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A review by brooke_review
Waisted by Randy Susan Meyers
2.0
When I read the summary for Randy Susan Meyers' new book Waisted, I imagined a sharp and witty satire about the struggles women go through to project a perfect image of themselves, which most often enough boils down to how they feel about their bodies. The addition of the "fat camp-reality show" hybrid was the sprinkles on my sundae - I was looking forward to relating to and laughing along with these women in their ambitious attempts to achieve a body that is "acceptable" to society. I soon learned, however, that Waisted is not the book I was expecting to read. Not even close.
The biggest issue I had with Waisted is that what drew me in - the weight loss reality show - is hardly a focus of the novel at all. It doesn't show up in any significant way until you are well into the novel and have already learned everything you could possibly ever want to know (and everything that you DIDN'T) about these characters' husbands, kids, and parents. This book is definitely more about what it means to be a "less than perfect" wife/mother/daughter than it is about a controversial weight loss documentary, and it is really unfortunate because these characters are just not interesting enough for readers to want to spend chapter after chapter after chapter reading their dull backstories.
Race also plays way too big a part in a novel that describes itself as being "provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling." There is nothing "wildly entertaining" about having a character's race issues thrown in your face every couple of pages, especially when many of her points were not even valid. Waisted takes itself way too seriously and is in stark contrast to the way it was marketed - there is a definite disconnect between the novel we got and the novel we thought we were getting.
On the other hand, I didn't entirely dislike the book. Would I have picked it up had I known that the fat camp played such a small role in the book? No. But despite the misleading synopsis, I wasn't completely disengaged from the storyline - I just would have rather have had more realistic expectations going into it, especially since I chose to read it because I was in the mood for a funny book. I can state emphatically that a funny book is not what I got. Unless mommy issues, dismissive husbands, self-hate, & caustic race relations are your thing, you may choose to pass on this one.
Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
The biggest issue I had with Waisted is that what drew me in - the weight loss reality show - is hardly a focus of the novel at all. It doesn't show up in any significant way until you are well into the novel and have already learned everything you could possibly ever want to know (and everything that you DIDN'T) about these characters' husbands, kids, and parents. This book is definitely more about what it means to be a "less than perfect" wife/mother/daughter than it is about a controversial weight loss documentary, and it is really unfortunate because these characters are just not interesting enough for readers to want to spend chapter after chapter after chapter reading their dull backstories.
Race also plays way too big a part in a novel that describes itself as being "provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling." There is nothing "wildly entertaining" about having a character's race issues thrown in your face every couple of pages, especially when many of her points were not even valid. Waisted takes itself way too seriously and is in stark contrast to the way it was marketed - there is a definite disconnect between the novel we got and the novel we thought we were getting.
On the other hand, I didn't entirely dislike the book. Would I have picked it up had I known that the fat camp played such a small role in the book? No. But despite the misleading synopsis, I wasn't completely disengaged from the storyline - I just would have rather have had more realistic expectations going into it, especially since I chose to read it because I was in the mood for a funny book. I can state emphatically that a funny book is not what I got. Unless mommy issues, dismissive husbands, self-hate, & caustic race relations are your thing, you may choose to pass on this one.
Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.