Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - One to Watch

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

140 reviews

poisonpotion's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Pros:

Easy to read and fun concept.
Episode 5 and 6 were my favorite ‘chapters’ to read through.
When drama happens, it’s excellent drama.
There were few times where I truly understood Bea’s inner demons and connected with her.
The social media, e-mail, texts, and tabloid portions of the book did add some fun.

Cons:

Bea was one of the biggest issues of this book. I found her way too whiny, can’t go by one ‘chapter’ where she’s self deprecating, a hypocrite,
slept with an engaged man yet the book went light on Bea for that for some reason like only Ray is the bad guy
, switches from being self conscious mouse to sassy and confident for some reason, I had to suffer through her thinking of
Ray
way too many times, and just isn’t a good person yet the book still tries to convince us.
A couple other worst characters that got away too easily was
the producer, Lauren and Luc. Despite being one of the bachelors and the show’s producer, Lauren and Luc slept with each other during the EARLY season and didn’t stop until they got caught by Bea. Once again, the book went light on them like with Bea and didn’t really suffer from the consequences.
Despite being in the book for a short time, I still got incredibly annoyed with
her and Luc
The cast characters themselves are hit or miss. I feel like only 2 characters stood out the most to me while the rest are forgettable or unlikable.

Overall:

Book should’ve been about Bea and her love life than just making it all about her weight because it got incredibly draining (for me personally). They did do well in showing Bea’s insecurities about finding love and if she’ll make the right decision when it does come. Wish it was more of that and loving herself than hating herself due to her weight (yet confident?). At least this was an easy read and had drama to look forward to since it did help me finish the book pretty quick despite the issues I had. A shame because I really did like the premise of the book.

Favorite Quote:
“It’s the hardest thing in the world. To have been that hurt, to feel that afraid, and to know that the only way you can be really, fully happy is to risk going through it all again? It’s a terrifying choice to make. But if you want to let someone be that close to you, it’s the only way.” -Sue (Page: 197)

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rhysellnow's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Trigger warning for fat phobia! So this book is about a fat girl who becomes "the batchelorette" on a reality TV show and tries to find love. I'm generally not a big fan of reality TV, but I wanted to give it a shot after liking the True Love Experiment so much. As a general rule of thumb, I avoid internet comments like the Plague, so when the commentary about the shows decision to cast her was so disgusting and vitriolic, I was sick to my stomach. I know this probably an accurate portrayal and I get that the author wants to shock us with the sad reality of how shitty we treat fat people as rule of thumb, but I nearly DNF'd the book. It almost felt like horror if that makes any sense. The most intense hatred directed towards Bea is in the beginning of the book, so once I got past that, I really enjoyed the story. I spent a ton of time yelling at Bea, but I enjoyed following the her journey and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Some of the twists and turns were predictable, others came completel out of left field, but I was still on the edge of my seat for the resolution. I like all the different types of media you get in the audiobook, going between text threads, emails, blogs, and podcasts. Really fun touch.

I loved seeing Ace/aro rep as well!

I would try another book by this author, but I'll be wary of trigger warnings.

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crunchycrystals's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

had a lot of fun with it!!! thought the writing was pretty good and it was easy for me to guess what was going to happen but i'd say that's because the good writing made it clear to me what the vibe of the scene was or made it easy to understand character motivations. honestly wondering if i should watch reality tv now lol but it's never gonna be as good as this (plus all the conflict mostly comes from places outside of the normal bachelor villains so you dont need to see them that much after the first few episodes of the show). it made me want to keep reading and i haven't felt that in a while and i thought most of the main characters were pretty fun to read about

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tankytoon's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

When I picked up this book, I thought having a Plus-size MC would make me identify with the character more, but I was wrong. Expecting a book about body-positivity, I encountered instead a lot of cruel and hurtful comments that repeatedly stabbed me in the chest. Worst is Bea internalizing all these negativity as justification that she really has no other romantic prospect aside from douchebags who string her along.

For all her talk on her blog that she is above all the trolls, Bea succumbs to the slightest provocation when she joins a reality TV show supposedly to champion body diversity. Bea listens to the advice of an executive producer whose main concern is the ratings for her network, yet she discards the well-meaning words of her long-time best friend.

Bea comes off as a hypocrite with a holier-than-thou attitude, who likes to lay fault on others rather on herself for the bad decisions that she makes.

Like how she slept with Luc even after confessing her feelings for Asher, and expects Asher not to be mad about it.

I understand that she has to pretend to like each constant equally, especially towards the end when few candidates are left to keep up the show's suspense, but she did not have to go through it if she didn't want to. Especially if it's behind close doors where nobody would be the wiser.

I thought the conclusion would be the saving grace

where she rejected all the suitors and chose herself, and honestly, I would rather she end up with no one and be happy being single.

, but the contrived ending where everything is forgiven wasn't enough to convince me that the relationship she ultimately chose will last.

The book has a few faults, mainly that Bea's weight is the main character of the story, and is at the forefront of every chapter. It's like an insistent salesman telling you repeatedly that your car has two doors. I realize that Bea is a fashion blogger, hence the many references to trendy designers and the latest style are necessary, but I find myself detached when the author describes all the outfits. I was as bored as reading a long grocery list.

The only reason I persevered with this book is to make sure that Bea does not end up with the one she's wasted waiting her whole life for. The hope that she finally opens her eyes and see that whatever her size maybe, Bea does not deserve to be trampled on.

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sefrahudman's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

This book was so good! It was funny and had me laughing out loud so many times. It pulled all the heart strings and made me miss when I used to watch the Bachelor. Only complaint was there was a bit more swearing than I wanted, but over super entertaining book!

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katewylie7's review against another edition

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This book is supposed to normalise bigger bodies and show that having a plus size FMC dies not have to be unusual.
However I found that not only is the FMC the furthest thing from body neutral, but the author has used that as a plot point and really is the main storyline of the book.
It is filled with damaging, hurtful stereotypes and out of date thinking that could be very damaging to anyone reading this who has not had experience with this subject.

An interesting premise for a book but sadly, poorly executed.

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bleaksalad's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

One To Watch at its core is a fun read with a great message. Bea is a plus size girl who carves space for herself in an industry that has only ever wanted conventionally pretty, skinny women. Does it sometimes feel like overkill with her thinking that every problem she encounters is because she’s plus size? Yes, but us plus size girlies know that is in fact our realistic thought process. That being said, some of the moments where she was being ridiculed for her size or her thinking she isn’t worthy of love because of her size came off as sounding scripted.

My favorite part was truly the structure of the book. Having interviews, text chains, news articles, etc dispersed throughout was a really creative way to tell the story. Each chapter being an episode of the show was also a cute touch that made it felt like I really was watching reality TV. Now, I’ve never seen an episode of the Bachelor/Bachelorette in my life so I’m sure some of the nuance was lost on me here, but I can see how the format would be entertaining.

Overall, One To Watch is a lighthearted, fun read for anyone looking for a quick romance with a creative format and character diversity.

Also fuck Ray <3

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mdcasey's review against another edition

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emotional

Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.75

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sam_is_reading's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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