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The F Word
At once a funny, whip-smart sendup of Los Angeles culture and an irresistible love story, internationally bestselling author Liza Palmer's The F Word is a novel about how sometimes who we become isn't who we really are.
We re all pushing some version of the life we want you to believe. It s all just PR.
Olivia Morten is perfect. Maybe her high-flying publicist job has taken over her life, but her clients are Los Angeles' hottest celebrities. Maybe her husband is never around, but he is a drop-dead-gorgeous, successful doctor. Maybe her friends are dumb, but they know how to look glamorous at a cocktail party. And maybe her past harbors an incredibly embarrassing secret, but no one remembers high school right?
When Ben Dunn, Olivia s high school arch nemesis and onetime crush, suddenly resurfaces, Olivia realizes how precarious all of her perfection is. As she finds herself dredging up long-suppressed memories from her past, she is forced to confront the most painful truth of all: maybe she used to be the fat girl, but she used to be happy, too.
We re all pushing some version of the life we want you to believe. It s all just PR.
Olivia Morten is perfect. Maybe her high-flying publicist job has taken over her life, but her clients are Los Angeles' hottest celebrities. Maybe her husband is never around, but he is a drop-dead-gorgeous, successful doctor. Maybe her friends are dumb, but they know how to look glamorous at a cocktail party. And maybe her past harbors an incredibly embarrassing secret, but no one remembers high school right?
When Ben Dunn, Olivia s high school arch nemesis and onetime crush, suddenly resurfaces, Olivia realizes how precarious all of her perfection is. As she finds herself dredging up long-suppressed memories from her past, she is forced to confront the most painful truth of all: maybe she used to be the fat girl, but she used to be happy, too.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2017
58 people are currently reading
2099 people want to read
About the author
Liza Palmer
20Ìýbooks544ÌýfollowersLiza Palmer is the internationally bestselling author of Conversations with the Fat Girl , which has been optioned for series by HBO.
Library Journal said Palmer’s “blend of humor and sadness is realistic and gripping,..�
After earning two Emmy nominations writing for the first season of VH1’s Pop Up Video, she now knows far too much about Fergie.
Palmer’s fifth novel, Nowhere but Home, is about a failed chef who decides to make last meals for the condemned in Texas. Nowhere but Home won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction in 2013.
Liza's seventh novel, The F Word, came out through Flatiron Books April 25, 2017.
Liza lives in Los Angeles and when she's not drinking tea and talking about The Great British Bake Off, she works at BuzzFeed.
Library Journal said Palmer’s “blend of humor and sadness is realistic and gripping,..�
After earning two Emmy nominations writing for the first season of VH1’s Pop Up Video, she now knows far too much about Fergie.
Palmer’s fifth novel, Nowhere but Home, is about a failed chef who decides to make last meals for the condemned in Texas. Nowhere but Home won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction in 2013.
Liza's seventh novel, The F Word, came out through Flatiron Books April 25, 2017.
Liza lives in Los Angeles and when she's not drinking tea and talking about The Great British Bake Off, she works at BuzzFeed.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
June 24, 2017
Library ebook ....overdrive download:
I was expecting this to be a light fun read. I suppose it does fall into the comic/tragic genre....
which it was more 'comic' .....than 'tragic'.....for me....
but the topic is one that 'might' be a trigger for overweight women - or anyone who has once been overweight...(severely) .... but isn't any longer.
The main character has been married for 10 years. She is thin. She has sex with her husband..... but he has never seen her completely naked. What he doesn't know about her, is that she was once very fat.
This story takes place in Los Angeles: an image obsessed culture.
Conversational style dialogue
Contemporary women's fiction. A few laughs - a few messages about being 'ok' with yourself.
Enjoyable for what it was!
3 enjoyable stars .....but it's not rocket science!
I was expecting this to be a light fun read. I suppose it does fall into the comic/tragic genre....
which it was more 'comic' .....than 'tragic'.....for me....
but the topic is one that 'might' be a trigger for overweight women - or anyone who has once been overweight...(severely) .... but isn't any longer.
The main character has been married for 10 years. She is thin. She has sex with her husband..... but he has never seen her completely naked. What he doesn't know about her, is that she was once very fat.
This story takes place in Los Angeles: an image obsessed culture.
Conversational style dialogue
Contemporary women's fiction. A few laughs - a few messages about being 'ok' with yourself.
Enjoyable for what it was!
3 enjoyable stars .....but it's not rocket science!
May 19, 2017
"No matter how much weight I lost, I realized I never learned how to simply look at my naked body. Just look at it. Not glance at it, or wince at it. Not pick it apart or judge it. Not groan at it or berate it. Just simply look at it. I am an expert in focusing only on what I perceive to be grotesque and I can target a single flaw with the sterile ruthlessness of an assassin's bullet. So, when I think about walking into those communal showers utterly nude, I can only laugh."
So much potential... and so much crap.
This. This quote says more about myself than what I am ready to admit. This book had so much raw potential to be great, to be something that spoke to my soul. Unfortunately, and even if it started picking my interest quickly, the potential of the premise never took off.
So yes, I was a fat kid. And yes, I went through highschool being this geeky fat girl that excelled in grades. I guess you can imagine the rest... no boyfriends, no flirting, no crushes that returned my love. I was called fat, yeah, a few times more than I'd liked. But contrary to the main character in this book, I was never picked on. No one ever made my life hard just because I was chubby. And even if I was never popular, I had friends, really good ones by the way. I was loved, I had a happy childhood.
But I was fat. I lost the weight eventually, yes, but the weight never really left me or my mind. That's why I picked that quote as introduction of this review.
Honestly? I picked this book on a whim. As soon as read the blurb, I just had to read it. Even if the average rating it has is not that good. Now I understand why, to be fair. The author could have used the amazing premise in a million other ways and this book would have reached to many many more people. Or at least, me.
Long story short, Olivia Morten used to be fat in High School. She had this hate-hate relationship and epic word-fights with this uber popular guy, Ben. And she was secretly in love with him. Flashforward to present day, Olivia is a thin, successful publicist. Married for 10 years to sexy doctor. Perfect life, perfect hubs, perfect house, perfect friends and a tone of bullshit underneath. Okay, so she stumbles upon divorced Ben and his 3 daughters and all the past comes rushing back. He has found redemption, doesn't recognize her bloody amazing present her, blah blah blah.
In order words, Ben is not the same cruel kid saying hateful shit about a fat girl. He is now an adult, regrets his past behaviour and OH GUESS WHAT. He now likes thin Olivia.
Well HOW ABOUT THAT, Benny. So you changed, huh.
I had a few issues with how the story unravels. I absolutely loved the first third of the book, I did. And again, the premise had so much potential. But my issues are there regardless. First of all, and let's just take that out of the way, there was this insanely uninteresting story line about the celebrities Olivia worked for. Like, I get it, you want to portray ironically how shallow LA, gossiping, and the celebrity world is. But I just ended up skipping some of those paragraphs. I was not interested, sorry.
Now, Olivia's marriage was all a facade. As much as her life, and actually, as much as herself. Olivia was a big shiny perfect facade. She needed to wake up and realize that, and I get that Ben was the perfect catalyst. What I just don't get is the ending. SPOILERS:
Anyway, so when the shit hits the fan, Olivia turns to Ben. Ben who had no respect for her in the past. Ben, who now that she is thin, likes her. Ben, who definitely deserves forgiveness because he does truly feel bad, BUT do you know what Ben doesn't deserve? Olivia. And guys, I have imagined this very same situation in my mind, Olivia being me. And it feels amazing and awesome to have an old crush lusting after your new self. It does, but you what? You were always inside there. You were YOU, fat or not. Your crush couldn't see past that, and now that you are attractive everything changes. I know physical attraction is important, I do. But in my opinion, if this old crush is loving the new you then there is no further connection a part of the physical one. And that is not a HAPPY ENDING. It's a hot night most likely. Not that I'd complain, but let's stay focused.
