In this “big-hearted triumph of a novel” (Carolyn Parkhurst, New York Times bestselling author) for fans of Jennifer Weiner, 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 … secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work–and everything else of importance in their lives.
Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, discovered early that only slimness earns admiration. 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.
But 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.
Randy Susan Meyers “spins a compelling tale” (Kirkus Reviews) and “delivers a timely examination of body image, family, friendship, and what it means to be a woman in modern society…Culturally inclusive and societally on point, this is a must-read” (Library Journal).
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I loved everything about this book. Great story with unforgettable characters dealing with something so many many women (and men) struggle with – their weight/body image. Meyers manages to be funny and heartbreaking and entertaining all at the same time. One of the best books I’ve read in 2019.
I was intrigued by the description of this novel and curious as well. I knew I had to try it. I read it all and had some positive and negative thoughts. I enjoyed the different cultures, religions and races involved in the telling. It gave the story several different perspectives.
Seven women embarked on a one month journey to lose weight. But the brochure they were given describing the experience was filled with falsehoods. It reminded me in a small way of the TV show The Biggest Loser in that the women were put through tough exercise regimens, but that’s where the similarity ended. The two main characters had background information given as to why they decided to join Waisted. One had a husband that didn’t like her fat and the other had a controlling mother that shamed her about her weight.
The humiliation, embarrassment and suffering they went through was shameful to the point that three of the seven took it upon themselves to try and expose the crew that were doing the “documentary”. They took some chances that added to the intrigue factor.
The retrospective that each of the women talked about was a positive addition to the conclusion.
My negatives had to do with some of the language used and many words that had to be looked up for me to understand the context otherwise it was an interesting way to spend an afternoon.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley but was not required to write a review.
The perfect blend of great storytelling and incisive commentary, Waisted peels back the layers of women’s feelings about their bodies, their relationships, and ultimately their self-worth. Readers will ride a tilt-a-whirl of emotions—fist pumping chief among them—as Alice and Daphne wage war on their inner demons and on the heartless filmmaker who would exploit their deepest wounds for his own gain.
This novel about the lengths women will go to in order to lose weight gave me so much to think about in terms of how I think about weight and how I can let it control my life. The idea that a number on a scale can actually change my mood is ridiculous and yet dead-on.
In this novel, Alice and Daphne go to a weight-loss retreat that is really a documentary experiment in disguise. They are shamed, put through devastating workouts on little food, and plied with pills. As difficult as it was for me to watch them go through this, I had to think, “Yeah, I might do the same.” Meyers does such a great job capturing the mindset of these women and how society views them.
There’s so much more to this novel–how race plays into body expectations; the examples we do or do not provide for our own children; family dynamics–and I’ll be thinking about it for a good long time. I think this is novel looks at some important topics but disguises them in this amazingly readable and engaging novel. I had to see how it would end! This would be an excellent book club novel as there is so much great stuff in here to discuss!
WAISTED, by Randy Susan Meyers, may just be one of the most honest books – fiction or non- to ever deal with the struggle women have in loosing weight and fitting into society’s ideal of what they should “look like.”
7 overweight, obese, struggling, and emotionally drained women enroll in what sounds like a “cure” for their obesity. With promises to not only lose weight, but to get to the root of why they struggle so, these women are willing to do anything to finally overcome the bane of their existence : their weight.
The “fat camp” they turn to in the rolling hills of Vermont isn’t exactly what’s promised on the brochure. There are a lot of spoilers here that I don’t want to give away, but suffice it to say the camp is more like a prison than the weight loss nirvana it’s promised to be.
Meyers has written a satirical, emotionally in-depth, and harsh commentary on what women are forced to endure -anything and everything, including public degradation and physical damage, – in order to try and meet society’s ideal of what a woman should look like: Model thin, never caring about food, a stick figure on the arm of a male dominated world.
Meyer’s contention that obesity and overweight syndrome is fostered by decades of family indoctrination is so true, so brutally true, that I actually cried at certain passages in the book where our protagonists’ mothers came into play.
Bitingly witting, emotionally raw, and with heroines every woman who has ever struggled with her weight can relate to, WAISTED is book I am recommending to all my girl friends, their daughters, and their mothers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance sneak peek at the book for an honest opinion on its merit. 5 well deserved stars.
‘You can never be too thin or too rich.’
This fantastic new book by Randy Susan Myers is about the goal to be thin! Utilizing her two main characters, she shows us women who allow their weight to be their determining factor about how they think the world views them and how they view themselves. Weight is more important than friends, family or jobs. As a woman who has struggled her entire life with weight issues, I can assure you that these two characters are a true reflection of how the world treats overweight women and how they subsequently treat themselves.
Daphne learned at a young age that being the only heavy daughter in her family would cause lots of criticism from her tiny mother. She has a successful profession as a make-up artist and is very giving with her talents, often helping young girls who have been burned or disfigured. She has a loving husband and two children but often feels ‘less than’ when she faces the world.
