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taralpittman's review against another edition
4.0
If you, like me, are disgusted by our society’s obsession with all things diet, weight loss and body image, Waisted is a fun riff on extreme weight loss reality television. This novel reminded me of my experience of both The Book of Essie and The Favorite Sister; if you enjoyed either of those, you should definitely give Waisted a try!
sarahreadsinin's review against another edition
5.0
The first sentence of this book was so powerful, it took my breath away. I had to set down the book for a bit and mull things over. As a woman struggling with weight and loving myself, I feel like I was destined to win this ARC. It perfectly hits where I am in my personal journey right now.
The story is told from two points of view, Alice and Daphne, although there are other major characters. We get to see some backgrounds into their relationships with food and what drives them to enlist in Privation, which sounds similar to The Biggest Loser, except more humiliating for the all-female participants.
The story in interesting and well written, I really wanted everyone to succeed and learn to love themselves in a way that I haven’t mastered yet. The characters are believable, and I think that no matter their size, every woman will see parts of themselves in Alice and Daphne.
The last few chapters were divine. The characters grow and change. They want to be better but are still flawed.
My biggest disappointment with the book was how the characters’ weights and bodies were described. I’m a similar height and weight to Daphne, and she was described as having a Joe Namath-type back. I immediately googled him and started feeling self conscious about a body part that I hadn’t thought of before. But that’s on me, and my insecurities, and not the author.
I will definitely be reading more by Ms. Meyers. This book was wonderful.
The story is told from two points of view, Alice and Daphne, although there are other major characters. We get to see some backgrounds into their relationships with food and what drives them to enlist in Privation, which sounds similar to The Biggest Loser, except more humiliating for the all-female participants.
The story in interesting and well written, I really wanted everyone to succeed and learn to love themselves in a way that I haven’t mastered yet. The characters are believable, and I think that no matter their size, every woman will see parts of themselves in Alice and Daphne.
The last few chapters were divine. The characters grow and change. They want to be better but are still flawed.
My biggest disappointment with the book was how the characters’ weights and bodies were described. I’m a similar height and weight to Daphne, and she was described as having a Joe Namath-type back. I immediately googled him and started feeling self conscious about a body part that I hadn’t thought of before. But that’s on me, and my insecurities, and not the author.
I will definitely be reading more by Ms. Meyers. This book was wonderful.
energyrae's review against another edition
4.0
Alice has struggled with her weight throughout the years. She struggles to find her place in the world where she feels she has a lot of things to over come. While her father is black, her mother is white and she raised Alice to understand her culture, to give her a piece of who she was because she wasn't able to. While she didn't feel the pressure from her parents about her weight, she did feel smothered. After a horrible breakup, she was at her lowest weight. Skinnier than ever she met her husband Clancy and he has let her know he doesn't find her attractive with all the extra weight. I'm not sure how I feel about Clancy, because to me, he treats Alice poorly. He doesn't really help her in her weight loss goals, and he's a bit controlling.
Then we have Daphne. Her husband Sam loves her for who she is and to everyone that meets him, he's pretty close to sainthood. Daphne's mother is the source for a lot of her angst. Daphne could never be thin enough for her, and the constant jabs are more hurtful than anything. Daphne's daughter especially doesn't treat her the greatest. But Daphne's desire to raise her daughter the opposite of how her mother raised her, might be causing more harm than good.
These two women meet when they sign up for a program called Waisted. They know they're going to be filmed for a documentary, and they signed away their rights to being recorded. But things go from bad to worse. They are humiliated and verbally abused. They are being given pills that they have no idea what is in them. While they are losing weight, it's not in a healthy way, despite the fact there is a doctor in the building. As Daphne and Alice's friendship grows, they decide to find out what is going on with their trainers.
I liked Alice and Daphne and I felt bad for their struggles. There were some great supporting characters such as Daphne's mom because she made a really good bad mother. Hania, another woman in the program, was a good character though I would have loved to see her developed more before she teamed up with our two main characters.
Overall, Waisted was a fun read, there were moments where your heart broke for the characters and then other moments where you were cheering the women on. Their struggles with weight were portrayed well and I think accurately. Anyone that struggles with their weight has a constant internal dialogue, and I think that Meyers did a great job in portraying this in the characters. I liked Alice's fighting spirit and I think she was a great character to carry the book. Nicely done.