What I can't understand, for the love of me, is how Olivia, who does a huge amount of growing during the book, is supposed to have her happy ending just because she ends with Ben. She loved/hated him, but he was never good to her. Yes, that went both ways. But still, the message that stayed with me after finishing this book was yay for her, she is now thin and got her high school crush. WELL NO. There were a million ways for Olivia to get her happy ending. There was not even enough romance, chemistry or relationship development between them. PLUS, there is no reason for me to believe that Ben even deserved her.
So, the fat girl got the guy. Wow, great.
Maybe I am taking this too personal. I am aware of this okay? But I just can't agree with the message this sends. I am thrilled that someone like Olivia finds herself and changes. Anyone can be happy no matter how they see themselves physically. What it's ultimately important is that you like what you SEE of yourself. What doesn't change that Olivia's story was poorly executed. It gave more importance to all that celebrity crap than to what really mattered. And the worst part is that it had so much potential. I am sorry to be rambling, and I am sorry to be riled up about this. But no.
So much potential... and so much crap.
This. This quote says more about myself than what I am ready to admit. This book had so much raw potential to be great, to be something that spoke to my soul. Unfortunately, and even if it started picking my interest quickly, the potential of the premise never took off.
So yes, I was a fat kid. And yes, I went through highschool being this geeky fat girl that excelled in grades. I guess you can imagine the rest... no boyfriends, no flirting, no crushes that returned my love. I was called fat, yeah, a few times more than I'd liked. But contrary to the main character in this book, I was never picked on. No one ever made my life hard just because I was chubby. And even if I was never popular, I had friends, really good ones by the way. I was loved, I had a happy childhood.
But I was fat. I lost the weight eventually, yes, but the weight never really left me or my mind. That's why I picked that quote as introduction of this review.
Honestly? I picked this book on a whim. As soon as read the blurb, I just had to read it. Even if the average rating it has is not that good. Now I understand why, to be fair. The author could have used the amazing premise in a million other ways and this book would have reached to many many more people. Or at least, me.
Long story short, Olivia Morten used to be fat in High School. She had this hate-hate relationship and epic word-fights with this uber popular guy, Ben. And she was secretly in love with him. Flashforward to present day, Olivia is a thin, successful publicist. Married for 10 years to sexy doctor. Perfect life, perfect hubs, perfect house, perfect friends and a tone of bullshit underneath. Okay, so she stumbles upon divorced Ben and his 3 daughters and all the past comes rushing back. He has found redemption, doesn't recognize her bloody amazing present her, blah blah blah.
In order words, Ben is not the same cruel kid saying hateful shit about a fat girl. He is now an adult, regrets his past behaviour and OH GUESS WHAT. He now likes thin Olivia.
Well HOW ABOUT THAT, Benny. So you changed, huh.
I had a few issues with how the story unravels. I absolutely loved the first third of the book, I did. And again, the premise had so much potential. But my issues are there regardless. First of all, and let's just take that out of the way, there was this insanely uninteresting story line about the celebrities Olivia worked for. Like, I get it, you want to portray ironically how shallow LA, gossiping, and the celebrity world is. But I just ended up skipping some of those paragraphs. I was not interested, sorry.
Now, Olivia's marriage was all a facade. As much as her life, and actually, as much as herself. Olivia was a big shiny perfect facade. She needed to wake up and realize that, and I get that Ben was the perfect catalyst. What I just don't get is the ending. SPOILERS:
Anyway, so when the shit hits the fan, Olivia turns to Ben. Ben who had no respect for her in the past. Ben, who now that she is thin, likes her. Ben, who definitely deserves forgiveness because he does truly feel bad, BUT do you know what Ben doesn't deserve? Olivia. And guys, I have imagined this very same situation in my mind, Olivia being me. And it feels amazing and awesome to have an old crush lusting after your new self. It does, but you what? You were always inside there. You were YOU, fat or not. Your crush couldn't see past that, and now that you are attractive everything changes. I know physical attraction is important, I do. But in my opinion, if this old crush is loving the new you then there is no further connection a part of the physical one. And that is not a HAPPY ENDING. It's a hot night most likely. Not that I'd complain, but let's stay focused.
What I can't understand, for the love of me, is how Olivia, who does a huge amount of growing during the book, is supposed to have her happy ending just because she ends with Ben. She loved/hated him, but he was never good to her. Yes, that went both ways. But still, the message that stayed with me after finishing this book was yay for her, she is now thin and got her high school crush. WELL NO. There were a million ways for Olivia to get her happy ending. There was not even enough romance, chemistry or relationship development between them. PLUS, there is no reason for me to believe that Ben even deserved her.
So, the fat girl got the guy. Wow, great.
Maybe I am taking this too personal. I am aware of this okay? But I just can't agree with the message this sends. I am thrilled that someone like Olivia finds herself and changes. Anyone can be happy no matter how they see themselves physically. What it's ultimately important is that you like what you SEE of yourself. What doesn't change that Olivia's story was poorly executed. It gave more importance to all that celebrity crap than to what really mattered. And the worst part is that it had so much potential. I am sorry to be rambling, and I am sorry to be riled up about this. But no.
February 8, 2021
“There’s the truth and then there’s the lie that people want to believe.�
Oliva Morten appears to have it all. She’s thin, she’s beautiful, she has an enviable job rubbing elbows with A-Listers as a celebrity publicist, she’s married to a handsome doctor. On paper, she’s the woman everyone else would want to be. But when she bumps into Ben, the former quarterback who made her high school years hell . . . .
Olivia starts to realize her perfect persona might all be a façade.
This was just plain fun. My real-life friend was reading this last week and when she told me the premise I went and got it from the library immediately. I loved Olivia’s self-discovery that she was probably more than a bit of an asshole. I loved that it didn’t rely on Ben (or more importantly his magic wiener) to make her feel validated. And I reaaaaaaaaaaally loved Caroline, the movie star client. She made me LOL for realsies.
If you enjoy authors like Abbi Waxman or Sophie Kinsella or Lauren Weisberger, this would probably be a worthwhile timesuck for you to take into your reading box and hide from your family with . . . .
Oliva Morten appears to have it all. She’s thin, she’s beautiful, she has an enviable job rubbing elbows with A-Listers as a celebrity publicist, she’s married to a handsome doctor. On paper, she’s the woman everyone else would want to be. But when she bumps into Ben, the former quarterback who made her high school years hell . . . .
Olivia starts to realize her perfect persona might all be a façade.
This was just plain fun. My real-life friend was reading this last week and when she told me the premise I went and got it from the library immediately. I loved Olivia’s self-discovery that she was probably more than a bit of an asshole. I loved that it didn’t rely on Ben (or more importantly his magic wiener) to make her feel validated. And I reaaaaaaaaaaally loved Caroline, the movie star client. She made me LOL for realsies.
If you enjoy authors like Abbi Waxman or Sophie Kinsella or Lauren Weisberger, this would probably be a worthwhile timesuck for you to take into your reading box and hide from your family with . . . .
