Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - One to Watch

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

12 reviews

crystalisreading's review

challenging emotional

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't watch enough reality TV to know if this plot was plausible or not. I questioned that a lot though. I know all marginalized groups are entitled to wish fulfillment romances, but it was hard to believe in at lot of this. also I didn't really like any of the major characters, and didn't really buy the primary romance. two minor couples were cute though, and fat rep is always good. I just wish i had found this more enjoyable than I did. I much preferred On the Plus Side by Jenny Howe, for a reality TV show fat romance

Content Warnings

bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

kingrosereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

2.75

I want to preface that this book lacked trigger warnings. Like you can assume some fatphobia (internalized and external) in books with plus sized main characters, but this definitely should’ve had some kind of warning.

I have to say I was EXTREMELY disappointed with this book. It’s marketed as this plus-sized, body positive Bachelorette-esque romcom and that is not what we got AT ALL. Starting off I saw a lot of people recommending One to Watch if you liked If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy. I also saw a lot of people recommending this book over If the Shoe Fits. And I definitely love Murphy’s plus-sized, body positive Bachelor-esque romcom over One to Watch.

I’m not going to do an in-depth comparison of the two books but I will say if you ACTUALLY want a plus-sized women who is confident in her body and has a heartfelt romance with chemistry, then definitely read If the Shoe Fits.

I felt like my own insecurities as a plus-sized woman were exploited in this book. I was anxious and irritated and upset throughout the whole book. So if that’s the vibe you’re looking for, then I guess by all means, read this book. But if you’re a plus sized woman and you struggle with self-esteem and body image issues or you’re currently struggling with the idea you’re lovable because of your size, don’t read this. Like seriously it would be an act of self-care to avoid this book.

So our “heroine” is plus-sized fashion blogger, Bea Schumacher. Bea’s described as being on the taller side of the average for women, apple shaped, and a size 16. Which is the average size of American women, so she’s really mid-sized. She’s also white and cishet. Bea’s currently in the throes of heartbreak over a guy she’s “been in love with” for 10 years, Ray, her “best friend”. Now Ray and Bea used to work together, and he’s never expressed interest in her except on drunken night when he kisses her before he moves to the other side of the country with his fiancé. Then he visits Bea and they sleep together (EVEN THOUGH HE’S ENGAGED) and then he ghosts her for 9 months.

Now she and her friend, Marin, love the Bachelorette-esque show…um….hold on let me look what it’s called…oh, the show’s called Main Squeeze. And yes, I JUST finished this book after finishing it in a day, and I forgot the name of the show the main character is on during the whole book. That should say something. Anyway, Bea and Marín love this show despite its complete lack of diversity (all white cishet and conventionally attractive people on it). Bea tears into the show for this and is eventually asked to me their next “Main Sqeeze” (aka their Bachelorette). She demands that the contestants be diverse in race and body size. And in the end there’s one plus sized guy (who’s personality was creepy…so way to go with presenting plus size people as desirable people. I mean he served a purpose on how even plus side dudes are dicks to big women) and 24 other men from athletically lean to gym rat buff (is it really so hard to have a bear of a man? You know the strong ones that are a little soft?). And of course there’s some black and Asian contestants thrown in there.

Throughout the book Bea deals heavily with fatphobia. One contestant fetishizes her, one doesn’t even meet her as he takes one look at here at the meet and greet and he just leaves the show, three of them want to “fix her”, one pretends to be interested until he’s booted off and really rips into Bea and her body, and a bunch of them outwardly mock her (call her a “cow” and look at her with disgust). There were literally 4 men on that show that weren’t revolted by her or fetishizing her. And one was asexual and aromantic and the another cheated on her!

The ENTIRE time she doesn’t think any of these men like her and they’re only there to get on the spin-off shows and/or build up clout. And honestly, even I was questioning their genuineness. She was advertised as being super confident and comfortable in her body, but she absolutely was not! She constantly accused these men of lying when they told her they wanted her. It just stressed me out and I genuinely could not see any chemistry between her or any of the guys. I liked Sam but he was immature. And I thought Asher was uptight and intense after knowing Bea for five seconds. I like some of the contestants and side characters individually, but couldn’t see Bea with any of them especially given her severe insecurities.

