I really liked this book. I think it would be perfect for teen readers and is a great place for fat-friendly resources and for finding new people to follow. The book is beautifully diverse and I loved the fact that even disabled voices were included. There were a couple of essays that were a bit long-winded or repetitive and just fell flat for me but on the whole, I was inspired and moved. I highly recommend checking this book out, especially if you are just starting out your body positivity/fat acceptance/self-love journey. It makes you realise that you are not alone and there are so many more important things about you than your size.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

When I first saw this book on Netgalley, I felt that I had to get it because it’s such an important book, and I also wanted to know about the body positivity and fat acceptance movement. And I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to read this one.

I feel that this book is important for me at this age, even though it’s focused more in catering towards youngsters. In the world I grew up in, I don’t know if this would have helped a teenage me, but I definitely need it now. This collection of essays, poems and art by fat activists and artists is necessary because first and foremost, it’s about making you realize that every body size is natural and every person deserves to be respected and treated with dignity, irrespective of their size. It’s about understanding that our worth doesn’t depend on us conforming to the society’s beauty standards. It’s about not letting the prejudiced words of others affect us and loving ourselves the way we are and living our best life. It’s about finding a community of people like us who understand each other and can help in facing the struggles we encounter everyday. And finally it’s about fighting for the right to exist and take up space in this world, without worrying about people who feel uncomfortable just because of our existence.

To conclude, I wanna say that this is brilliant collection of writings by a diverse group of people and I think everyone should read it. I loved how representative it was of race, sexuality, ethnicity and this is important because being fat is just one part of our identity and intersectionality is even more important. If you have ever struggled with accepting your body for whatever reasons and would love to find some resources, then this book has lot of information in that regard. If you want to know more about the body positivity movement or be a part of it, then this book is good beginner primer. Or even if you just want to read the experiences of other fat people who are a bit ahead of you in their journey of accepting themselves, do checkout this book. I promise you will find something in these pages that will resonate with you.

A fantastic collection of stories, essays, art, and other pieces that not only reclaim the narrative around but also celebrate being fat. A necessary addition to all collections!

1.) The list of contributors: The range of voices included in this collection celebrating loving your body and telling your own story is incredible. From authors like Julie Murphy to illustrators like Jiji Knight, there is something for everyone. I loved reading essays from favorite authors, but I also adored discovering new voices and artists.

2.) The premise: As someone who is fat, it's sometimes hard to find solid representation in books, fiction and non-fiction. This collection celebrates a community of people whose bodies happen to be fat. They are men, women, trans, non-binary, white, black, brown, mixed race, young, old, disabled, neurotypical, and neurodivergent, and more. They are writers, artists, podcasters, and more. I wish I had this book for myself when I was a teenager, and I'm so, so glad that teens will now have this book.

3.) My personal favorite essays, Jana Schmieding's "Chubby City Indian," and Hillary Monahan's "Fatness & Horror: The Match Made in Not Heaven": Jana Schmieding's writing is lyrical and lush, my favorite style for creative nonfiction. She discusses her intersectional identify as a fat, Lakota Native woman and what that looked like growing up and as an adult. Hillary Monahan's essay smartly analyzes fat characters and horror, where fat characters typically 1) don't exist on screen, or 2) are the first to die because...fat, apparently. She highlights a few recent successes like Ghostbusters with Melissa McCarthy but rightly points out that these are still few and far between, not to mention the lack of intersectionality among those fat characters. If I could frame both of those essays, I gladly would.

Necessary, timely, and liberating. Manfredi has curated a phenomenal selection of fat creators. This would have been a revolutionary read for middle school/high school me and I look forward to putting it in young hands at the library now.

The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and the Fierce is an anthology of body-positive essays, art, and poems-- although mostly essays. Manfredi has collected works by a variety of fiercely fat individuals: models, bloggers, authors, creators, and more. There are a number of essays written to the author's younger self about how to find confidence and acceptance; a handful that cover how to be fat /and/ xyz (queer, POC, etc.); and so on. Some of the essays feel repetitive, but different aspect of the creator's soul-baring will speak to different readers.

This book is mostly for those individuals who are fat and secondarily for those who need to overcome fatphobia.

The Other F Word is an incredibly diverse and powerful anthology of short stories celebrating fatness, queerness, and self-love. This is a book that I wish I had as an awkward chubby teenager to lift me up and teach me I am so much more than just my body. This collection is filled with short stories, poems, art, and fashion advice from authors ranging from NYT bestsellers to indie newcomers! Some of the pieces came off as self-promoting or more capitalistic but overall it was an incredibly empowering book! I am excited for the release date as I will definitely be suggesting this for my library's collection.

A much-needed book in the YA nonfiction genre that will appeal to young people who are frankly tired of being told they should hate their body. Told via memoir-vignettes, poems, essays, and visual art, it takes a multi-voice approach to celebrating the miracle of the human body regardless of how much space it takes up or what shape it forms.

I would have liked to see more on the way body image is often weaponized against people of color (women in particular), or perhaps a discussion of body currency and the connection between fatness and loss of economic opportunity. It is also briefly mentions the Health At Every Size movement. More information would have better rounded the book, but at least it gives the reader something to research further.

(review does not include the book's visual art, which was not available in the ARC I received.)