April 19, 2017
Please note that I received this book via Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway. Also note that this will have spoilers from Conversations With The Fat Girl.
Well. That happened. I have been so excited about the follow up to "Conversations With The Fat Girl" that I kept checking my mail everyday. I finished this yesterday and needed some time to put my thoughts together. "The F Word" focuses on Olivia Marten that readers were introduced to in the prior book. It's been ten years since Olivia's wedding and she's content with her marriage to her husband Adam. When she runs into a high school crush (Ben Dunne) Olivia is thrown since the old her she kept hidden is starting to bubble up again. Throw in some PR crisis with a A list actress Olivia feels everything� she has ever wanted is slipping away.
Honestly this book just fell down with regards to Olivia. We got to see how she acted with Maggie in the prior book and she was nasty and a liar. When Maggie at the reception the day before the wedding blew up Olivia's world you would think there would be repercussions for that. Instead nothing besides her wedding was great is mentioned. There's no mention of Olivia's friends from her time in DC. And there's a throwaway line about a former best friend she used to know. If the book had ended with some acknowledgement of how Olivia hid her life from her husband and herself I would have given it five stars. Instead, Palmer turns this book into everything is Adam's fault with no introspection about how Olivia refused to allow the real her out as an issue and a ridiculous shallow love interest. And the book seems to slam everyone on how they view women (smart, gorgeous, think, fat, etc) which to me isn't a get out of jail free card for your actions.
I think I laughed one time while reading when Olivia realizes that she and Adam are terrible people. Yeah. You both are.
Other characters are not developed very well.
Palmer rewrites how Olivia and Adam met. And in the ten years since their wedding he turned from a robot who wouldn't even share the same bed with her to a man that is affectionately dismissive and who due to Olivia's hangups about her body is having affairs. I really wish Palmer had them have an honest conversation. Go to couple's therapy. Something. Shoot have her get in touch with Maggie.
The writing was okay. I didn't get blown away by anything. The book started to feel like a chore after reading for a while. I was just not engaged at all.
The book ending was not realistic to me especially since it reads as if Olivia is just trading one man in for another.
Well. That happened. I have been so excited about the follow up to "Conversations With The Fat Girl" that I kept checking my mail everyday. I finished this yesterday and needed some time to put my thoughts together. "The F Word" focuses on Olivia Marten that readers were introduced to in the prior book. It's been ten years since Olivia's wedding and she's content with her marriage to her husband Adam. When she runs into a high school crush (Ben Dunne) Olivia is thrown since the old her she kept hidden is starting to bubble up again. Throw in some PR crisis with a A list actress Olivia feels everything� she has ever wanted is slipping away.
Honestly this book just fell down with regards to Olivia. We got to see how she acted with Maggie in the prior book and she was nasty and a liar. When Maggie at the reception the day before the wedding blew up Olivia's world you would think there would be repercussions for that. Instead nothing besides her wedding was great is mentioned. There's no mention of Olivia's friends from her time in DC. And there's a throwaway line about a former best friend she used to know. If the book had ended with some acknowledgement of how Olivia hid her life from her husband and herself I would have given it five stars. Instead, Palmer turns this book into everything is Adam's fault with no introspection about how Olivia refused to allow the real her out as an issue and a ridiculous shallow love interest. And the book seems to slam everyone on how they view women (smart, gorgeous, think, fat, etc) which to me isn't a get out of jail free card for your actions.
I think I laughed one time while reading when Olivia realizes that she and Adam are terrible people. Yeah. You both are.
Other characters are not developed very well.
Palmer rewrites how Olivia and Adam met. And in the ten years since their wedding he turned from a robot who wouldn't even share the same bed with her to a man that is affectionately dismissive and who due to Olivia's hangups about her body is having affairs. I really wish Palmer had them have an honest conversation. Go to couple's therapy. Something. Shoot have her get in touch with Maggie.
The writing was okay. I didn't get blown away by anything. The book started to feel like a chore after reading for a while. I was just not engaged at all.
The book ending was not realistic to me especially since it reads as if Olivia is just trading one man in for another.
July 16, 2017
This summer I was on the hunt for a mindless page-turner and that's exactly what this was. I really enjoyed it. Finished in two days!
May 7, 2017
I’d received an ARC [Advanced Reader’s Copy] print of this book from the author’s publisher through a giveaway they had on GoodReads, and the following is my honest opinion.
How many of you reading this review have hoped that you could be, no matter how small, better looking than you are currently are; hoped for a drop-dead-gorgeous husband with a wonderfully professional; hoped for friends with some form of intelligence. Quite a few? Right !!!
If you happen to fit into one of the above categories, than you can easily step into the female protagonist of this book, Olivia Morten; I know because I did.
I loved how the author, Liza Palmer, wasted no time in getting to Olivia’s meeting up with form nemesis and secretive infatuation, Ben Dunn, she had back in high school while on line in local fast food restaurant with his two daughters. While she recognized him right because he hadn’t changed one iota since graduation, he had a little difficulty in recognizing her; and why not, she was no longer as fat as she was back then, making her unrecognizable to his mind.
While this might appear to be relatively sweet in its appearance, this is precisely where Ms. Palmer has decided to begin her entertaining, incisive observation of human nature. For this where Olivia begins her journey into her own self-discovery; she begins to recognize that her marriage is a pure smokescreen to what her life is really like, especially with her husband not being the HEA she had dreamt of having for several reasons, but mostly because he’s never around when she really needs him. Who needs a marriage without any support or real love.
This eventually leads her to the realization that her fabulous job as a Hollywood publicist to the stars is really one where she merely perpetuates the fraudulent appearance of stars she’s working for in the eyes of the public.
How far and deep does Ms. Palmer go in dealing Olivia’s life and transformation, if any, I’m not going to say. I found this book to be quite entertaining over the two days I read it, and why it has gotten 5 STARS.
How many of you reading this review have hoped that you could be, no matter how small, better looking than you are currently are; hoped for a drop-dead-gorgeous husband with a wonderfully professional; hoped for friends with some form of intelligence. Quite a few? Right !!!
If you happen to fit into one of the above categories, than you can easily step into the female protagonist of this book, Olivia Morten; I know because I did.
I loved how the author, Liza Palmer, wasted no time in getting to Olivia’s meeting up with form nemesis and secretive infatuation, Ben Dunn, she had back in high school while on line in local fast food restaurant with his two daughters. While she recognized him right because he hadn’t changed one iota since graduation, he had a little difficulty in recognizing her; and why not, she was no longer as fat as she was back then, making her unrecognizable to his mind.
While this might appear to be relatively sweet in its appearance, this is precisely where Ms. Palmer has decided to begin her entertaining, incisive observation of human nature. For this where Olivia begins her journey into her own self-discovery; she begins to recognize that her marriage is a pure smokescreen to what her life is really like, especially with her husband not being the HEA she had dreamt of having for several reasons, but mostly because he’s never around when she really needs him. Who needs a marriage without any support or real love.
This eventually leads her to the realization that her fabulous job as a Hollywood publicist to the stars is really one where she merely perpetuates the fraudulent appearance of stars she’s working for in the eyes of the public.
How far and deep does Ms. Palmer go in dealing Olivia’s life and transformation, if any, I’m not going to say. I found this book to be quite entertaining over the two days I read it, and why it has gotten 5 STARS.
March 12, 2017
Release date: April 25, 2016
First off, let me say this book is for all the ladies who cringe when reminded of their high school experience. (And I'm not talking "cringe" at the high school fashion either.) This is for every woman who wanted the "it guy" or was told she was "too fat" and mocked and ridiculed.
