Review: Fat Cat - Robin Brande

Goodreads synopsis:
You are what you eat. . . .

Cat is smart, sassy, and funny—but thin, she’s not. Until her class science project. That’s when she winds up doing an experiment—on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living—and eating—like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren’t too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

This funny and thoughtful novel explores how girls feel about their bodies, and the ways they can best take care of their most precious resource: themselves.
 

 
Review:
I saw this book recommended on Meg Cabot's blog.  Since I am a massive fan of hers I obviously had to get hold of a copy to see what all the fuss was about.  What amused me a lot when I was reading this is that the book seems so much like somthing Meg herself would write.  But that's also one of the things I loved about this book!
 
And loved it I did!!!
 
The story centres on Cat, a high school teenager who just happens to be fat.  She decides to conduct a scientific experiment on herself, to see if she can go prehistoric, following the lifestyle and eating habits of early humans.  That involves not eating anything with additives or unnecessary sugars and not using electrical items.  Along the way, Cat finds herself becoming hot and the object of a lot of attention from the opposite sex but has it also made her happy?
 
This book was amazingly good.  Throughout each chapter Cat records the results of her experiment and we gradually see how her project is also changing her life.  I thought that the issue of weight and health-eating was handled very sensitively (but also in a funny way) by Brande, which is quite difficult when it's a tricky subject for a lot of teenage girls.  We get to see the affect that her weight loss is also having not just on Cat, but also her best-friend, family, boys and the people around her.
 
This book is funny, witty, amusing...I could go on forever!  Cat's voice and feelings are articulated so clearly that it almost feels like your best friend having a conversation with you or telling you a story.  It was so enjoyable, that I know I'm definitely going to be rereading it over and over again.
 
I want to read more by Robin Brande now and if they're all as good as this then she's got herself one big fan!