Author: Erin Jade Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children
Publication Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
A lonely obese boy everyone calls "Butter" is about to make history. He is going to eat himself to death-live on the Internet-and everyone is invited to watch. When he first makes the announcement online to his classmates, Butter expects pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn't go through with his plans?
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Butter is an obese teenager who’s been bullied throughout his high school life. His real name is obviously not Butter but students in his school call him that way because of a bullying incident and the name sticks ever since. One day he encounters a web page which basically is a superlative-type list of the students at his school. Realizing that he’s only being known as an obese kid nicknamed Butter, he decided to create a website called Butter’s Last Meal in which he will live stream his attempt to eat himself to death. The reaction that he gets is not what he expected. The popular kids in his school turn to cheer him and even give him an honorary spot at the school’s cafeteria table. As the date gets nearer, Butter starts questioning his suicide plan.
You think I eat a lot now? That's nothing. Tune in December 31st, when I will stream a live webcast of my last meal. I can't take another year in this fat suit, but I can end this year with a bang. If you can stomach it, you're invited to watch...as I eat myself to death.
This book was added to my TBR list after I saw it being recommended by a book tuber for the Bullying Awareness and Prevention week. I’m always up to reading books about bullying. Although I’m a little hesitant because of the eating disorder aspect in it. I’m not going to lie, there are times when I struggle with my body image so I’m not sure how I’m going to react to the story this book has to tell.
The main character of this book is Butter. Interestingly enough, his real name is not revealed until the end of this book. As if to emphasis how he’s only seen as his nickname and not his other qualities. Because Butter is actually talented at playing saxophone. However, Butter is not an optimist and has quite a bad attitude towards others. Instead of seeing things from both perspectives and do some self reflection, he likes to see himself as a victims and blame others. Even one of his genuine friend told him so. At the start of this book I don’t like Butter. The way the author describes his binge eating disgusted me and his mother is such an enabler it makes me feel frustrated. Then as the story goes on and Butter’s attitude change bit by bit, he eventually grows on me.
Everything doesn’t suck, Butter. All that sucks is your attitude. If you just stop expecting perfection from everyone and everything, you might see the good stuff outweighs the bad.
What I like about this book is the ending is not as dark as the books with similar theme usually are. While I understand the objective of giving a bad outcome to this kind of books (often as a cautionary tale), it’s nice to get a little breather after the depressing stuff happening throughout the book. If you’re not triggered by the eating disorders and suicidal thoughts, you can try checking this book out.
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