Fugly

By: Jenny Rachel Weiner

Narrated by: Tavi Gevinson, Ethan Jones, Heléne Yorke, Timothy Simons, Josh Pais, Oona Yaffe, Noah Pacht, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Savannah Ruiz, Sofie Zamchick

From Executive Producer Elizabeth Banks comes this hilarious and heartfelt story about second chances that’s Never Been Kissed meets 21 Jump Street

31-year-old Lee has her dream job at tech startup Everfore—but being the youngest-looking person in the office means she's always fighting to be taken seriously among the bros on her team who treat her more like a kid sister than a colleague. When her boss challenges the team to develop the next viral app for Gen Z, Lee sees her chance to finally shine—even if it means going undercover as a high school student in the process.

Armed with her baby face and the jargon she learned on TikTok, Lee infiltrates Woodrow Wilson High to study her target audience up close, secretly determined to be a high school success this time around. Lee’s real high school experience was less-than-perfect; back in the day, she was included on the “Fugly List,” a hot-or-not summary of the least attractive girls at school, and spent the rest of high school hiding, even graduating early to free herself from the social shame.

This time, as Lee navigates cliques, crushes, and cafeteria politics, something unexpected happens—she actually starts to belong. She forms authentic friendships with a group of girls who remind her of everything she missed the first time around. They’re not like the mean girls of her Millennial days: they’re kind, hype up their besties, and are politically engaged. Lee struggles to come up with a pitch for Everfore that encompasses all that this next gen is about. She manages to stall her boss as she slips deeper and deeper into her high school 2.0 undercover identity...

Then an infamous "Fugly List," similar to the one that tormented Lee in high school, comes out...except this time, instead of being taped to every locker, it's public on Instagram. Suddenly, Lee must confront the trauma she's carried for years while trying to save both her job and the friendships that have become surprisingly real.

Fugly is a hilarious and heartfelt story about second chances, finding your voice, and realizing that sometimes in order to move forward, you have to go back to high school.

Available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.

©2025 The Cumberland Company (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

Sweet story

Fun light-hearted short story. Perfect listen if you need a quick break from the world. Good narration with different characters.

Light-hearted entertainment, great voices

Quick listen to keep me entertained while doing monotonous tasks. Favorite part was hearing different characters’ voices, especially those I recognized from shows.

The Voice Acting and Production

See title for my overall review! It was really cute and perfect for a pick me up when you’re feeling a little low!

Hilarious, nostalgic and moving

Really loved this! The story was fun and fresh, while bringing all the high school nostalgia feels. Sharp writing, stellar cast and top notch production. I was a bit skeptical of how the purely audio format would work, but I was completely hooked from start to finish. Highly recommend!

For young old

I liked it. I am old single woman who hopem she is still 21. It was perfect.