BLOG TOUR: Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff Review

Welcome to another Traveling to Teens blog tour! This is part 2 of 2 posts for this tour.

Amazon.com:

What’s worse than being fat your freshman year?

Being fat your sophomore year.

Life used to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class, and eat and eat and eat. He’s used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazed school, or his size 48 pants.

But not anymore. Andrew just met April, the new girl at school and the instant love of his life! He wants to find a way to win her over, but how? When O. Douglas, the heartthrob quarterback and high-school legend, saves him from getting beaten up by the school bully, Andrew sees his chance to get in with the football squad.

Is it possible to reinvent yourself in the middle of high school? Andrew is willing to try. But he’s going to have to make some changes. Fast.

Can a funny fat kid be friends with a football superstar? Can he win over the Girl of his Dreams? Can he find a way to get his mom and dad back together?

How far should you go to be the person you really want to be?

Andrew is about to find out.

Food, Girls and Other Things I Can't Have is a wonderful, heartbreaking, honest, and hilarious story. It has something for everyone and it written in short chapters. I found myself wondering how I had read so much so quickly. While I don't really care for sports at all I could definitely respect Andy's journey to find himself, which included football. He's unhappy with his life and he goes out there and tries to find something new that works for him. Through this journey we meet a bunch of classmates including beautiful April and O. the star football player and Eytan the buddy Andy ditches while trying to find himself.

I loved Andy's voice, he is able to bring humor to every situation. I definitely find Andy relatable in the sense that I know what it's like to be uncomfortable in my skin or my clothes, Zadoff captures that frustration perfectly. Andy also has to deal with divorced parents and a younger sister that is much more popular than him (who I just love). The beauty of this story is he wants more for himself and goes out there and finds it.

The ending isn't what I had originally expected but it did feel right. I will point out though, that the ending was wrapped up much to quickly, leaving me with several questions and providing a transition that could have been a lot smoother in my opinion. But overall I great story! I can't wait to see what Zadoff comes up with next!

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have was released September 8th
Genre: Young Adult
4.5/5 Stars
ARC from book swap