Alicia "Plum" Kettle is a 30-something, 300-pound woman who has spent her whole life hiding. She knows better than anyone that despite best efforts, it is impossible to hide from the world as a fat woman. Still, she does her best, working from home masquerading as the editor-in-chief of Daisy Chain, the teen girl magazine that employs her to answer fan mail. It's not the writing career she imagined for herself, but hey, at least she's writing. Plum's world is painfully small for someone so large, and she spends her time withering alone in her apartment, talking to her only friend at a local café, counting every calorie she consumes, and inching financially towards the freedom she believes weight-loss surgery will finally allow her to have.

Kitty Montgomery, said editor-in-chief, debriefs monthly with Plum to ensure she is embodying the confident, independent spirit and "healthy lifestyle" she herself is famed for. On the way to this meeting one month, Plum notices she is being followed by an ebullient, bizarrely dressed young woman named Leeta. Leeta works for Julia, who is in charge of the beauty closet at Daisy Chain but is really there getting information and dirt on the corrupt media company that owns the magazine. Plum finds herself entangled with the two, and as a result, with an underground feminist collective called "Calliope House," where she launches into a journey of fat- and self-acceptance and finally finds her people. Meanwhile, a guerilla terrorist group of radical feminists calling themselves "Jennifer" make themselves known to the world through shocking acts of violence, and before she knows what hit her, Plum is wrapped up in their takedown campaign of rape culture, beauty standards, and media practices that leave women with the short end of the stick. Who is Jennifer? How far will they take their violent acts?

Wow, this book left me absolutely floored. It accomplished so much and managed to be entirely absorbing while doing so! This book made me rethink my own fat-acceptance and body image and truly made me feel so much better. I'm not fat in the way Plum is, but I'm still a pretty chubby gal, and my confidence has really taken a hit over the last few years as I've grown into my body more and gained weight. This book made me feel so silly for thinking I'm literally worth less now that my body has changed. That's rubbish! The commentary offered on diet culture and fatphobia was extremely eye-opening to me and when I finished the book and looked in the mirror, I thought, DAMN! I look great! Haters can hate all they want but I'm already ready for bikini season as-is! The chapter where Plum recalls her teenage years and the time she went on the Baptist diet plan to lose weight hit me so hard. That's when this book sank its teeth into me, and even though I finished it yesterday, it doesn't show signs of letting go anytime soon. I could read 10 sequels to this book. I'm so sad the show got cancelled! I really wasn't ready for this story or my time with Plum, Verena, Julia, Leeta, Marlowe, Rubi, or Sana to end. I'm trying to live in Calliope House, too!

A lot of reviewers felt this book took a turn for the worst when Jennifer was incorporated into the plot and Plum stopped being such a carpet for others to walk all over, but I couldn't disagree more. I loved the anger and the feminism. I've never read something so subversive. We've heard so many stories of terrorism groups headed by angry men and we're never shocked, but the second that women fight violence with violence, it's unacceptable and too unrealistic to be taken seriously? I think if you feel that way, this book went over your head. I'm not saying I condone violence, but I thought as a tool in this book, it was very effective in getting the point across. Just like the TV hosts in Dietland, I couldn't help but rooting for Jennifer. I loved hearing the details of their crimes, as sickening as the catalysts for their actions all were. And beyond the feminist terrorism plots, I also loved Plum's own journey to self-acceptance and every instance of her fighting back. It was so uplifting, and I especially loved her 5 blind dates and how she learned to tell men to shove it. That was amazing. I'll be taking a page out of her book.

This is not a book for every reader. As I said before, it's incredibly subversive and undoubtedly controversial, hence its somewhat lower rating here on Goodreads. But if you have a decent sense of humor, would like a darker, more contemporary feminist story, like Ottessa Moshfegh's work or enjoyed Hank Green's Carls duology, you might just love this. I certainly did and will be thinking about it for a very, very long time. I'm STILL not ready for it to be over!