Alice is married to a film maker who values beauty and style. She was thin when they got married but since she has put on weight, she feels that her marriage is now in jeopardy. She also has a successful job and a loving family but only sees the negatives in her life due to here weight gain.
Daphne, Alice and five other women go to an extreme weight loss camp for 4 weeks. They can have no contact with their families or other friends and need to follow the rules of the organizers who will be filming them constantly to make a documentary about what their weight loss. They soon find out that they are trapped in a cruel experiment to test how far they will go to drop weight. How much will they take before they are able to fight back.
This provocative and fantastic book is a deep look at body image – both at how society treats overweight women and how overweight women treat themselves. I loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I love a book where the women come together to make things happen, let alone a good old revenge story!
Daphne & Alice go off to a place of solitude to lose weight, after they’ve both gained weight for various reasons in their own lives. There they meet five other women, and find out that everything they do is being recorded for a documentary.
But, no one there is being kind to them. From the Dietitians to the filmmakers , It was as if they are in a war against these “others”, Until the ladies take matters into their own hands.
Being overweight myself, I found it a bit disturbing at times, I was cringing!
I was definitely rooting for Daphne, Alice and the rest of the women until the very end! You will too!
Favorite Quotes:
She, along with six other substantial women, stood in the parking lot avoiding each other, as though their abundance of flesh might transfer from body to body.
“I’m in shock at the number.” Daphne refused to state the actual number. “Shock without any baseline of knowledge. I don’t know what I should weigh. Last night, watching those men and women being weighed like heifers at market, I wanted to cry.”
Mirrors engulfed them, mirrors sharper and brighter than Daphne imagined existed… Mirrors courtesy of Satan.
“Alive is a story— decades old, but true— of plane crash survivors in the Andes Mountains,” Daphne explained. “The passengers who lived survived by eating the flesh of the dead.” A week ago, Hania would have groaned in disgust. Now she looked as though she understood cannibalism.
Fat women looked more naked than normal-weighted women. Clothes made the woman. Naked made the shame.
When they learned that Susannah worked as a nursery school teacher, Daphne imagined toddlers climbing up onto her giant lap as though scaling the Matterhorn.
Daphne snuck up on the scale as if approaching it slowly would trick the machine… Like the smuggest of men, the scale mocked her.
My Review:
Oh what wickedly clever insights Randy Susan Meyers skewered me with, it was as if she has been spying from my pantry. I could have easily been a character in this book. I was blessed (overly so) with a curvaceous body shape and am a life-long expert dieter (yoyo) and as one who counts vacuuming as strenuous exercise (begrudgingly done), I saw my crazy on several pages of this revealing tale and had a fleeting worrisome thought of whether I should possibly check my home for hidden cameras. I will confess to having fervently thrown myself into countless fad diets and “lifestyle programs” as well as begged a few (numerous) doctors for the latest magic pill being advertised, all while keeping fingers crossed it will be as promised – the last one I’ll ever need. I know I’m not unique, and imagine 90% of women have suffered from similar concerns at least once in their lives.
Ms. Meyers’ narrative raised several interesting points and provided thoughtful if not a bit painfully reflective entertainment as to the extreme measures (including soul-shattering humiliation, deprivation, and degradation) that women would willingly allow being perpetrated upon them for the goal of quick weight loss. She had me there. While the plot and storylines were relevant and topical, I also deeply appreciated how this perceptive author craftily navigated the nuances and complications of racial and cultural quirks toward these issues with the use of clever wry humor and insightful observations. While many of the characters’ revelations and inner musings were markedly profound, my favorite combination of all the words used in this book was a notation of “the secret obese of France,” snort, you know there has to be at least a few hidden away.
I pre-ordered WAISTED the moment I could, and devoured it as soon as I could put together a couple of hours to read it. The subject is weight and standards of beauty, and I found a lot to empathize with–and cringe at. Loved the Daphne and Alice points of view. Different as two real women could be, but definitely destined for friendship. Relationship building between characters is something Meyers does well in all her books. A must read for any woman who eats.
How far will women go to achieve the weight loss they think will bring them happiness? This incisive story of friendship and self-esteem gets at the heart of body image with the pacing of a thriller.
This is a story that any woman who has ever struggled with weight loss and body image can relate to. Seven women meet when they all enroll in an extreme weight loss program (think TV’s “The Biggest Loser”). They agree to be filmed throughout the process and will be featured in a documentary afterwards – “Waisted: The Documentary”.
Our primary protagonists are Daphne and Alice. They are both successful working mothers with children, both obsessed with losing weight. Daphne’s mother has always badgered Daphne about her weight. After struggling through a painful relationship break-up, Alice lost a lot weight. It is while at her lowest weight ever that she meets her husband-to-be. Now she is married and putting on the weight again. Alice is now afraid she will lose her husband if she continues to gain weight. Thus, Daphne and Alice become part of the extreme weight loss program.
