Good Luck with That

From the more than snarky title – since everyone understands the “that” adds a level of ‘you can’t do it” to the sentence, Higgins puts us into the lives of these three friends: Georgia, Marley, and Emerson. Told in 3 perspectives, the girls met and bonded at camp, after years of weight issues and the not so subtle put-downs of friends, family and society. But the loss of Emerson from this trio, brings up huge piles of guilt in their disconnect over the years since camp, as well as a set of challenges made from a ‘what to do when we’re thin” list composed in their teens. There is Georgia – brainy, beautiful and beaten down by her plastic surgery addicted mother, and brother with huge personality defects, to Emerson, shy and withdrawn, who finds a boyfriend after years of alone, only to see him control her with food and isolation, to Marley, one half of a set of twins, her sister failed to thrive and died at four, leaving Marley alone and ‘making up’ for the loss. These women have issues, sure, and the never-ending interior monologues about their weight, and how being thinner will change everything, allowing them to find boyfriends, success at work, more friends, etc… that is the battle they face every day: apologizing for being who they are, and wanting the same things as everyone else in the world. Surprisingly upbeat, despite the serious and often heartbreaking issues, these are characters that you want to have as friends, cheering on their successes, every little step should see them more confident, more in charge. Yet, with issues so deeply rooted, the task to not listen to the voices of discouragement, the judgy looks and shaming from other women, and the constant barrage of “ideal” thrown at us every day in media, they are all simply trying to survive and thrive, moving forward despite the fears, shame and failures. Marley and Georgia are wonderful characters, and they have issues that in a broader sense, speak to us all. Acceptance, being ‘good” enough, ignoring and stuffing down the ‘difficult topics’ with family to ‘get along’, even second guessing (and going through everything in your closet) before a date or gathering. We ALL do that. Those voices that question, nag, discourage or even demean us, FROM us, are often reflections of what we’ve heard (or felt) at different points. The trick, I think, is to use those to fuel forward motion and to discuss and unearth those difficult topics, before it takes the loss of a friend to set you on the path. Oh there are plenty of people who will bemoan this book and find it’s not ‘positive’ imagery to all sizes, making much of the near-constant rewind of the voices in Marley’s and Georgia’s heads. Or take offense to Emerson’s diary entries and her “OE” persona, as she reveals her own struggles. It’s not a jab – it’s actually quite clever: almost brutally honest in the scenes and secrets revealed, all of the ‘deepest darks” that we hear only in our own heads when feeling particularly down or discouraged: perhaps even on constant refrain, as these three had. It’s connections and similarities that bind us all, and with Marley, Georgia and Emerson, Higgins has given us three new friends who perhaps are more like us than different, at least in terms of hopes, dreams and wishes. I received an eArc copy of this title from the pubisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

I was emotionally moved while reading Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins. While reading this story I felt the story not only told the story of her characters but also described a scenario that affects most girls and women, of all ages, as they obsess with their appearance and the pressure of unrealistic expectations by societal, and possibly family, expectations. I was cheering on these friends who were supportive of each other, accepted each other flaws and all, and compassionate about each other’s struggle. Technology, air brushing, and the media have altered how one can or should appear, along with the expectation of what body image is normal. Women need to take back the fight, embrace themselves, and love themselves for who they are. It shouldn’t matter what others think but what they think of themselves. This book is a reminder that we need to love ourselves, just the way we are. Ms. Higgins wrote an amazing and emotional story that is not to be missed. In typical Higgins fashion, mixed with the teary emotional portion are humorous situations that brought out laughs and smiles. I struggled putting this book down, turning page after page, not letting go until I turned the last page. I highly recommend this amazing book t

Kristan Higgins, thank you. Thank you for writing one of the most important books ever written, for writing this year’s best book, and one of the best books ever written. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT is told in first person from the point of view of three overweight women, one being Emerson’s diary. Anyone of us who has ever struggled with their weight will recognise themselves at some point; those who have not will have known someone who has, even if only celebrities; others will have made fun of those “unsightly fatties”, and this book is for every one of us. The latter might find a way to understand that it’s not about not having willpower, about being weak, about being a lesser human being; that those who do not correspond to one’s “ideal standards” might deserve better than scorn and derision, and being bullied. Before writing my review, I read some other readers’ thoughts, and I was appalled that some reviewers saw GOOD LUCK WITH THAT as a book about silly women obsessing over food; I would suggest they have a second – objective – look at the book and try to understand, if only why that’s the way they feel about the characters and the issues. Kristan Higgins writes with extraordinary compassion, sensitivity, honesty, and insight about a subject that might be our society’s most disturbing taboo – fat women – without glossing over the facts. The author paints a picture of excruciating, painful clarity of what it is to be fat, to “think” fat, and Ms. Higgins has, in Emerson, Marley, and Georgia – and Mason – created unforgettable characters, so genuine that I identified with each of them in turns. There are the happy moments and heartbreaking ones, the challenges, the pain, the shame, the hope, the rage, the despair, the small and great triumphs. I gasped, utterly shocked, when I “saw” my own late mother in a few places. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT is not cute and funny; it is a very serious book, very heavy, and so very dark at the beginning, but slowly rays of light start slipping between those black clouds and soon that oppressive, crushing darkness lifts little by little. There are some moments of dazzling humour, as well as some shattering ones that had me crying so much it hurt. I hurt for those women, for myself, for you who have suffered this kind of pain. Yes, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT is about obesity, but it also concerns anyone who feels the need to become invisible in a judgemental society that basically denies them the right to live a normal life because they are “different”. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT might not be the book you want to read “right now”; you do need to be in the right frame of mind to get lost in it, but I sincerely believe that everyone should read it eventually. Come to it with an open mind, with an open heart, and let those characters speak to you. If you read only one book this year, if you read only one book in your life, make it GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, because it’s a book that really matters. Live. Be. Now.