The three final contestants are Luc, Sam, and Asher. Luc is a Frenchman. Sam is black. And Asher is Jewish and Chinese. But shit, you wouldn’t remember that Sam or Asher were POC after they’re first mention. All the talk about how problematic the show is and how it’s had a problem with racism and homophobia in the past, yet the author couldn’t write two characters of color with more substance? Or avoid stereotypes with 2 of the queer contestants?

Oh that’s right! It turned out that Luc is bisexual and one of the other contestants is asexual, then Asher’s kid in gender non confirming. But all of these things are just mentioned in passing and just seemed thrown in there just for the sake of it being there. Not to mention that Luc’s bisexuality is played off as contributing to his promiscuity and unfaithfulness. Then there’s Marin who I JUST remembered is a lesbian. She’s just a side character that has like 3 scenes in the whole book. And her sexuality isn’t really mentioned after her introduction. Then at the VERY END she gives a flirty smile to Bea’s stylist???

I did think it was beautiful that Bea was able to realize her worth and accept she was worthy of love and to choose herself. But damn the journey was frustrating as hell. It honestly should’ve ended with her doing her own thing and MAYBE the epilogue could’ve been like “3 years later” and it insinuate that she was going to start something with the guy she ends up with.

After the scenes with Bea’s mom, I really can’t tell if Bea actually wants a family and husband or if she only wants it because her mom pushes that on her and she sees how happy her brothers have made their parents with their wives and kids.

Stayman-London really leaned into the French stereotypes with Luc. Like he’s overly flirtatious, sleeps with anyone with a pulse, and is unable to be monogamous. Just completely ridiculous.

I don’t know how I was supposed to root for Bea after she slept with Ray when he was engaged. Like I get having self esteem issues and allowing someone treat you like shit because you should “be so lucky” someone’s paying attention to you and willing to sleep with you (trust me I’ve BEEN there, but I was also 16-19 years old at the time, Bea’s 30). But there’s really no excuse for this. Like Bea was hoping that something would happen when he visited. And I’ve known guys like Ray, the ones that treat women with low self-esteem like trash then leave them and then only “want” them when the women are happy and in a relationship. It’s because they KNOW how the woman feels about them and the don’t want to be with them, but they want to make sure they’ve got that side piece on lock. I was SCREAMING at Bea for being an idiot about this man. Like it was so infuriating.

Also, Bea is mid-sized, which is a new term and does fall under plus-sized, and it’s not to say she didn’t face bullying, but to not have friends or romantic relationships because of her size? Ridiculous. Plus, there’s a scene that lists Bea’s grocery delivery and 90% of her food was junk food that she bought in BULK. Just screams stereotypical big girl. I’m not saying she wasn’t allowed to eat like a human, but my god! How can you preach in your book that we all come in different sizes despite diet and exercise regiments then basically blame Bea’s size on her diet and the fact she doesn’t exercise PERIOD?

Also, not a fan of the chapterlessness (??) of this book. I rely on chapters to get me to stop reading. Otherwise, I’ll just keep going or stop in the middle of scenes.

That being said, I did like the mixed media format. I’ve seen it before, but I REALLY liked how it was executed in this book.

And I’ll admit, I was here for some of the drama, but so much of that drama (like 90%) was a direct knife into Bea’s back and that pissed me off. Like I get that’s was these realities shows are like (which is one of the many reasons I hate reality TV), but it was just so unnecessary for a a book advertised as a romantic comedy. To be clear, I hate these kinds of shows in real life, but have found I like them in romcom novels, just not this one.

I also think the fatphobia was portrayed accurately. Stayman-London really nailed the passive forms and violent forms of fatphobia.

It gets points for being grammatically correct, it’s mixed media format, it’s accuracy on its portrayal of the various forms of fatphobia, and I guess for eliciting a strong emotional response from me. But I could’ve gone without reading this book.

Content Warnings

maggies's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I have fond memories of watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette as a teen, and this book felt both comfortable and exciting for its obvious parallels to the reality series! I loved, loved, loved Bea and her suitors, her family and friends - the whole cast seemed full and real, and the villains were certainly villainous. A sweet, drama-filled love story was just what I needed *chef's kiss*

Content Warnings

cmcryst's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

sgonzo's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

casey_sunshine's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

katelynisboring's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

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

charmainelim's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

More...