The Shape of You

De: Felice Stevens

Narrado por: Nick J. Russo

Duración: 6 h y 45 m

Resumen del Editor

All his life Eric Sontag has judged himself on his size, believing love and friendship aren't in the cards for someone like him. Tired of being alone and scared of his doctor’s warnings, he enrolls in a nutrition support group, determined to change his life. When a beautiful thin man sits next to him, he can’t believe they have anything in common, but conversation between the two soon proves first impressions aren’t always what they seem.

©2017 Felice Stevens (P)2017 Felice Stevens

I love this narrator

I think the "fat" shaming was way OTT. He is 6'3" and wears an extra large. That is not fat. I did like the story of them working thru their eating issues together and falling in love.

The Shape of you

I read this book because it had to do with weight problems and found other problems that lined up with me as well. I normally wouldnt have listened to this book. Im not gay but have guy family member in my family which I love very much.Thank you for this book it has help me under stand a lot about myself. G.Rahn. Oct 5th 2017

Love The Story

I have so enjoyed the story and the narrator is one of my favorites.

Great story

Love, sex, good feels and a bit if angst.... Add Nick J Russo and you have a winner winner chicken dinner! Highly recommend.

as great as the ebook

The story is always full stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. Nick J Russo is one of the top 5 narrators for me, I can listen without break and have no problems to follow.
I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Highly Recommend

I like how real this books was in regards to address weight... and the romance between the two characters was very sweet.

I LOVE THIS BOOK

THIS BOOK WILL MAKE U CRY AND MAKE U LOL IT HAS FUN TIMES AND HARD TIMES IT IS ONW OF THE BEST THIS YEAR FOR ME AT LEASE I USED MY CREDIT ON IT AND IT WAS WORTH IT .

We all come in different shapes but want love

This is the second time I’ve listened to this audiobook by Felice Stevens, narrated by Nick J. Russo. They are two of my favourites and together they have created a great book.

This story joins N.R. Walker’s ‘The Weight of it All’ and Cardeno C’s ‘Not a Game’ as one of the great books that use humour to address a fairly serious topic—weight.

Women have struggled, pretty much since…I don’t know…sugar and chocolate being introduced? The Industrial Revolution? All time? Weight shaming has also been around forever as well. In fact, in some instances, it is still considered acceptable to ridicule a fat person (often under the guise of ‘encouraging’ them to lose weight and become healthy).

Men also face these issues, but their battles are often ignored or minimized. Many of the psychological issues that drive women to seek comfort in food are the same for men – depression, loneliness, family drama, stress, pain, too little time to eat healthy, and more.

One scene in particular spoke to me. Eric has to get on a busy subway during rush hour. He is harangued by a guy for taking up too much space. I’ve been there. Less of the verbal abuse, but more of the ‘Oh, God, please don’t let that fat woman sit next to me’ looks. Or even worse, when I sit next to someone and the other person sighs heavily, snickers, or even gets up and moves. For the record, the subway seats are so small that even the smallest and thinnest people have to touch – but often I’m treated like I have a contagious disease. In my mind, I say ‘you think this is bad? You should have seen me when I was 125lbs heavier – you’re getting off easy…’ Then I deride myself for still being fat. Not as fat as I was, but still not what most people would see as ‘acceptable’.

So I understand why Eric is so upset that when he sees fresh-baked crullers, he reaches for one or two. As so often happens, the guilt that follows is overwhelming and the temporary comfort is gone, leaving acute shame.

However…

Eric gets a buddy in his journey to learn better eating habits. He meets Corey on the first day of a nutrition class. He’s surprised and wary when Corey proposes they be partners because the only thing Eric sees they have in common is being gay.

Corey is gorgeous. Thin, attractive, and perfect. Eric knows that Corey is out of his league and can’t figure out why the other man is even in the class.

Eric has the same blind spot that many people do – you can never be too thin or too rich. Well, Corey might not be rich, but he is too thin. In fact, his job is on the line if he doesn’t start taking care of his health, eat nutritiously, and gain weight. There are people who fight with being underweight. They may be anorexic, have an illness, a psychological issue with food, or even just be unable to gain weight (yes, this is a thing – I have a friend who struggled to gain weight for years).

Corey’s history, slowly revealed, shows why he battles with food. Eric’s relationship with food and its associations is also addressed, evoking strong emotions from me as I could relate to his pain.

Eric and Corey bond over the need to get healthy. They become a duo in both the mission and in romance. And although the sex – when they finally are willing to admit to the attraction – is hot and the men are physically attracted to each other, it was the emotional intimacy that gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. To be loved and accepted is powerful. To be with someone willing to support you through a painful period of transformation is amazing. These men want each other to succeed yet both have moments of doubt—that they are capable of change as well as whether the other man really loves him. The end result is a happy couple who have beaten the odds.

Sometimes it’s not the number on the scale, but the happiness in your heart. Both men will always have food issues, but each now has a partner who will support and love him through all of life’s up and downs.

I did note that although Corey’s past was confronted, there was room for another story about Eric dealing with his. (Short story, anyone?)

There were moments of levity in the book, for sure, but it was the poignant moment at the end, when Corey gave Eric a special gift, that really cemented the book and the men in my life.

Loved it.

Unique take on body image

There isn't a lot going on in this story - at it's heart it's two guys learning to love themselves and someone else. We do get to explore body dysmorphia from the standpoint of both(?) sides of the spectrum. I thought that was great! We don’t always realize that body image cuts both ways, and – maybe especially for men? – there is a lot of pressure to be big as well as fit.

Both MCs are fascinating and I enjoyed their chemistry as well as the time we spent with them by themselves.

I think that if we’d spent more time – especially with Corey – on the emotions behind the men’s eating issues this story would have had more substance and been a little more complete. As it was, things are solved fairly easily and we get a lot of very sweet feelz, but not as much emotional depth.

I enjoyed this very much and thought it was a great, unique path for our MCs to explore.


Story 3 of 5 stars


I admit I picked this up because Nick J Russo narrated it. I just love him and since I’m a fan of the author, I figured it’d be good – at the very least.

What I like about Nick’s narrations is that he’s just so easy to listen to. I love the quality and tone of his voice and I know he always delivers when it comes to proper pronunciation, timing and emotional quality.

As usual he did a fantastic job and I think this is the best way to enjoy this story.

Audio 5 of 5 stars

Overall 4 of 5 stars

a breath of fresh air

I had a great time!

I was hoping for I feel good Romance, but I wasn't expecting Focus on body issues. I spent my childhood dealing with being on the scrawny and of things. It has taken several years of weight training before I also discovered most of what is holding me back was in my head and that I wasn't eating enough. I enjoyed seeing my end of the spectrum represented for a change! watching Eric come out of his shell and become such a solid will home person was pretty hot. His stubborn tenacity and practical logic towards the food journal, and everything, is inspiring.