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katsbooks's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
“No, Beatrice, 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.”
I really enjoyed the fat representation in this book. It's literally the reason I picked it up and, on that front, it didn't disappoint. I felt like I connected with the main character in a lot of ways. As someone who also navigates the world in a plus-size body, I found it refreshing to see the insecurities and fears that I've represented in a main character. That being said, it could also make it a little hard to read for me. Throughout the book, there are a lot of fatphobic comments and narratives. They are used to show the hateful things the main character goes through but some of them were incredibly triggering for me. I almost DNF'd the whole thing at one point because I had enough of a reaction to one of the "articles'' that were included as a response to Bea's announcement as the next "Main Squeeze." So if you are sensitive to explicit and derogatory fatphobia, please don't read this. I wish I would have seen a more sincere trigger warning for it before I dove in. While I didn't love experiencing the fatphobia, I did really love every clapback to it. It was so satisfying to hear someone say everything I wish I could in moments like those. Overall, this was a fun, flirty read with good commentary on the fatphobia in the media and fashion industries. My rating has more to do with that I've never been a huge fan of any kind of "The Bachelor"-esque TV. While this book was definitely entertaining, I realized that what I think I don't like about these types of shows is how a person can go from one date to another while all these people are vying for their love. Everytime I imagine myself in that kind of situation, I can't help but feel... I don't know, second-hand guilt? I've never been one to date more than one person even casually so I don't love the whole set-up. That being said, no shade to anyone that does. I definitely get the draw. My dating preferences are mine alone, obviously. If you're looking for something on the lighter, romantic side, this is a decent choice.
I really enjoyed the fat representation in this book. It's literally the reason I picked it up and, on that front, it didn't disappoint. I felt like I connected with the main character in a lot of ways. As someone who also navigates the world in a plus-size body, I found it refreshing to see the insecurities and fears that I've represented in a main character. That being said, it could also make it a little hard to read for me. Throughout the book, there are a lot of fatphobic comments and narratives. They are used to show the hateful things the main character goes through but some of them were incredibly triggering for me. I almost DNF'd the whole thing at one point because I had enough of a reaction to one of the "articles'' that were included as a response to Bea's announcement as the next "Main Squeeze." So if you are sensitive to explicit and derogatory fatphobia, please don't read this. I wish I would have seen a more sincere trigger warning for it before I dove in. While I didn't love experiencing the fatphobia, I did really love every clapback to it. It was so satisfying to hear someone say everything I wish I could in moments like those. Overall, this was a fun, flirty read with good commentary on the fatphobia in the media and fashion industries. My rating has more to do with that I've never been a huge fan of any kind of "The Bachelor"-esque TV. While this book was definitely entertaining, I realized that what I think I don't like about these types of shows is how a person can go from one date to another while all these people are vying for their love. Everytime I imagine myself in that kind of situation, I can't help but feel... I don't know, second-hand guilt? I've never been one to date more than one person even casually so I don't love the whole set-up. That being said, no shade to anyone that does. I definitely get the draw. My dating preferences are mine alone, obviously. If you're looking for something on the lighter, romantic side, this is a decent choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Body shaming, Misogyny, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment
sgonzo's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, and Body shaming
Minor: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
katelynisboring's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
1.0
I should preface this by saying I have never watched the bachelor or any similar show, probably for the exact reason of this book: a major lack of representation. The concept of the book seemed perfect. A bunch of men begging for a chance to be with a plus sized bachelor? Sign me up.
Unfortunately, this is not a fantasy and many instances have very real takes that just seemed to sit at an awkward middle between real and fake. For starters, there was a significant amount of purely violent fatphobia from online trolls, at one point going as far to say they want her dead or raped and most of the suitors/contestants are either fatphobic to her face, behind her back, or subtly. She was called a “cow” multiple times by the male contestants who clearly didn’t want an endgame romantic relationship with her. While this is a reality of dating, I genuinely expected this book to have 25 men excited to be with her, or at least half of them. There’s *maybe* 8 men in total who I can name, and most of them are awful (Cooper and Nash) or were written with a very flat, one note personality.
Worst of all there’s so many unnecessary, unexplored plot twists. For example:
1) Asher has kids and then it’s quickly no problem. Which I do feel might be valid since Bea wants kids and has nieces and nephews anyways, but there isn’t much as to why she doesn’t care that Asher has kids. Just that she doesn’t. Also- his son is labeled as gender nonconforming and still refers to himself with he/him pronouns and calls himself a boy. Unfortunately this read as most of the representation is in the book: it was there when relevant. Bea never asks what kind of support it would take to raise a child who is GNC in a cruel world, and even the son seems like he’s just there as a prop instead of a dimensional character. Within this book there is representation, but not in a way that gives the story any dimension. Bea never talks about them physically in any way beyond first impressions. After that it’s only as a relevant reminder “oh yeah, we have representation.”
