All of Me by Andrea Smith Audiobook Review

All of Me by Andrea Smith

Narrated by Alexander and Gabrielle Cendese

Standalone BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) Romcom

Beware, my review for All of Me by Andrea Smith gets a little personal. Autumn, the heroine of the story, was SO relatable to me, that this romantic comedy actually hit me in the feels more than it was supposed to.

As a size 18-20, I love reading about a heavier woman who finds love, but I am often disappointed that I can’t relate to the characters as much as I thought I would. But Autumn was my soul sister. As the youngest of three perfect, gorgeous and skinny sisters and a mom who weighs the same 118 that she did at her wedding 61 years ago, I totally got Autumn.

“As much as I preach to myself that I was happy in my own skin, my inner skinny girl was telling me different based on past experience.”

Her fraternal twin sister Summer is like a Barbie doll, and Autumn has ample curves. She may be uncomfortable in her skin, but she is very confidant in her voice. In fact, she has such a great voice, she works as a phone sex operator. When a new radio show is looking for a talk show host, she goes for it.

I know that feeling so well…feeling inferior at something you know you’re good at because of your weight. It’s so rare to find a book that just understands, and All of Me totally did.

When Dirk Sexton, the station owner, hires her, one of her selling points was that he wouldn’t think with his dick about her; Autumn wasn’t the manwhore asshole’s type. When he saw her out to lunch with her sister, he went right for the gorgeous one, Summer, and starts dating her even when he realizes he doesn’t really like her. Ugh, I so get this. Guys I am into would tell me how gorgeous my sister is all the time.

But the more Dirk got to know Autumn…

“I wanted to throw her across my lap and spank the sass right out of her.”

She was sassy! You never feel sorry for her or anything, you just get her. I was listening to All of Me on my way to my final divorce hearing, and it really just got me emotional because I just related so much. Especially when “Tillie” called in to the show.

“Autumn, I just want to say I’ve been where you are ever since I was in grade school. Body shaming by others, including my family was rampant. My own mother had me on every trendy diet ever invented, and it irrevocably damaged my own self-image. Having said that, I think maybe you need to consider the fact that not everyone judges you by your body or your looks. You are so beautiful. Don’t doubt yourself, and don’t doubt those who see the truth. That is all.”

I needed that quote so much that I’m printing it out to keep near me.

By the way, Dirk (despite his name) won me over in the end and got over his shallow, manwhore ways.

Likes:

One of the most relatable heroines ever.
Made me laugh and cry.
I loved how close the sisters were, despite the physical differences.
Just enough angst to keep it interesting.
A unique storyline.

Dislikes:

I didn’t have anything specific story-wise.
I think the cover needs some work.

The Narration:

The past books I have listened to by Alexander Cendese and especially Gabrielle Cendese I have loved. But I have to be honest here, while I love that Alexander throws himself into the part, I feel he overacted a bit in this performance and it began to get on my nerves. She was great.

The Down & Dirty:

All of Me by Andrea Smith was one of the few curvy heroine books where I related to the heroine. Many don’t mention the weight enough, many have heroines that rock their curves with confidence, many have the heroine lose weight. But All of Me had a heroine who understood that her weight played a part in every facet of her life and addressed it head-on. I have an obsession with feeling like I don’t fit in because of my size. I love how All of Me by Andrea Smith made me look beyond that in myself, and see that I am more than just my size. Thank you Andrea for that; I just hope it sticks!