I will admit I am the person that totally scans the People Magazines in the checkout line at grocery stores. I am also the person that excitedly grabs the popcorn the day a new rom com comes out. I have also guiltily tried weird fad diets and am known for overworking myself for promotions. I’m sure many people can relate. But these guilty pleasures and guilty antics are what makes “Daphne Duncan Can’t Lose” feel like it was written exactly for me. Author Jade Makana had me crying I was laughing so hard while reading this book.
Daphne Duncan is up for a coveted Vice President of Marketing promotion in her organization, an organization that has recently been acquired by a larger firm set to “do more with less” as is unfortunately usually the case. Working long weeks, grabbing the easiest things she could get her hands on, Daphne has quickly gained 20 pounds in six months and needs to reign it back in. She hopes this new celebrity Hallucination Diet will help get her body looking celebrity fit. Given her obsession with losing this weight, everything around her seems to be compared to her own situation, like those people that have time to somehow workout, have a job, and a social life, or the office lunch orders of all her favorites that she can’t dive into for fear of wrecking her diet, even the room in her office titled BPS must be for employees needing Body Positivity Specialists.
Moving through Daphne’s world of work and weight obsession was both hilarious but also relatable. I didn’t expect to feel so rocked by this humorous story, but sadly it is all too familiar for women navigating the expectations that the media and society puts on us. Ultimately, many women will relate to Daphne. Who hasn’t picked up a few extra sweets because you needed a “pick me up” after a crappy day? Who hasn’t skipped a workout to hang out with friends or see a movie instead? Who hasn’t chosen takeout too many times in one week because it was a hard week, and you just didn’t have it in you too cook at the end of the day? Daphne’s struggles, her fears, and her insecurities are a very real thing that most, if not all, women and men have felt. But this important topic, this very valid experience, is so well portrayed by Jade Makana’s witty, funny, and entertaining writing style.
“Daphne Duncan Can’t Lose” is a perfect mix of pop culture comedy and hilarious self-dialogue, making for a fun, and yet significant, read. Jade Makana has truly written a female masterpiece relevant to many.
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