Book Review: ‘Plus-Sized Elf’ by Synecdoche (I read it so you don’t have to)

‘Plus-Sized Elf' is one of those titles that you see and can't quite forget. I spotted this manga on a trip to London; caught it nestled within the “mature” section in Forbidden Planet.

The title was an immediate attention-grabber, and the covers for the series are bright and fun, and naturally feature what is to be believed as a “plus-sized” elf.

Someone else must have also had their curiosity piqued because volume 1 was unavailable. Alas.

Flash forward to me popping into a different Forbidden Planet and curiously browsing… and there it was!

I knew nothing good was going to come from this read. For one, the characters on the front were not plus-sized. They looked healthy to me. Perhaps they could “pinch an inch”, to use that abhorrent phrase, but it’s not the 90s anymore. We’ve moved on. It wasn’t ok then, it’s not ok now.

I was hoping, perhaps naively, that the story or character development would make up for it.

Nope.

The characters are weak. There is no story, save for one man stumbling across mythical creatures who need to lose weight to be able to get home?

At best, it lacks direction. At worst, it’s downright fat phobic.

Usually with these reviews I can see the fun side to the read. There’s something silly or wild that just lets me suspend my disbelief long enough to not care about the faux pas so much.

The thing is with ‘Plus-Sized Elf’ is that I do believe it means well. Unfortunately, something gets truly lost in the cultural translation and instead it ends up perpetuating the idea that your self-worth comes from the way you look.

These elves and mermaids and mythical beings are shamed into losing weight (which they then mostly put back on cos they love the fast food in our realm, and who doesn’t?) and no work is put in to give it balance. There is no attempt at creating a more body positive message, especially since younger women might happen upon this book.

As someone who has struggled with their relationship with food, and their weight, and their body, I did feel a little triggered by the content and that is also something to be aware of for potential readers.

For me, I think my expectations were too high for this read. The artwork itself is good, it's a manga style that I usually enjoy, but the content truly lets it down.

I won’t be continuing with the series.

Written by Sarah