That's right.
This one's for you, boo.
Without knowing it, Liza Palmer has created a manual that every man (and woman) should be REQUIRED to read before stepping foot back into high school territory.
The goods:
Olivia was put through hell during high school because she was fat. 20 years later, she is in her prime, skinny, and rolls with the hottest celebrities in Hollywood. Her husband is a doctor...
After everything she endured, she finally has it all...
Or does she?
After seeing her former nemesis, Ben, at a coffee shop....Olivia is left trying to navigate through the terror that was her past life (aka, Ben's teasing, ect), while juggling the pitfalls Hollywood bestows on a client of hers.
I thought this book was HILAROUS. All of the characters were well-developed, and the tone throughout the novel was on-point. Olivia is so relatable, which in turn makes her extremely likable for readers. She doesn't sugarcoat anything. She's 100% no filter, and I loved that!
Readers who enjoy John Green's writing, will definitely appreciate this. TBR WORTHY
Cover: 7
Storyline: 9
Writing: 10
Love: 8
Humor: 10
Character Development: 10
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.
First off, let me say this book is for all the ladies who cringe when reminded of their high school experience. (And I'm not talking "cringe" at the high school fashion either.) This is for every woman who wanted the "it guy" or was told she was "too fat" and mocked and ridiculed.
That's right.
This one's for you, boo.
Without knowing it, Liza Palmer has created a manual that every man (and woman) should be REQUIRED to read before stepping foot back into high school territory.
The goods:
Olivia was put through hell during high school because she was fat. 20 years later, she is in her prime, skinny, and rolls with the hottest celebrities in Hollywood. Her husband is a doctor...
After everything she endured, she finally has it all...
Or does she?
After seeing her former nemesis, Ben, at a coffee shop....Olivia is left trying to navigate through the terror that was her past life (aka, Ben's teasing, ect), while juggling the pitfalls Hollywood bestows on a client of hers.
I thought this book was HILAROUS. All of the characters were well-developed, and the tone throughout the novel was on-point. Olivia is so relatable, which in turn makes her extremely likable for readers. She doesn't sugarcoat anything. She's 100% no filter, and I loved that!
Readers who enjoy John Green's writing, will definitely appreciate this. TBR WORTHY
Cover: 7
Storyline: 9
Writing: 10
Love: 8
Humor: 10
Character Development: 10
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.
April 2, 2017
I won this book in a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ First Reads contest.
I would say it is 3 and 1/2 stars. It is chick lit and it does have a few clunky moments. The writing could have been smoother. It was an interesting story though not one that I could relate to in any way. Not a bad read overall.
I would say it is 3 and 1/2 stars. It is chick lit and it does have a few clunky moments. The writing could have been smoother. It was an interesting story though not one that I could relate to in any way. Not a bad read overall.
May 21, 2017
The F Word here is not what you think, it is fat. Apparently, there was a book prior to this one and perhaps if I would have read it I would have more understanding of the background of the characters. As it was, I read this as a standalone. This is a basic chick lit novel, attempting to elevate itself by including issues of self-image, the treatment of fat people, particularly women, bullying, infidelity, and women’s struggle to “have it all�. � Spoiler Alert �
Basically, Olivia was once the fat girl, in high school. She has grown up to now be super-perfect girl, perfect husband, perfect home, perfect-car, friends, fitness, routine, and high-profile career as a celebrity publicist. You get the picture. When you are up that high, there is only one way to go.
She runs into a former crush from high school, the stereotypical “man who knew her when�, and it begins her downward trajectory. Basically her entire life is a lie and it implodes. High school jackass crush swoops in and they dance off into the sunset together. Yep. So. many. problems. The victim blaming. The lack of true apology and acceptance of responsibility without any excuses. The celebrity worship culture. The “wise crone stereotype� updated to a women’s locker room shower scene. (no, just no, get the eye bleach now) The “the protagonist needs a man, God forbid she is alone and happy at the end of the book…� High school crush Ben Dunn (been done. get it. hee. hee. wink wink, nudge, nudge. I think my eyes rolled so hard they got stuck.) is just not, well. I’m just going to stop here.
Basically, Olivia was once the fat girl, in high school. She has grown up to now be super-perfect girl, perfect husband, perfect home, perfect-car, friends, fitness, routine, and high-profile career as a celebrity publicist. You get the picture. When you are up that high, there is only one way to go.
She runs into a former crush from high school, the stereotypical “man who knew her when�, and it begins her downward trajectory. Basically her entire life is a lie and it implodes. High school jackass crush swoops in and they dance off into the sunset together. Yep. So. many. problems. The victim blaming. The lack of true apology and acceptance of responsibility without any excuses. The celebrity worship culture. The “wise crone stereotype� updated to a women’s locker room shower scene. (no, just no, get the eye bleach now) The “the protagonist needs a man, God forbid she is alone and happy at the end of the book…� High school crush Ben Dunn (been done. get it. hee. hee. wink wink, nudge, nudge. I think my eyes rolled so hard they got stuck.) is just not, well. I’m just going to stop here.
April 22, 2017
"What I didn't tell Brenda is that I know. I've known it all along. And not just about this last woman Adam is cheating on me with. I've known about all of them. I just didn't want anyone else to know."
Olivia in a way was like most women that are in a marriage with a partner that plays the part but really isn't in the game anymore. She begins to do a ton of self-reflection after running into someone from high school and we see her go on a journey to figure out if her new and improved image is truly who she is and who she wants to be.
When this book was good, it was GOOD and it made a true personal connection. But, there were too many slow parts that kept me from rating it higher. Overall, it was an enjoyable book and Palmer is a new-to-me author that I'll definitely check out again!
Olivia in a way was like most women that are in a marriage with a partner that plays the part but really isn't in the game anymore. She begins to do a ton of self-reflection after running into someone from high school and we see her go on a journey to figure out if her new and improved image is truly who she is and who she wants to be.
When this book was good, it was GOOD and it made a true personal connection. But, there were too many slow parts that kept me from rating it higher. Overall, it was an enjoyable book and Palmer is a new-to-me author that I'll definitely check out again!
May 21, 2017
Review originally posted on
I’m not sure what made me decide to download this book from the BK Library, but I’m glad I did. It’s good to read books outside our comfort zones. The F Word was interesting. I disliked the voice of the main character, didn’t agree with majority of said character’s viewpoints, but loved being immersed in Liza Palmer’s world.
The F Word follows Olivia Morten, a successful publicist working in LA with a glamorous life. Or so everyone else thinks. Her husband (a hottie doctor) is never around, her friends are dumb, and she’s hiding a secret past that unravels as soon as she sees someone from high school.
This book is marketing as a “funny, whip-smart sendup of LA culture.� That’s a bit of an exaggeration. There is definitely some dry dialogue on Hollywood behind-the-scenes. However, Olivia herself wasn’t exactly a peach to listen to. One thing the author hones in on is physical beauty, and Palmer definitely used her main character to show how harshly women judge themselves/are judged in society. Because of this, Olivia is not a likable character. In fact, she’s extremely superficial and shallow. She’s put away her “Fat Self� to be what she thinks society deems is perfection. She married a hot doctor, got herself a job working with celebrities, eats the same meal weeks on end, exercises, surrounds herself with idiots. To what end?
