Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Contemporary
Published: May 21, 2019 🆕
Pages: 288
Thank you to the author and publisher and especially GetRedPr for the complimentary review copy!
My Thoughts
This title was timely, shocking and an eye-opening read for any woman of any size or color. It was thoughtful and honest and should be required reading for young women even if they’re not struggling with their weight.
The first half of the book is the Fat Camp and I had a hard time with the cruelty and shaming and the pain and debasement the women experienced. It felt like I was watching a sad and mean reality show. It was over the top and had horrible “competitions” and unrelenting and demeaning coaches. (We learn the justification later on.)
Alice and Daphne both struggle with self esteem and negative self talk, marriage problems and families that don’t support them. They are desperate and unhappy and ready to do anything.
There was a lot happening in the second half of the book after they “escaped”. The women have formed strong friendships and want to maintain their weight loss. They don’t want the humiliating video footage to be released. They are getting so much attention for being thin yet it’s changing them in ways they didn’t expect. Their husbands and children don’t seem to understand what they endured.
Another 2019 book that deals with eating disorders was “The Girls at 17 Swann Street” which was emotional and surprisingly moving (here’s my review). This title was much different in the tone and pacing, yet also contains an important message.
About the Book
In this provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling novel, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers.
Alice and Daphne, both successful and accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work—and everything else of importance in their lives. Scales terrify them.
Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, learned only slimness earns admiration at her mother’s knee. Alice, break-up skinny when she met her husband, risks losing her marriage if she keeps gaining weight.
The two women meet at Waisted. Located in a remote Vermont mansion, the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss, and Alice, Daphne, and five other women are desperate enough to leave behind their families for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The catch? They must agree to always be on camera; afterward, the world will see Waisted: The Documentary.
The women soon discover that the filmmakers have trapped them in a cruel experiment. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability…until they decide to take matters into their own hands.
About The Author
Randy Susan Meyers is the bestselling author of Waisted, Accidents of Marriage, The Comfort of Lies, The Murderer’s Daughters, and The Widow of Wall Street. Her books have twice been finalists for the Mass Book Award and named “Must Read Books” by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. She lives with her husband in Boston, where she teaches writing at the Grub Street Writers’ Center.
QOTD: Have you read this author’s other books? Favorites?
Want more reviews? Click here!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using this link. Thank you for supporting this blog and the books I recommend! I may have received a book for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Follow OrangeCountyReaders on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support Us on Ko-Fi and Amazon. And please, feel free to leave a comment!
The OC Book Girl 