Review: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Summary: Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. When they were children, his fat and her terrible scars made them both outcasts. Later, although swimming slimmed Eric, she stayed his closest friend.

Now Sarah Byrnes -- the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known -- sits silent in a hospital. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she's hiding, before its dark currents pull them both under.

Marissa'a Review: First and foremost, what an incredible story! Okay so I didn't exactly know what to expect from this book when I borrowed it from the library since the blurb is pretty brief, but I am so glad I ended up picking this one up. Our main character, Eric Calhoune, has known Sarah Byrnes since they were in grade school. If theres anyone who knows Sarah Byrnes best, its Eric. Refused to be called by just her first name, Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years since her scars and his weight marked them both as outcasts in school. They were pretty much partners in crime until high school, when Eric joins the swim team. Although it seems as if they have drifted apart, Eric still considers Sarah Byrnes one of his closest friends. So one day during their senior year, he finds out that Sarah Byrnes is in the psych unit in the hospital and is not talking or responding to anyone, even to him. Eric can not believe that his strongest and closest friend who stood up to bullies and refused to let people get in her way, now is completely silent. So he decides that if anyone is going to be able to help her and figure out what she is hiding, its going to be him. While Eric tries to figure out what is wrong, he attends a class taught by his swim coach, Ms. Lemry, called Contemporary American Thought, which is a class where they discuss controversial topics in the world today such as abortion, religion, and suicide. 

This is a book that has a lot of depth to it, which is part of the reasons why I loved it so much. It has a lot more depth than I thought there was going to be and this book is full of constant plot twists that you will never see coming! Unpredictable is an understatement in this book. This book is literally like a hidden gem, which is why I was surprised when I saw that none of the people on my Goodreads friends list have read this or added this to their TBR. Of course this has changed since I made Char and Kim add it. Heh. ;)

Overall I give this one a 4.5/5.