As a woman who has been overweight by some amount for majority of my life, I felt such a disconnect with Olivia. She is extremely cruel to herself when it comes to body weight and her past as a fat girl. Please do not read this if you’re hoping to read a feel-good, former fat girl novel. You’ll hate it. Even when Olivia has a moment of self-enlightenment at the end of the novel, she’s still terrible. And maybe it’s because I’m comparing it to my own experience of keeping off weight, but every time Olivia referred to her fat self as “Sweaty Marble,� I cringed. Weight loss is a journey of self-love. Hers seemed to swing toward self-hatred. And the love story that was being strung along didn’t quite help the moral of story. Love interest likes former fat girl because she isn’t fat anymore? Awesome.
That being said, parts of the story moved quicker than others. Parts were better than others. First third of the book, intriguing. Middle, dull. End, rushed. Olivia’s mom is a character I would’ve loved to see more of. I would’ve also loved to read more about Olivia’s high school years. Overall, the book brings a different perspective to body image. If anything, it teaches you how not to treat yourself.
I’m not sure what made me decide to download this book from the BK Library, but I’m glad I did. It’s good to read books outside our comfort zones. The F Word was interesting. I disliked the voice of the main character, didn’t agree with majority of said character’s viewpoints, but loved being immersed in Liza Palmer’s world.
The F Word follows Olivia Morten, a successful publicist working in LA with a glamorous life. Or so everyone else thinks. Her husband (a hottie doctor) is never around, her friends are dumb, and she’s hiding a secret past that unravels as soon as she sees someone from high school.
This book is marketing as a “funny, whip-smart sendup of LA culture.� That’s a bit of an exaggeration. There is definitely some dry dialogue on Hollywood behind-the-scenes. However, Olivia herself wasn’t exactly a peach to listen to. One thing the author hones in on is physical beauty, and Palmer definitely used her main character to show how harshly women judge themselves/are judged in society. Because of this, Olivia is not a likable character. In fact, she’s extremely superficial and shallow. She’s put away her “Fat Self� to be what she thinks society deems is perfection. She married a hot doctor, got herself a job working with celebrities, eats the same meal weeks on end, exercises, surrounds herself with idiots. To what end?
As a woman who has been overweight by some amount for majority of my life, I felt such a disconnect with Olivia. She is extremely cruel to herself when it comes to body weight and her past as a fat girl. Please do not read this if you’re hoping to read a feel-good, former fat girl novel. You’ll hate it. Even when Olivia has a moment of self-enlightenment at the end of the novel, she’s still terrible. And maybe it’s because I’m comparing it to my own experience of keeping off weight, but every time Olivia referred to her fat self as “Sweaty Marble,� I cringed. Weight loss is a journey of self-love. Hers seemed to swing toward self-hatred. And the love story that was being strung along didn’t quite help the moral of story. Love interest likes former fat girl because she isn’t fat anymore? Awesome.
That being said, parts of the story moved quicker than others. Parts were better than others. First third of the book, intriguing. Middle, dull. End, rushed. Olivia’s mom is a character I would’ve loved to see more of. I would’ve also loved to read more about Olivia’s high school years. Overall, the book brings a different perspective to body image. If anything, it teaches you how not to treat yourself.
April 17, 2017
Review originally posted at
I started off not loving this one - so many #firstworldproblems - because I just couldn't connect to the story or the characters. But, about half way through, we got a better sense of Olivia and I appreciated her dimensions. What didn't work for me in this book were the descriptions of Olivia's job (she does PR for celebrities) because I seriously didn't care; I didn't care about uber famous actors and their petty shit and I could not imagine being fulfilled by devoting your life to helping celebrities with the same. What did work for me was Olivia's internal monologue - she slowly describes a lot about her past and how it has informed her present and it felt very real to me. I read this in one day so, if nothing else, that should tell you how much I liked this one once I got into it!
The F Word comes out later this month on April 25, 2017 and you can purchase . I definitely recommend this one to fans of and/or - definitely reminiscent of both with a Southern California spin!
I started off not loving this one - so many #firstworldproblems - because I just couldn't connect to the story or the characters. But, about half way through, we got a better sense of Olivia and I appreciated her dimensions. What didn't work for me in this book were the descriptions of Olivia's job (she does PR for celebrities) because I seriously didn't care; I didn't care about uber famous actors and their petty shit and I could not imagine being fulfilled by devoting your life to helping celebrities with the same. What did work for me was Olivia's internal monologue - she slowly describes a lot about her past and how it has informed her present and it felt very real to me. I read this in one day so, if nothing else, that should tell you how much I liked this one once I got into it!
The F Word comes out later this month on April 25, 2017 and you can purchase . I definitely recommend this one to fans of and/or - definitely reminiscent of both with a Southern California spin!
My face is hot and the cold morning air burns my throat as I take deeper and deeper breaths.
Over and over and over again.
I can't keep it in anymore. I want to scream it and scream it and scream it. I'm exhausted. I know I'm not he only woman who's fucking exhausted. We work tirelessly only to be told that the hings at which we excel are unimportant. Running a home and having a career, all the while keeping effortlessly slim. Being cheerleaders and therapists to men who assure that, unlike women, they need neither. How can I help? What can I do? What more can I give you? Will this be enough? Am I valuable now? Will I ever do enough for you tell I'm important? Why do I care so much? Why do I believe you when you tell me I'm crazy and emotional? Why do I left you dictate what is meaningful?
April 11, 2020
The F Word has a description that starts like so many women’s fiction novels: Olivia Morten is a perfect woman, size two, and totally kickass at work, where she managers the images of celebrities. That famous actor in the superhero movie? She keeps it secret that he got drunk in public. The pretty actress everyone loves to hate is now getting divorced? Olivia figures out how to make that actress relatable so the public doesn’t think she deserves to be cheated on by her husband. Speaking of husbands, Olivia is married to a sexy surgeon (I kept picturing Chase from House) and they have a gorgeous home. If that was all this book had to offer, I would have tossed it in the donate box.
But Olivia Morten used to be fat � like, really fat � in high school. And she was bullied (or was she?) by the football player Ben Dunn. Ben was sooo cute, and sooo cool, and slept with all the cheerleaders. In order to not walk around in a size two body and be haunted by her fat self, Olivia had to destroy the person she was, keeping that fat girl hidden from her husband, her coworkers, her friends, and herself.
Thus, behind her professional success is a very boring person. Olivia has eaten the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for fifteen years to avoid getting fat again. Most of us would call her meals “a light snack.� She’s at the gym every day. She’s never been naked with the lights on in front of her husband due to her shame about old stretch marks and body reconstruction surgery. That, and we know something is up the way Mr. Doctor Husband always has some hospital emergency that lasts all night. Of course, early in the novel she bumps into Ben freaking Dunn after fifteen years and the story is set in motion.
Liza Palmer has this great knack for writing hilarious secondary characters that make the novel come alive. Early on we meet Nanette, the new trophy wife of an the hospital director, who is, of course, an old man, at a small dinner Olivia and Dr. Husband are hosting. Every scene in which Nanette appears made me belly laugh out loud. Olivia shares her thoughts about the buxom blonde:
The conversation about appearances continue when at the same dinner party another guest notes that the famous celebrity Caroline Lang might be leaving her husband because the tabloids have posted tons of photos of him with a pretty Swedish actress not yet twenty. The guest rages that no one cares about celebrities, that such gossip is trash, and “Caroline Whatever-her-name-is� is probably trash, too. Caroline is actually one of Olivia’s clients, and in her efforts to defend the actress, Caroline says:
Even though this book is about a very thin woman, I would categorize it as fat positive. Olivia’s shaped by her time as a fat girl, cannot forget the way she was smart and determined, sometimes rage-filled, and definitely humiliated by strangers and peers alike. Fat is an identity, one that can’t be shoved in a donation bag with the too-large clothes when she becomes thin. Liza Palmer captures all that: the world in which a fat person must exist and how stigmatizing fat people is actually more dangerous to health than being fat. Although Olivia thinks that being fat held her back, the woman she’s become is so locked up and restricted that she’s playing house more than living life. Things go rogue and we start to see this new Olivia, one who isn’t necessarily kind, but is far more authentic.