Then we have Daphne. Her husband Sam loves her for who she is and to everyone that meets him, he's pretty close to sainthood. Daphne's mother is the source for a lot of her angst. Daphne could never be thin enough for her, and the constant jabs are more hurtful than anything. Daphne's daughter especially doesn't treat her the greatest. But Daphne's desire to raise her daughter the opposite of how her mother raised her, might be causing more harm than good.
These two women meet when they sign up for a program called Waisted. They know they're going to be filmed for a documentary, and they signed away their rights to being recorded. But things go from bad to worse. They are humiliated and verbally abused. They are being given pills that they have no idea what is in them. While they are losing weight, it's not in a healthy way, despite the fact there is a doctor in the building. As Daphne and Alice's friendship grows, they decide to find out what is going on with their trainers.
I liked Alice and Daphne and I felt bad for their struggles. There were some great supporting characters such as Daphne's mom because she made a really good bad mother. Hania, another woman in the program, was a good character though I would have loved to see her developed more before she teamed up with our two main characters.
Overall, Waisted was a fun read, there were moments where your heart broke for the characters and then other moments where you were cheering the women on. Their struggles with weight were portrayed well and I think accurately. Anyone that struggles with their weight has a constant internal dialogue, and I think that Meyers did a great job in portraying this in the characters. I liked Alice's fighting spirit and I think she was a great character to carry the book. Nicely done.
bethreadsandnaps's review against another edition
2.0
I thought I would enjoy this one more. Our two main characters (who I’d mix up) go away to a Biggest Loser type camp, and it turns out they were treated horribly (aren’t all participants in weight loss shows treated horribly?). They break out of the show and go back home. I’m not sure the second half explored how their home environments were so challenging to keep up the weight loss.
I don’t know, this one wasn’t nearly as compelling as I thought it would be.
I don’t know, this one wasn’t nearly as compelling as I thought it would be.
mariho06's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tessa_grayreading's review against another edition
2.0
I really disliked one of the voice actresses so I'm sure this is actually better than what I'm going to say here because I sometimes was so overwhelmed by my annoyance of that voice actresses lack of voice that I wasn't listening.
But also this is incredibly boring. Straight women with children and marriage issues, what a concept.
I really enjoyed the parts that were about the women coming to terms with themselves and becoming friends and kicking ass and the way society/family/they themselves treated each other and themselves for being fat. I liked the talk about food and relation to food and all that but we constantly had to go back to this shit I could not care less about: children, husbands and the sex life. It didn't matter, none of all this shit I had to listen to actually mattered in the big scheme of this book so why did I have to listen to it? It really annoys me because those parts actually took up so much time that we could have spent with more character growth or more focus on the actual point of this book: fatshaming and what it does to people. Instead we get endless tirades (such as this one) about stupid kids and even worse husbands and everyone being butthurt. Why??
I also liked the commentary on racism and privilege and the likes but I would have wished for a little less tell and a little more show. Considering we had aaaall this time to spent on husbands and sex, we definitely should have had time for some interactions that would have made all that tell more show (and therefore more understandable for everyone).
In conclusion, this book had its moments. I don't think it's worth those moments with all the annoying shit you have to go through to get there.
But also this is incredibly boring. Straight women with children and marriage issues, what a concept.
I really enjoyed the parts that were about the women coming to terms with themselves and becoming friends and kicking ass and the way society/family/they themselves treated each other and themselves for being fat. I liked the talk about food and relation to food and all that but we constantly had to go back to this shit I could not care less about: children, husbands and the sex life. It didn't matter, none of all this shit I had to listen to actually mattered in the big scheme of this book so why did I have to listen to it? It really annoys me because those parts actually took up so much time that we could have spent with more character growth or more focus on the actual point of this book: fatshaming and what it does to people. Instead we get endless tirades (such as this one) about stupid kids and even worse husbands and everyone being butthurt. Why??
I also liked the commentary on racism and privilege and the likes but I would have wished for a little less tell and a little more show. Considering we had aaaall this time to spent on husbands and sex, we definitely should have had time for some interactions that would have made all that tell more show (and therefore more understandable for everyone).
In conclusion, this book had its moments. I don't think it's worth those moments with all the annoying shit you have to go through to get there.
heatherj818's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jmbatty's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the characters but found it very hard to connect with the story even though I am SO the target demographic for this book. The writing was very uneven- good in some places, but choppy in others.
jeanneblasberg's review against another edition
4.0
This story goes deep into the modern woman’s psyche around body image and weight. It is an important book that at once is a battle cry as well as a testament to the fact that we are not alone in our crazy thoughts and obsessions. It tackles important issues around race and friendship and the power of our families to do the most damage.