Review: B as in Beauty

B as in Beauty by Alberto Ferreras

Everyone in the world, it seems, is either prettier or thinner (or both) than Beauty Marie Zavala. And the only thing "B" resents more than her name is the way others judge her for the extra 40 pounds she can't lose. At least she has her career. Or did, until she overhears her boss criticizing her weight and devising a scheme to keep her from being promoted. Enter B's new tax accountant, a modern-day matchmaker determined to boost B's flagging self-esteem by introducing her to rich, successful men who will accept her for who she is. As B's confidence blossoms, so do her fantasies of revenge. But will B find true happiness or true disaster when she unwittingly falls for the one guy she shouldn't?

Reviewed by: Sandra Lopez, author of Esperanza
Rating:

Review:"B" is someone we can all relate to. She is all of the above and more--a woman who is not happy in her own skin; a woman whose body is not accepted by "skinny" society; a woman who is the "Mexican Burro" at her job (the only one who does any real work;) and, finally, like many of us, she is a woman desperately trying to climb up the corporate ladder for a better salary, a better lifestyle, a better everything.

I liked "B." She was a funny, sassy broad that told it like it was. You can't help but feel bad for her at the way she gets treated because of her weight. No dates, no promotion, no reason to even be seen in the world. But then, suddenly, being a "comfort provider" for a select clientele awakens a new-found confidence in "B" that makes her see herself for the very first time. As the story progresses, we get to experience the kinds of clients she meets. Most of them were just plain weird; some were even kind of nasty. Reading this book made it feel like I was reading the diary of a "fat chick"--where I learned all about her hopes, fears, and insecurities about her self-image.

By the end, I felt that "B" learned a great lesson we should all incorporate: "Change the things you can't accept; and accept the things you can't change."

Overall, I enjoyed the laid-back writing style that you easily fall into. It was simple and straight-forward, although sometimes the writer tended to go off tangent in the story by explaining useless things like the Greek philosophy from high school. As I was reading this book, I couldn't help but feel impressed that a man could write "chick lit" with such precision and accuracy. Usually, men don't understand women. But Alberto Ferreras could. Way to go, man!