physical copy through Laurel Holl’s website: https://laurelholl.com/ (She has links on there for several bookstores.)
When you read it, make sure to let me know what you think!
Peace to you, and happy Disability Pride Month!
~Amanda
So excited for this one!!!
I don't see total fat representation here; the male protagonists in these romance novels featuring fat female protagonists always have the bodies of underwear models. I'm waiting for one of these books to feature a gorgeous hot woman with a conventionally attractive body swooning over a fat man--who's also half bald and a few inches shorter than her. I've yet to see this representation on the cover of these books.