For instance, after her friend Leah reschedules several times, the two finally meet up for drinks only to discover Leah’s invited buffer friends, a yogi named Elijah with a handlebar mustache who greets Olivia with “namaste,� and a young, beautiful vegan named Jillian. Jillian can’t be convinced that tofu and ahi are not the same thing, and while Leah asks Olivia to just pretend so Jillian can continue to be stupidly happy � because she’s pretty anyway � Olivia refuses to oblige.
The F Word by Liza Palmer has a variety of genres woven in: romance, women’s fiction, social commentary, fat fiction, humor. She handles them all beautifully, though I know readers have a variety of questions and thoughts about that ending � me included. Highly recommended reading.
This review was originally published at .
But Olivia Morten used to be fat � like, really fat � in high school. And she was bullied (or was she?) by the football player Ben Dunn. Ben was sooo cute, and sooo cool, and slept with all the cheerleaders. In order to not walk around in a size two body and be haunted by her fat self, Olivia had to destroy the person she was, keeping that fat girl hidden from her husband, her coworkers, her friends, and herself.
Thus, behind her professional success is a very boring person. Olivia has eaten the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for fifteen years to avoid getting fat again. Most of us would call her meals “a light snack.� She’s at the gym every day. She’s never been naked with the lights on in front of her husband due to her shame about old stretch marks and body reconstruction surgery. That, and we know something is up the way Mr. Doctor Husband always has some hospital emergency that lasts all night. Of course, early in the novel she bumps into Ben freaking Dunn after fifteen years and the story is set in motion.
Liza Palmer has this great knack for writing hilarious secondary characters that make the novel come alive. Early on we meet Nanette, the new trophy wife of an the hospital director, who is, of course, an old man, at a small dinner Olivia and Dr. Husband are hosting. Every scene in which Nanette appears made me belly laugh out loud. Olivia shares her thoughts about the buxom blonde:
. . . Nanette Peterman is most likely the dumbest person I’ve ever met � and in Los Angeles that’s saying something. When we were first introduced I asked her what her interests were and she answered, “I like outside.�And Nanette isn’t just there to raise the old hospital director’s status; Olivia is happy to befriend this empty vessel because she knows that having beautiful friends raises Olivia beyond anonymity herself. This behavior is left over from when she was a fat teen, meaning her body made her both highly visible and completely invisible in society. While it feels mean to laugh at Nanette � and I did, several times � she represents a conversation about beauty and thinness. Not expected to do anything other than be pretty, Nanette has fitted her role perfectly and reaffirmed society’s emphasis on sex and appearance.
The conversation about appearances continue when at the same dinner party another guest notes that the famous celebrity Caroline Lang might be leaving her husband because the tabloids have posted tons of photos of him with a pretty Swedish actress not yet twenty. The guest rages that no one cares about celebrities, that such gossip is trash, and “Caroline Whatever-her-name-is� is probably trash, too. Caroline is actually one of Olivia’s clients, and in her efforts to defend the actress, Caroline says:
“Being a woman can be such a mystery sometimes, we unconsciously look to these celebrities as surrogate mentors for our own femininity. They appear to be so natural, that we look to them to set the standard. . . . I’d even go so far as to say that you owe your very marriage and current happiness to non other than Caroline Whatever-her-name-is.�Conversations about what shapes society’s definition of women, how pop culture and reality clash, and the performances we all engage in on social media to create a life that we want others to believe � even if it’s not real � are woven in throughout the novel, elevating it beyond your basic beach read about the seemingly-perfect marriage.
Even though this book is about a very thin woman, I would categorize it as fat positive. Olivia’s shaped by her time as a fat girl, cannot forget the way she was smart and determined, sometimes rage-filled, and definitely humiliated by strangers and peers alike. Fat is an identity, one that can’t be shoved in a donation bag with the too-large clothes when she becomes thin. Liza Palmer captures all that: the world in which a fat person must exist and how stigmatizing fat people is actually more dangerous to health than being fat. Although Olivia thinks that being fat held her back, the woman she’s become is so locked up and restricted that she’s playing house more than living life. Things go rogue and we start to see this new Olivia, one who isn’t necessarily kind, but is far more authentic.
For instance, after her friend Leah reschedules several times, the two finally meet up for drinks only to discover Leah’s invited buffer friends, a yogi named Elijah with a handlebar mustache who greets Olivia with “namaste,� and a young, beautiful vegan named Jillian. Jillian can’t be convinced that tofu and ahi are not the same thing, and while Leah asks Olivia to just pretend so Jillian can continue to be stupidly happy � because she’s pretty anyway � Olivia refuses to oblige.
“What? No,� I say. Leah’s eyes narrow. “Vegans don’t eat fish. Jillian eats fish, ergo she’s not vegan.�It’s as if Olivia has been an actor in a play written by society, and now she’s forgetting the lines required to accommodate a sexually attractive person. As she goes rogue, a new character, one whose not as nice or patient just because she’s in the presence of youth and beauty, emerges.
“But, I don’t eat fish,� Jillian announces, annoyed.
“Let’s just order, okay?� Leah suggests, her voice tight.
“I wonder what they have that’s vegan here,� Jillian muses, looking over the menu.
“Apparently, everything,� I say.
“Wow, someone has an overstimulated fifth chakra,� Elijah says, jumping in.
The F Word by Liza Palmer has a variety of genres woven in: romance, women’s fiction, social commentary, fat fiction, humor. She handles them all beautifully, though I know readers have a variety of questions and thoughts about that ending � me included. Highly recommended reading.
This review was originally published at .
April 24, 2017
So am I supposed to believe (spoiler alert) it took 10 years for Olivia Morten to realize her life is a lie? The same Olivia Morten we met in Conversations With the Fat Girl, for whom appearances were worth blowing up everything else? Nuh-uh.
It would be one thing if (more spoilers) Adam's extra-curricular activities had come as a surprise. But, no. She knew, and had known for the entire time they were together. The idea that he'd get it out of his system, then they'd have kids and all would be well just doesn't ring true. Nor did the meet-cute that inspired her soul searching, and the subsequent interactions.
And don't even get me started on the fact that aside from a mention of her best friend at the time when Thar She Blows is being recounted, there is no Maggie. Olivia moved from D.C. back to Pasadena, and since has had no contact with any of her old friends? They might not want anything to do with her, but I can't imagine she's been able to segment off her life so completely.
Olivia's whole worldview is so flawed that it infects the rest of the story. Listen - I love Liza Palmer. On a sentence-by-sentence level, I quite enjoyed what I was reading. But when it comes time for those sentences to service characters and plot, I just couldn't follow her there.
It would be one thing if (more spoilers) Adam's extra-curricular activities had come as a surprise. But, no. She knew, and had known for the entire time they were together. The idea that he'd get it out of his system, then they'd have kids and all would be well just doesn't ring true. Nor did the meet-cute that inspired her soul searching, and the subsequent interactions.
