Just a Few Inches by Tara St. Pierre - Review

Title: Just a Few Inches
Author: Tara St. Pierre
Format: Paperback
Pages: 306
Rating: 4.5/5

To see my interview with Tara St. Pierre, go here!

I received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my review.

Carrie Roberts is your normal teenage girl that has something completely abnormal happen to her. She's shrinking...in height. After taking some weight loss pills to fit into a dress for the school formal, Carrie loses a little more than 'just a few inches'. Soon, Carrie finds herself shrinking almost an inch every day. The problem? She doesn't know how to stop it. The doctors don't know how to stop it. And even if they stop it, they don't know if they can reverse it. And every one starts asking the question. What if Carrie never stops shrinking?

This book was spectacular. In the beginning, I found it a little slow going. I didn't particularly like Todd and I found the small interactions between Carrie and her friends tedious at times. As for her feeling the need to lose the extra weight, that just made me mad. She's a cheerleader and is obviously popular at school with friends that care about her and her boyfriend is practically a star in the eyes of the school, yet, basically out of spite, she buys a dress she knows won't fit her, just to prove a point?! Ugh. I can understand wanting to aggravate your mortal enemy, if even a little, but ladies, please don't do harm to your bodies to prove a point, you are worth more than that and you all look beautiful.

Carrie doesn't notice that she's shrinking right away, until she notices that she's looking up at a friend she's usually level with and level with a friend she's used to looking down at. If you're like me, then you're already barely five foot tall and wouldn't notice losing another inch or two (but what I wouldn't give to have an extra three inches, eh?), but for a 5' 8'' Carrie, this is a drastic change. Carrie's shrinking puts into perspective of who her true friends are and who she really wants in her live. Once things get more serious, you start to wonder if Carrie will ever stop shrinking...but I'll leave it to the reader to figure that one out.

There's this one part near the end of the book that really showed the real danger that Carrie got herself in. Being about the size of a doll and a little sister with little friends that don't believe in people Carrie's size...you can understand how quickly things can go wrong there. My heart started pounding and I was flipping the pages so fast I thought I might rip a page. This ending is amazing and, while it scared the crap out of me, was probably my favourite part. Certainly a must read for someone looking for a fun, quick read.