love in the time of serial killers or how to negatively portray your plus-sized character

centering on her weight. In books, plus-sized protagonists are often worried that their love interest isn’t interested in them because of their weight. Alicia Thompson, the author who wrote Love in the Time of Serial Killers, likely thought that she was crafting a positive and edgy protagonist. The problem with her approach is that she wrote Phoebe as a character who constantly must defend herself from what others think, especially about her weight. This is a trend I’ve seen recently, mostly in romance novels. A well-written plus-sized character wouldn’t constantly remind us of their size because most people don’t remind us of their size. People of all shapes and sizes exist, and they all have different interests and hobbies. They also have different insecurities, but they rarely bring them up as often as Phoebe brought up her weight. Well-written characters can focus on their other qualities instead of constantly discussing their weight. Alicia Thompson quickly threw away Phoebe's character's potential by making her a negative character. I would have loved to read about a true crime-obsessed heroine who falls for a guy she thinks is a serial killer, and maybe someday I will. The best thing about Love in the Time of Serial Killers is the cover