The F Word

February 27, 2017
A funny and fantastic lesson on how perfection doesn’t translate to happiness is served up in Palmer’s latest. Olivia Morton has the perfect life—she’s a top publicist for Hollywood’s A-listers; she has a gorgeous home and a knock-out doctor husband; and she’s undeniably thin and pretty. Yet Olivia struggles daily with her biggest secret: she used to be fat. A chance meeting with her high school tormentor and secret crush, Ben Dunn, sends Olivia reeling; the former fat girl self will no longer be silenced. As her perfect life is taken over by imperfect reality, Olivia realizes that her past and present can coexist and create a happy future. With only a few passages about Olivia’s big self, it is hard to truly empathize with how far she’s come. Her wry commentary on how a woman’s worth is tied to her weight in L.A. is both amusing and disheartening, but Palmer’s authentic humor carries the message with a hint of parody. This is a smart and sardonic novel with a genuine voice.

February 15, 2017
A successful PR associate must come to terms with resurrected high school demons.On the surface, Olivia Morten's life seems perfect: she has a rewarding career in which she finely orchestrates celebrities' public images; an attractive, successful neurosurgeon husband; a dream house; and of course, a flawless body. It's evident from the beginning of Palmer's (Girl Before a Mirror, 2015, etc.) latest, though, that a shameful secret lurks under this veneer: the memory of what she terms Fat Me, the "forever alone, overly emotional, out-of-control" embodiment of her high school self. Olivia has hidden her past so well that even her husband knows only bits and pieces of the truth, and in the image-obsessed Hollywood bubble in which Olivia works, it's vital that she never let herself slip. But a chance encounter with her high school crush (and tormentor), Ben Dunn, at a coffee shop inconveniently brings Fat Me to the forefront of her consciousness. And when the perfect volunteer opportunity for salvaging a celebrity client's reputation arises--at a Halloween Fair for foster children in the high school at which Ben is now principal--Olivia's forced deeper yet into her own personal time machine. As the Halloween plans progress (as does the sexual tension with Ben) and her marriage and personal life begin to fracture around her, Olivia is finally compelled to take a hard look at Fat Me and the person she's become in order to hide her. This leads to an arc of self-realization that's satisfying but somewhat oversimplified, implying that one can lay years of restrictive eating patterns by the wayside in one sudden burst of self-acceptance. Nonetheless, Palmer develops her characters well--Olivia is complicated, flawed, and reflective, transforming what could have been a flat, superficial novel into one that's by turns funny, painfully honest, and hard to put down (though descending periodically into cliched territory). Palmer uses a light touch to broach the subject of female body image, both in Olivia's mind and as a constant societal background hum--from the crusty baguette eaten only by the men at a dinner party to the way Olivia's celebrity client must be seated with her back to the restaurant, "to lower the risk of a photo of her putting food in her mouth." It's vindicating, then, to watch Olivia rise above the noise, even when it's as simple as asking for the bread to be passed to her at a dinner party. Honest and entertaining.

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March 1, 2017

Olivia Morten is the publicist to the hottest stars in LA, has a gorgeous husband, and has dropped "like a thousand pounds" since high school. She's loving her life, even though her husband has never seen her naked, her friends are dumb, and she can conduct an entire text conversation with her assistant using only emojis. She has been able to keep the past in the past, until her ex-crush and archnemesis Ben Dunn shows up at her local coffee shop. A quick conversation triggers Olivia's past high school "fat me" to come out, causing vivid flashbacks. The past torments her as she begins to try to live in the unconvincing perfectionist present. Palmer's latest (after Conversations with the Fat Girl) combines humor with the glamour of the L.A. lifestyle, rounded out with an adorable love story. Her protagonist is as likable as she is envied, and she cuts right to the heart of things as Olivia realizes that thinness doesn't equal happiness. VERDICT This novel with depth and a dash of glitz is recommended for young professionals.--Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
It's not the obvious f-word that haunts Hollywood publicist Olivia Morten, who has a seemingly perfect life. She and her handsome surgeon husband of 10 years live in a picture-perfect home, and she has a busy, successful career managing the reputations of two accomplished stars. But she's haunted by her fat (that f-word), insecure teenage self, even though she's long since shed the weight. When she runs into her high-school crush, Ben, a former football player and cool guy, her impeccable facade begins to crumble. She realizes her marriage has become a passionless partnership and her friendships are wholly superficial. Having Ben around brings up old feelings of longing, frustration, and self-doubt. Fans of Palmer's Conversations with the Fat Girl (2005) and subsequent novels will find the wry humor and honest depiction of relationships here pleasingly familiar. Palmer infuses her heroines with wit and warmth, even when they're melting down, making her brand of smart women's fiction resonate with readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)