2) Bea sends Jefferson home, and he says terrible, cruel things to her face, AND on national television. She’s just started being vulnerable again and while it’s made clear she’s hurt, she basically gets over it in a day. If she’s just begun this journey of vulnerability I truly feel like it would’ve taken MUCH longer for her to get over that level of hurt.
3) Wyatt reveals the experience has made him realize he’s asexual and aromantic and while I actually enjoyed this character development, it’s never something that anyone really talks about. It just all happens to work out for him on an emotional/social level and everyone moves on.
4) Bea walks in on Lauren and Luc having sex RIGHT AFTER Luc and her have sex. while she’s clearly very hurt and essentially refuses to talk to anyone, she still gets over it in around a day and is quickly on speaking terms with Lauren, and is able to be at least cordial with Luc. This was SOOOO unrealistic to me. How on earth, given the placement of this event with her character development, does getting over this event in a day or two make ANY sense?
5) Asher storms out and calls Bea a liar and a cheat - which arguably hurts Bea more than the fatphobic comments she’s faced throughout the competition. He doesn’t even show up to the reunion special, and never speaks to her again…untilllll….he shows up at her favorite museum (the one their first date was in) and begs for her to give him a second chance. I mean she *is* rightfully upset, but she also takes him back just as quickly. When her ex…bf? Best friend? situationship? showed up at the show she points out he had all this time to come back to her, to tell her how he felt, etc but he only did so on his own time. And talks about how deeply that hurt her. Asher as far as I’m concerned did the same but instead it works out as a happily ever after. He does have a more realistic apology, but it just felt like the author realized a happy ending might include a relationship, let’s give it to the best option of what we’ve got. Side note about this relationship though- they get engaged pretty much a year after filming. Which is just so odd to me because their characters are both closed off and untrusting, yet, a year feels awfully quick given how slow they both wanted their relationships to go. I’m sure these plot twists were to keep the readers engaged but at a certain point it was just redundant, the characters would resolve the “twist” quickly and it wouldn’t *really* get brought up again, and if it did it was just a reminder it existed, rather than really unpacking what just happened.
1) Asher has kids and then it’s quickly no problem. Which I do feel might be valid since Bea wants kids and has nieces and nephews anyways, but there isn’t much as to why she doesn’t care that Asher has kids. Just that she doesn’t. Also- his son is labeled as gender nonconforming and still refers to himself with he/him pronouns and calls himself a boy. Unfortunately this read as most of the representation is in the book: it was there when relevant. Bea never asks what kind of support it would take to raise a child who is GNC in a cruel world, and even the son seems like he’s just there as a prop instead of a dimensional character. Within this book there is representation, but not in a way that gives the story any dimension. Bea never talks about them physically in any way beyond first impressions. After that it’s only as a relevant reminder “oh yeah, we have representation.”
2) Bea sends Jefferson home, and he says terrible, cruel things to her face, AND on national television. She’s just started being vulnerable again and while it’s made clear she’s hurt, she basically gets over it in a day. If she’s just begun this journey of vulnerability I truly feel like it would’ve taken MUCH longer for her to get over that level of hurt.
3) Wyatt reveals the experience has made him realize he’s asexual and aromantic and while I actually enjoyed this character development, it’s never something that anyone really talks about. It just all happens to work out for him on an emotional/social level and everyone moves on.
4) Bea walks in on Lauren and Luc having sex RIGHT AFTER Luc and her have sex. while she’s clearly very hurt and essentially refuses to talk to anyone, she still gets over it in around a day and is quickly on speaking terms with Lauren, and is able to be at least cordial with Luc. This was SOOOO unrealistic to me. How on earth, given the placement of this event with her character development, does getting over this event in a day or two make ANY sense?
5) Asher storms out and calls Bea a liar and a cheat - which arguably hurts Bea more than the fatphobic comments she’s faced throughout the competition. He doesn’t even show up to the reunion special, and never speaks to her again…untilllll….he shows up at her favorite museum (the one their first date was in) and begs for her to give him a second chance. I mean she *is* rightfully upset, but she also takes him back just as quickly. When her ex…bf? Best friend? situationship? showed up at the show she points out he had all this time to come back to her, to tell her how he felt, etc but he only did so on his own time. And talks about how deeply that hurt her. Asher as far as I’m concerned did the same but instead it works out as a happily ever after. He does have a more realistic apology, but it just felt like the author realized a happy ending might include a relationship, let’s give it to the best option of what we’ve got. Side note about this relationship though- they get engaged pretty much a year after filming. Which is just so odd to me because their characters are both closed off and untrusting, yet, a year feels awfully quick given how slow they both wanted their relationships to go.
I’m genuinely sad the book worked out to be so disappointing. It had a lot of potential but the execution was deeply lacking on this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape
this book mentions graphic fatphobic trolls doxxing the MC & threats of rape as “hate tweets”jenny_librarian's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It started all right, but halfway through it went down in giant flames that make me say only two things: romance is a waste of time, and men are absolute trash.