And don't even get me started on the fact that aside from a mention of her best friend at the time when Thar She Blows is being recounted, there is no Maggie. Olivia moved from D.C. back to Pasadena, and since has had no contact with any of her old friends? They might not want anything to do with her, but I can't imagine she's been able to segment off her life so completely.
Olivia's whole worldview is so flawed that it infects the rest of the story. Listen - I love Liza Palmer. On a sentence-by-sentence level, I quite enjoyed what I was reading. But when it comes time for those sentences to service characters and plot, I just couldn't follow her there.
May 27, 2017
I usually love Liza Palmer novels. I appreciate her heroines, who are often not easy to love, who aren't afraid of showing their frustrating sides. This is also true for The F Word. However, the build up of her impromptu reunion with Ben Dunn and what happens later doesn't really live up to the promise. The story itself is page-turning, but the ending is so abrupt...I felt like I'd missed something, so I re-read the last few chapters, and still had that feeling.
June 12, 2017
"There's the truth and there's the lie that people want to believe." I really enjoyed this book. Felt like a John Hughes movie to me. I can still hear secret garden playing in my mind. Did I want to throttle Olivia? Hell yes. Did I want to tell her she deserved better and she was crazy? I sure did but I kept reading and it all worked out the way I needed it. I needed this book today, this week, this month.
December 11, 2017
Liza Palmer has penned an in your head rollercoaster ride about a former fat girl who "succeeds" in life. The book was fast paced, easy to read, and thought provoking.
I read this book as a stand alone (I've now found out that there was a previous book with the same characters). Doesn't matter. For me the book resonated with the truths, pain, and self loathing that some feel when they've yet to find themselves.
She seems to have it all--great job, money, handsome hubby--but in reality has lost herself in her quest to rewrite her own destiny.
This book made me actually dog-ear pages to go back to. She writes:
"When the weight started coming off, I vowed--with every pound shed--that I would leave Her behind with it: the Fat Me. But, the Fat Me had infected more than just my body, she'd created a sort of filter in my mind that everything had to pass through."
I wonder if people can see how powerful that is? That a former addiction or affliction, even when dealt with in an external way, still haunts and is a forever part of us. To me, these words are the raw power behind the book. The author leaves these bombshells throughout and the reader is left with a thought provoking read that is also entertaining.
Any book that leaves you thinking/contemplating after it's been read it worth it, in my opinion.
For example...another great line: "Turns out you can fake it 'til you make it for only so long before it backs up on you like a clogged toilet." So true!
**spoiler alert**
So, though I loved the writing and the content that Palmer was able to portray, I didn't love the quest of Olivia (the main character.). In fact I found it beneath her and wished Palmer had gone another way. It showed a lack of maturity on the part of Olivia needing/yearning/dreaming to go back and live out a high school fantasy of getting the popular guy. It made her character look desperate again for that outside/past validation that she so desperately needed to find from within.
Overall, I would recommend this book. There is a lot of swearing so if you find that offensive, read something else.
I *really* like Liza Palmer and how she can get into your head. That's not always an easy thing to do. Bravo Ms. Palmer!
I read this book as a stand alone (I've now found out that there was a previous book with the same characters). Doesn't matter. For me the book resonated with the truths, pain, and self loathing that some feel when they've yet to find themselves.
She seems to have it all--great job, money, handsome hubby--but in reality has lost herself in her quest to rewrite her own destiny.
This book made me actually dog-ear pages to go back to. She writes:
"When the weight started coming off, I vowed--with every pound shed--that I would leave Her behind with it: the Fat Me. But, the Fat Me had infected more than just my body, she'd created a sort of filter in my mind that everything had to pass through."
I wonder if people can see how powerful that is? That a former addiction or affliction, even when dealt with in an external way, still haunts and is a forever part of us. To me, these words are the raw power behind the book. The author leaves these bombshells throughout and the reader is left with a thought provoking read that is also entertaining.
Any book that leaves you thinking/contemplating after it's been read it worth it, in my opinion.
For example...another great line: "Turns out you can fake it 'til you make it for only so long before it backs up on you like a clogged toilet." So true!
**spoiler alert**
So, though I loved the writing and the content that Palmer was able to portray, I didn't love the quest of Olivia (the main character.). In fact I found it beneath her and wished Palmer had gone another way. It showed a lack of maturity on the part of Olivia needing/yearning/dreaming to go back and live out a high school fantasy of getting the popular guy. It made her character look desperate again for that outside/past validation that she so desperately needed to find from within.
Overall, I would recommend this book. There is a lot of swearing so if you find that offensive, read something else.
I *really* like Liza Palmer and how she can get into your head. That's not always an easy thing to do. Bravo Ms. Palmer!
May 6, 2017
IÌýhad such a blast reading this book. No, you aren't sensing sarcasm! I continued to laugh out loud because Olivia Morten's character is purely hysterical. It's not all fun and games in Olivia's world Ìýthough,Ìýshe has recently been struggling with her past after creating a new life for herself over the past 10 years. Why is this happening to Olivia? Could it be the run in with her high school nemesis/crush? Or is this something more internal?...
The was this book was written was so easy to read. So fluent and relatable, it's no wonder it only took me one day to complete it. I had two favorite characters in this book; Olivia and Ben. Olivia, because she's not only funny, she struggles internally but in time fixes herself. The experiences she was dealt, along with being so traumatized from them created this person who was not truly herself because she did not love her WHOLE self, present and past. It's ultimately funny that Ben is the one to kind of awaken her change seeing as he was quite cruel to her in high school. I love that this story is of changing and growing, finding yourself and being comfortable with who you are now; but also accepting who you were, not hiding and running from it.
What I think would have made this good story great, would have been some more time spent with high school Olivia and Ben. Although we are taken on a couple flash back rides, I feel having more insight to who they were in their teens and why they were the way they were to each other would have been very nice for the readers to have.
I quite liked that this story had a moral. I enjoyed the topics talked about and the relationships that Liza created between the characters. I wouldn't really call a specific group out to read this book. If you are an adult looking for an easy and quick, fun read..look no further! Liza Palmer has your next read.
The was this book was written was so easy to read. So fluent and relatable, it's no wonder it only took me one day to complete it. I had two favorite characters in this book; Olivia and Ben. Olivia, because she's not only funny, she struggles internally but in time fixes herself. The experiences she was dealt, along with being so traumatized from them created this person who was not truly herself because she did not love her WHOLE self, present and past. It's ultimately funny that Ben is the one to kind of awaken her change seeing as he was quite cruel to her in high school. I love that this story is of changing and growing, finding yourself and being comfortable with who you are now; but also accepting who you were, not hiding and running from it.
What I think would have made this good story great, would have been some more time spent with high school Olivia and Ben. Although we are taken on a couple flash back rides, I feel having more insight to who they were in their teens and why they were the way they were to each other would have been very nice for the readers to have.
I quite liked that this story had a moral. I enjoyed the topics talked about and the relationships that Liza created between the characters. I wouldn't really call a specific group out to read this book. If you are an adult looking for an easy and quick, fun read..look no further! Liza Palmer has your next read.
June 24, 2019
I read this book for the trim the backlist challenge.
I did not realize this was a sequel to another book. That said, this read as a stand alone for me. As a fat girl all my life, I appreciate a writer who identifies the feelings that go along with that. I know people who have lost all the weight and still identify as the fat girl so that aspect reads true. The con to the story for me was that there is so much internal dialogue. It feels like a lot of info dump and doesn't fell like it moves the story along and certainly didn't allow me as the reader to fully engage with the character. Still, I'm glad to read the story. Representation matters.
