Girl, Ultra Processed

YA contemporary own voice author Amara Sage’s first novel, Influential was longlisted for the Branford Boase Award. It put the influencer culture of social media under the microscope exposing its flaws. Her new book is an incisive look at body image exposing the toxicity of dieting culture, the danger of dating apps and the pitfalls of AI. Promoting the idea of the body beautiful and being true to yourself, it follows the fortunes of conflicted teen Saffron whose self-loathing leads to some unwise choices.

Structured in a diary format, and integrating text speak, from December to June, Girl, Ultra Processed is aimed at students of university age who are facing life changing decisions. Incorporating themes of problematic parents, racial identity, troubled friendships, toxic masculinity, the red flags of dating, the importance of self-esteem, a positive attitude to sex, online makeup tutorials, fashion and cookery fusion, it explores the difference between online personas and reality.

Sage asks challenging questions exploding the myths of dieting pills, injections and slimming programmes, arguing that to be thin should not be equated with being happy. She looks at the conflicting attitudes of Saffron who wants to be her AI version of herself, Sydney, and her friends Poppy and Freya who are facing their own demons. Meanwhile, Toby and Jack are different ends of the dating spectrum. Who has psychologically damaged her and who truly cares that she is herself? Can she discover where she belongs?

While Girl, Ultra Processed deals with important issues in society and captures the law of attraction and what it is like looking for a new place to call home, it has a convoluted catfishing plot which diminishes its overall impact. Packed with diverse and lively characters, it will appeal to fans of YA fiction that exposes the shallowness of living online and celebrates the power of self-expression.