WAISTED lays bare the struggles women have with the cultural norms regarding their bodies and their self-worth. “How far would you go to lose weight?” Some women would do anything to fit society’s norms. Meyers creates characters that are relatable and deserving of our compassion. I was horrified by the humiliation they endured until enough was enough. Bonding together these women learned to love themselves.
Overall I enjoyed the book but did think the second half of the book just seemed too drawn out. The book does give the reader a lot to think about – cultural attitudes toward the obese, self-shaming, obsession with food and the number on the scale, what we are teaching our children about body image.
A big-hearted triumph of a novel. Meyers tackles painful truths and thorny issues while weaving a smart and engaging story about weight loss, self-acceptance and the fortifying power of female friendship.
This unflinching look at how women perceive themselves in the face of excessive weight gain is sometimes difficult to read. The author hits the nail on the head when it comes to the focus that society has on “being skinny.” I appreciated the overall message that people need to love who they are whatever weight they may be, but I wish there had been a little more focus on the “being healthy” aspect. I also wanted a better resolution to the women’s experience in Vermont. I felt that the author let that plot point go in order to focus on the self-realization of the individuals, and the end felt a rushed. There were too many times that inner dialogues stopped the action. For some more thoughts on this, visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to Atria Books (via NetGalley) for a pre-release digital ARC.
Not an easy book for me to read as I could relate to many of the issues. I love Randy Susan Meyers writing and how she is not afraid to dig into issues that cause woman to struggle. She is an author with a voice that I listen to and respect! Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy!
Two women, Alice and Daphne are successful women with nice families. They seem to have it all. There’s one thing they want that they cannot seem to attain: to be thin. They feel pressure from family, society, and even within themselves to become thin. At the end of their respective ropes, they meet for the first time at Privation, what looks like a fancy mansion tucked away in scenic Vermont. Maybe they will finally get a chance to relax and learn how to effectively and healthily lose that weight. But what they find at the Privation is far what they wanted, expected, or needed.
This book was billed as humorous, and, in the need of a change, I picked it up. I found it far from funny, that is, unless you find bulimia, ridicule, struggle, embarrassment, starvation, sadness and feelings of inadequacy funny. I admit that I did enjoy the characters very much, though. I do realize that the women’s struggle with the pressure to beautiful in today’s world is a serious dilemma. However, this one was difficult to endure in places.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Waisted should be read by every woman, no matter their size or skin color! As a woman that has always struggled with weight and body image issues, I connected with this story from the first page. Am I too fat? How do people see me? Why can I not stop at one cookie or chip instead of eating the entire bag? Will this diet work? Waisted follows Alice and Daphne on their quest to break the yo-yo cycle of dieting and food addiction. They meet at Privation, a weight loss center used to film a documentary about women and weight loss. While it all seems to be good to be true, they soon find out how far they will go to lose weight and how the weight loss affects their relationships and self image. I absolutely loved this book!!
Every single woman, every single one, has body image issues. Most feel they are too heavy but there are some that are shamed for being too skinny. This amazing book deals with body image issues and how it effects every single part of their lives. Alice and Daphne both have body image issues and they meet at Privation. The program promises quick weight loss results but things are not always what they seem. The characters in this book are so real and this is a must read for everyone who is dealing with weight and body issues. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Atria Books. All opinions are my own.
Randy Susan Meyers, Author of “Waisted” has written a unique, thought-provoking, intriguing and intense novel about women and weight loss. The Genres for this novel are fiction, and women’s fiction. The timeline is mostly in the present and goes back to the past when it pertains to the characters. The author describes her cast of characters as dysfunctional, complex, complicated and each has their own set of problems.
There is a dull joke that dates back to when my mother was young and alive, “that one can never be too thin or too rich.” In present time, most women are obsessed with the way they look, battling both the bulge and age in many ways. It would be Nobel prize worthy if someone could find a cure to keep us young or thin forever. Randy Susan Meyers has written a novel about women, different ages, colors, different physical characteristics looking for a way to get thin.
Alice and Daphne are both mothers, and are obsessed with their self-worth and body image and relation to the scale. Often that seems to be there biggest worry. The two meet at Privation, a weight loss program that promises a quick way to lose the extra pounds. Part of the program is that it is to be filmed as a documentary,”Waisted: The Documentary”. There are several other women who also are in this program.
Little do the women realize how they will be shamed, demeaned, demoralized and abused by the staff. It seems that the staff is trying to see how far that the women will go to lose weight whatever happens. There is no regard for the women’s mental or physical health. Some women are given what are called vitamins, that clearly are not vitamins.
These women become a sisterhood of women determined to escape, and get their revenge.
I appreciate that the author describes the importance of adult behavior on children, and also discusses the importance of self-worth, self-acceptance, sisterhood, friendship, love and hope.
I would recommend this book to those readers who enjoy a thought-provoking book. I received an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley for my honest review.
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.
Seven women set off to attend a weight loss camp, that will be documented on film. I enjoyed the beginning of the book. I liked the premise….I mean who can’t relate to weight gain and loss? But I didn’t love it by the end. It was just ok for me.