I did not realize this was a sequel to another book. That said, this read as a stand alone for me. As a fat girl all my life, I appreciate a writer who identifies the feelings that go along with that. I know people who have lost all the weight and still identify as the fat girl so that aspect reads true. The con to the story for me was that there is so much internal dialogue. It feels like a lot of info dump and doesn't fell like it moves the story along and certainly didn't allow me as the reader to fully engage with the character. Still, I'm glad to read the story. Representation matters.
April 24, 2017
Enjoyed this book so much. Fun, entertaining, but also a meaningful examination of what it means to be a woman, particularly in LA's image-obsessed culture. I can't wait to read more of Palmer's work. She is an important and authentic literary voice.
November 4, 2019
I've had this to-read for a while now and have always been curious about the average 3-star rating. I rarely (if never) read reviews prior to writing my own but I really wanted to see why this was so low. Surprisingly (because some of y'all can be brutal), most ratings were fair. Personally, I liked this book and would give it a 3.5 if I could. I love finding humor in dark situations and the author made me laugh while showing the main character, Olivia, going through a pretty serious time in her life. I did not know this was a spin-off so I did not have any bias towards Olivia. From what I gather, she was a horrible person in Conversations with the Fat Girl and, guess what, kinda a horrible person in this one, too (depending on your definition of horrible), hence, the point of this book - seeing yourself as you truly are and making changes.
September 8, 2023
I’m gonna be honest I only read this book because her last name is Palmer but it honestly wasn’t bad. Probably a 2.5 but us Palmer girls support each other so I rounded it up �
Read
April 5, 2017I think I need to rewrite Conversations now. Liza's books are the best, though.
June 18, 2017
I took this book to the beach today and enjoyed this light chic lit story. Olivia, a heavy girl in high school, now in her twenties loses the weight and seemingly has a successful life with career and a good looking doctor husband. However, losing the weight was only part of the transformation, Olivia has to deal with her "fat girl" inside. Enjoyable fast light beach read.
June 18, 2017
Liza Palmer is a road warrior of contemporary fiction.
April 15, 2017
Liza Palmer is one of my favorite women’s fiction authors. Lately, unfortunately, a lot of the quirkiness that made books like Nowhere But Home and A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents so rewarding has been exorcised from her writing. From the minute former fat girl turned skinny, successful publicist Olivia Morten runs into her old nemesis/crush Ben Dunn in the first chapter of The F Word, you know that the careful facade she has constructed for the past twenty years will crack like an eggshell. She’ll have to confront some painful truths about the shallow superficial persona she has carefully constructed before she has a chance to be truly happy, including embracing some of the Fat Girl qualities she has denied for years.
Getting there is still an interesting journey, thanks to Palmer’s skills at characterization and dialogue. With the story set in southern California she has plenty of opportunities to skewer our obsession with celebrity gossip, especially how easily our judgement of other women turns from positive to negative (and back again). I really appreciated Olivia’s close relationship with her mother and her mother’s two best friends, who are portrayed as real women, not caricatures of wacky senior citizens. I wish the book had been a little bit longer � I wanted to know more about Olivia’s past, including how and when she lost the weight, as well as how she became a successful publicist.
In the author’s acknowledgments, Palmer says that this book came about because her publisher had passed on her latest book proposal, causing her to throw a Hail Mary and pitch the plot for The F Word. I’m curious about the rejected book, and wonder if it had a more unusual plot (like a woman finding her calling cooking for men on death row in Nowhere But Home) that was deemed too far from the mainstream. Maybe she can self publish it someday � I bet it would have been even more interesting than this one.
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Getting there is still an interesting journey, thanks to Palmer’s skills at characterization and dialogue. With the story set in southern California she has plenty of opportunities to skewer our obsession with celebrity gossip, especially how easily our judgement of other women turns from positive to negative (and back again). I really appreciated Olivia’s close relationship with her mother and her mother’s two best friends, who are portrayed as real women, not caricatures of wacky senior citizens. I wish the book had been a little bit longer � I wanted to know more about Olivia’s past, including how and when she lost the weight, as well as how she became a successful publicist.
In the author’s acknowledgments, Palmer says that this book came about because her publisher had passed on her latest book proposal, causing her to throw a Hail Mary and pitch the plot for The F Word. I’m curious about the rejected book, and wonder if it had a more unusual plot (like a woman finding her calling cooking for men on death row in Nowhere But Home) that was deemed too far from the mainstream. Maybe she can self publish it someday � I bet it would have been even more interesting than this one.
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
October 31, 2017
“There’s the truth and then there’s the lie that people want to believe…�
Olivia Morten is an LA Publicist whose life would appear to be perfect. She has a perfect job, a perfect husband, and to all appearances, everything has taken a complete 180 from her days as an overweight girl in the local high school. Then one day she runs into Ben, an old crush from her fat days who forces her to question her transformation into this “new and improved� Olivia. This one meeting starts a snowball effect in her life that pulls away at the story that her outward self conveys to the world.
The F Word is full of insights into celebrity culture and our view of women. Admittedly, it’s not my usual kind of read, but the more I got into it, the better it got. The questions Olivia asks of herself are not unlike questions many of us may have about the perfect lives of people we don’t know very well. There was a nice symmetry with her job as a person who protects other people’s images versus her protection of her own. The “lie that people want to believe� is that Olivia, having lost the weight (albeit thru surgery, a detail which seems important) she is no longer “Fat Liv,� the girl from her past.
I can’t lie: I really liked this. It’s pretty F-ing good.
Olivia Morten is an LA Publicist whose life would appear to be perfect. She has a perfect job, a perfect husband, and to all appearances, everything has taken a complete 180 from her days as an overweight girl in the local high school. Then one day she runs into Ben, an old crush from her fat days who forces her to question her transformation into this “new and improved� Olivia. This one meeting starts a snowball effect in her life that pulls away at the story that her outward self conveys to the world.
The F Word is full of insights into celebrity culture and our view of women. Admittedly, it’s not my usual kind of read, but the more I got into it, the better it got. The questions Olivia asks of herself are not unlike questions many of us may have about the perfect lives of people we don’t know very well. There was a nice symmetry with her job as a person who protects other people’s images versus her protection of her own. The “lie that people want to believe� is that Olivia, having lost the weight (albeit thru surgery, a detail which seems important) she is no longer “Fat Liv,� the girl from her past.
I can’t lie: I really liked this. It’s pretty F-ing good.
May 13, 2017
A delicious smart novel full of laughs a novel that draws you into LA.The land of perfect bodies constant pressure to be beautiful.
June 9, 2017
Is this book about something? I'm 56 pages in and this is the first page that suggests that this book has anything resembling a plot. I'm so bored that I'm not continuing to find out.
On pages 42-43, I did enjoy the description of Olivia unplugging her phone from the downstairs charger to then plug it into the upstairs charger. Scintillating prose.
Total love/hate relationship with this author, but way more hate than love lately.
On pages 42-43, I did enjoy the description of Olivia unplugging her phone from the downstairs charger to then plug it into the upstairs charger. Scintillating prose.
Total love/hate relationship with this author, but way more hate than love lately.
June 17, 2018
I loved this book! It was fun and mostly honest. Some lines really resonate. However, my question is this: could Olivia’s ending been just as rewarding if it had gone in a different direction?
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