OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Measure of Love" by Saundra MacKay.]

The Measure of Love by Saundra MacKay is a romance novel about a woman’s romantic entanglements and her issues with her body image. Vanessa has always been large-sized, but has been fortunate to have loving parents who always made her feel special. Jilted by her high school sweetheart Jon, she decides to go away to college and begins a successful career in Pittsburgh after that. She is best friends with another plus-sized gal, Stacie, since high school; in fact, Stacie now lives near her in Pittsburgh.

Vanessa falls into a romance with Stacie’s boyfriend’s friend Carter. Bearing the emotional scars of a rough childhood, he is aloof and Vanessa doesn’t know where she stands. When Vanessa goes home to Boston for a family wedding, she reconnects with Jon who she still has feelings for.

The story starts off in a promising way with a flashback to Vanessa’s insecurities about her weight in high school. However, I didn’t feel as connected to the character once the plot moved firmly to the present. It is never stated what type of career Vanessa has, other than that she earns a nice salary and loves her job.

The writing strikes an impersonal tone. After the flashback, Vanessa’s large size and her feelings about it are hardly mentioned until much later in the story, except for a sprinkling of awkward descriptions such as “gliding her ample figure down the stairs,” “she wrapped her large, soft arms around his neck,” and “he leaned around her large frame.” What’s ironic is that, with the scattered references about her large size, I didn’t get a good sense of Vanessa’s appearance. There is a lot of tell vs. show in this story, particularly when Vanessa mentions her insecurities. The character refers to her insecurities about her weight, but her behavior and reactions don’t match that feeling. She acts like a confident woman and doesn’t seem to have trouble attracting men.

Carter is an interesting, layered character. I cared about him because the author did a good job of creating a detailed backstory to explain his personality. His character is well developed even though he is in the distant background throughout long sections of the book. Jon’s character is less developed until later in the story, with a long flashback to the start of their high school romance. As a result, when Vanessa reconnects with him, I didn’t find him or their new relationship interesting or relatable. The flashbacks would have been more effective if they were placed right after the two had a mini-reunion at a relative’s wedding. Instead, the awkward switch to a long flashback later in the book sends the plot off on an ill-timed tangent.

The book is extremely light on dialogue and the text often contains awkward phrasing. For example, when Vanessa met her cousin Rachel at the airport, “the two almost knocked each down as they hugged each other as tightly as Vanessa’s bags, large body, and exhilaration would allow.” When she drove her cousin home, “they basked in the excitement of knowing they would be together in just a few more hours.” I don’t know about you, but I have never basked in the excitement of seeing a cousin a few hours after visiting with them. When she goes to the wedding rehearsal, she is “basking in the rising feeling of genuine happiness.” The phrase “this created the need in her to giggle” just sounds stilted. Also, the use of more dialogue might have made the characters come alive on the pages. Even when there is dialogue, it sometimes sounds unrealistic.

There is little subtlety in the writing, as every feeling and situation, no matter how minor, is overanalyzed. As a result, there isn’t much for the reader to ponder thoughtfully.

Vanessa’s issues with body image fall a bit flat. It is explained that she is so happy to be back home in Boston as her family’s love reminds her that it’s okay to be plus-sized and that everything they do makes her feel that her size doesn’t matter. That’s fine except that her feelings about her weight are not previously discussed, except for a short high school flashback. The rest of the time her feelings about her weight are not obvious at all. Her self-consciousness about her body is explored a little more in the later sections of the story, but overall I didn’t feel this topic was noticeable in the plot.

There are bright spots to be found. Vanessa and Stacie’s long-term friendship is nicely woven through the story. Jon and Vanessa’s unexpected reunion at her cousin’s wedding is sweet and heartfelt. Carter is an intriguing, relatable character although he is often relegated to the back burner. I found myself liking and rooting for both men. The last sections of the story were absorbing and led to a satisfying conclusion.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The premise of the story is good, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Ultimately, Carter and Jon were more interesting than the main character. I would recommend this story to romance readers who enjoy reading about love triangles.

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The Measure of Love
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Like bookowlie's review? Post a comment saying so!

Thank you for the well-written and insightful review.

The premise sounds interesting. Too bad it wasn't executed all that well.

Thank you. Ultimately, the ending chapters saved the book for me.

That was a very honest review. The idea of a plus-sized woman who found love and romance is inspiring.

Yes, the premise of the story is very good; the summary blurb is what drew me to the book. Unfortunately, after the first chapter's high school flashback, the main character's feelings about her size are never mentioned until the ending chapters. I thought I was reading a book about any woman''s love life.

It is hard for a character to grab you when the writing is so impersonal. This sounds like a very fair review, bookowlie. I hope the author will be able to take the time to address the issues you have mentioned.

Thanks Anonanemone (I almost called you Snoopy!). The story was disappointing because the premise had so much potential - a plus-sized woman dealing with body images issues while navigating the dating waters.

I appreciate your constructive criticism. It's all very detailed and well explained. I, too, think it has a lot of potential but based on everything that you pointed out, it doesn't seem to make the most effective use of its premise. Hopefully, the author will understand and use your comments to make her book stronger.

Thanks for the positive feedback. I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It has the potential to be a really good story.

When an author over analyzes almost everything in the book it's real annoying to me. I'm a big fan of short sentences that a lot more than big paragraphs ever can. The cover is a bit misleading no? Nicely done review bookowlie.

Thanks Leon. The constant overanalyzing of every thing dragged the pace of the story, but it was too much of a case of tell vs. show. It's nice if the reader can think about different plot points rather than have everything analyzed.

-- 14 Dec 2015, 10:54 --

Leon, not sure what you mean by a misleading cover? It depicts a woman that is not small or petite.

@bookowlie I'm looking at the cover again and I see it now. I swear she looked thinner earlier. You describe her as "large" though, why I said misleading.

I agree the woman in the photo doesn't look overweight at all.