I enjoyed this anthology very much. Body positive books are on the rise and the voices in this speak to that well. I’m really glad there is such a diverse group represented as well.

I think that, like Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, this is an important and necessary resource for young people today. The essays are written with heart and direction, in a way that is quite personal. I certainly appreciated the care that was taken to include a wide variety of voices - not every voice, but many types of people, including those who are often overlooked.

I think I was a little disappointed, however, by the somewhat repetitive nature of the material. Obviously everyone is writing their own experience, which can be similar to others' in many ways, and they are writing by themselves, without consultation to avoid overlap. But there are only so many pieces you can read about how allowing yourself to feel sexy regardless of size, or about how difficult but rewarding it can be to find clothing that expresses you the way you want to before you're wishing someone would take a new angle. The voices might be diverse, but a lot of it fell into the same sort of patterns.

This did not feel like a teen anthology at all, but rather something aimed at adults in their early twenties who had a rough go of it as fat teens. There is a lot of sizeism here (evidently people who are size 14 are not fat enough (who decides that???)) and some of the poetry was meh. I disliked the illustrations. Are the purple people supposed to be POC?

This anthology does a phenomenal job of bringing together authors from diverse backgrounds to address a singular topic. The resulting book is an excellent mix of body-positive stories from a wide range of perspectives. The mix of prose, poetry, and illustrations are fantastic. Highly recommended.

I love this book! Being in a society that fat-shames, it's hard for everyone and anyone to feel at peace in their own skin. I think this anthology could not possibly come at a better time, and should be read by teens and adults alike. I usually tend to skim anthologies, but I read and absorbed every page. I know my patrons will love this one, so I'll be ordering several copies. Thank you!!

This is a great, important, raw, real book. I loved every poem, essay, and illustration that was in this book. I usually tend to skim through anthologies like this, picking out titles that sound interesting and writers that I've heard of, but I had no desire to skim over or skip any of these entries. This is a great book for teenagers, but it's also a great book for adults. I particularly loved the poems and illustrations. I also loved the letters to past selves.
I look forward to recommending this book to people.

The (Other) F Word takes on modern fatness with an intersectional eye and a spirit of joyful defiance.

I’m so happy this book exists. I’m only sad that it took so long.

Editor Angie Manfredi deserves credit for her careful selection of topics and contributors. This anthology includes a wide range of perspectives with a thoughtful, intersectional approach. Not only does it include essays that speak specifically to the male fat experience (still hard to find in fat activism) but most of the essays discuss the ways that fatness intersects with identities along other axes of race, sexual orientation and gender identity, class and upbringing, and more.

Considering the number of contributors, The Other F Word is quite an easy read. Longer, denser essays are spread out and buffered by shorter pieces, poetry, and a number of illustrations.

While the anthology necessarily tackles tough subject matter, including frank discussion of bullying, discrimination, and shaming directed towards fat people, it always comes back to a bracing, hopeful tone. Even when discussing internalized hate, the contributors come from an angle of growth and resilience.

The anthology’s greatest weakness is its uncertainty about its own audience. The contributors seem to agree that they’re writing for fat readers, but that’s about all they agree on. The description calls the book “crossover YA,” which sums it up pretty well if “crossover YA” means “we want to call this YA, but aren’t sure we actually want to be YA.” Some contributors, like S. Qiouyi Lu, Miguel M. Morales, and of course Julie Murphy, very effectively write towards a teen audience. Others seem to write for an adult audience, one with a great deal of life experience and fluency in online social justice terminology. A few don’t seem to have any idea who they’re writing for.

On that note, be aware that this is a very, very mixed bag. A good handful of pieces were poorly-written, meandering essays that felt like half-hearted twitter rants. It was frustrating to see those articles next to such thoughtful, personal works. Hopefully, those weak links will get some editorial TLC before publication.

(Full review planned for publication September 2. Will include reviews of selected essays.)

A stellar collection of essays, poems, prose poems, cartoons, memoirs, and other work on being fat and learning to love your body. I wish I’d had this book around when I was 12 and at the beginning of being continually fat-shamed by my family. The diversity of viewpoints, including men’s, women’s, and enby voices, queer, IPOC, ace, ace, aro, and others is fantastic and much-needed. In addition r the writings in the book, it offers links to shops, blogs, Twitter accounts, and more that are helpful for and supportive of fat people. Give this to fat kids and their parents. Give it to your fat friends and your not-fat friends. Let it help you teach folx that fat is not something to be ashamed of, that fat people deserve the same expect as thinner folx, and that being fat doesn’t mean you have to be unhappy or limited in what you do.

I'm so grateful that I live in a time that there are many books about the fat experience being published! Awesome!

Most of this book did exactly what it was trying to do. There were a few of the stories that were more self promotion and trying to sell their book/blog/etc. but overall, this was very powerful and empowering. I loved the LGBTQ+ representation of the authors in this anthology. A very enjoyable read.

I LOVED this book and so wish that it had existed when I was an awkward, fat teen! There's such a great range of essays, poems, and art (in the digital ARC I had some of the art was still TK but what's in here is already great). I love how intersectional it is and how hopeful, helpful, and angry it is. Both affirming and eye-opening. I F-ing love it.

I am so glad this book exists and is aimed at fat teenagers in particular. My favourite essays were by Alex Gino, Amy Spalding, and Lily Andersen. Really great!