The number one reason I rated this so low is the arophobia. Listen, I understand that many romance novels will have some level of amatonormativity. It's fine, I prepare myself beforehand. I thought this one would be better, because I heard about the aroace rep (which isn't as much rep as it is one of the guys figuring out he's aroace and being kicked off the show that very week, despite being one of only two viable choices at that point...). It's not. The entire book is filled with little digs that will make any romantic person feel like absolute shit. And when I say filled, I mean it's almost on every single page!
And that's not counting the acephobia that is just as present. Bea herself, the very chapter after being completely fine with one of the guys coming out as aroace (probably because she didn't have feelings for him) freaks out and believes none of the guys love her because two of them refused -- with VERY VALID REASONS -- to spend the night. That part alone destroyed all the good the small bit of rep could have done.
As I said, it started well enough. Up to midpoint, I was ready to give this a 4 stars -- with heavy TW. But it turns out that every single man (except one) she kept past that midway point was absolutely awful.
Luc is such a stereotype that I feel bad for French people. He's also the only pansexual character... whom the author also made sleep with everyone. Again, what could have been good rep completely obliterated by shitty plot points.
Asher is jealous and was horrible to her every single time anything happened with another guy. Dude, you can't be possessive on a freaking romance TV reality show! Huge red flag
And let's not even talk about Ray.
The only guy she had chemistry and a truly good relationship with, she let go because... they never argue?
The straights are not okay.
It's a shame that it was such a shitshow because there was some really good commentary about fat women and the way society treats them. The main character was realistic and I was really rooting for her, up to the moment it just dissolved into garbage.
The number one reason I rated this so low is the arophobia. Listen, I understand that many romance novels will have some level of amatonormativity. It's fine, I prepare myself beforehand. I thought this one would be better, because I heard about the aroace rep (which isn't as much rep as it is one of the guys figuring out he's aroace and being kicked off the show that very week, despite being one of only two viable choices at that point...). It's not. The entire book is filled with little digs that will make any romantic person feel like absolute shit. And when I say filled, I mean it's almost on every single page!
And that's not counting the acephobia that is just as present. Bea herself, the very chapter after being completely fine with one of the guys coming out as aroace (probably because she didn't have feelings for him) freaks out and believes none of the guys love her because two of them refused -- with VERY VALID REASONS -- to spend the night. That part alone destroyed all the good the small bit of rep could have done.
As I said, it started well enough. Up to midpoint, I was ready to give this a 4 stars -- with heavy TW. But it turns out that every single man (except one) she kept past that midway point was absolutely awful.
Asher is jealous and was horrible to her every single time anything happened with another guy. Dude, you can't be possessive on a freaking romance TV reality show! Huge red flag
And let's not even talk about Ray.
The only guy she had chemistry and a truly good relationship with, she let go because... they never argue?
The straights are not okay.
It's a shame that it was such a shitshow because there was some really good commentary about fat women and the way society treats them. The main character was realistic and I was really rooting for her, up to the moment it just dissolved into garbage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Bullying
Moderate: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Stalking and Toxic relationship
sderrig's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship
brokenbodybitch's review
3.75
Don’t get me wrong I love all the little representation in here like the ace guy and the gnc kid and I love how it was so blunt and from what I know about living as a plus person it seemed to be good representation for that however the plot itself was debatably good. I went from loving it to just wanting to get through it around the 60% mark but that could also just be because I hate reality tv and I was not the target audience for that type of plot. The writing style itself though I LOVED, the way it jumped between her point of view and the articles and the podcast or whatever was really cool and fun
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
charmainelim's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Full review here: http://www.charmainelim.com/2021/02/01/january-2021-wrap-up/
My second read of the year and it’s a 4.5 star book?? I actually gave a romance book this rating wow.
While I still would never call myself a romance reader, I think think this book made me appreciate the genre more. Without a doubt, I can only pick up romances that have deeper plotlines than just “will they get together at the end?” because we all know they will. I like having something more substantial to the story, something that really shows me more of who the characters are beyond each others’ love interests.
I’m glad I picked this up.
My second read of the year and it’s a 4.5 star book?? I actually gave a romance book this rating wow.
While I still would never call myself a romance reader, I think think this book made me appreciate the genre more. Without a doubt, I can only pick up romances that have deeper plotlines than just “will they get together at the end?” because we all know they will. I like having something more substantial to the story, something that really shows me more of who the characters are beyond each others’ love interests.
I’m glad I picked this up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity
toribryan's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming
Moderate: Infidelity
lucyhargrave's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying
Minor: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
reads2cope's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book repetitive and dull except for when it was triggering (infidelity, intense bullying, online harassment, and more) or unbelievable (the main character hurting/shaming other women while being portrayed as a feminist icon, the way some minority characters were written, the whole Morocco trip, and many of the podcast or fake articles)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship