Reviews with content warning for Bullying - One to Watch

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

86 reviews

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad 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

3.0

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

2.5

I was so excited for this book. As someone who, though I’m not plus sized, struggled with body image and low self esteem my whole life, I was ecstatic at the idea of a badass plus sized women taking the reins to prove that bigger women are beautiful and deserving of love, too (just like any body type is!). What I got instead was a main character who was similarly full of self-hatred and constantly believing that no one could truly love her, despite constant evidence to the contrary.
Now, having been hurt in the past, I can totally understand Bea’s outlook and her journey to discovering self-love was in itself a beautiful theme. However, I don’t think this was how the book was advertised and it’s not something I was prepared for. I wanted, like I said, the unwavering confidence and body positivity to help inspire me in my own struggles. So I think part of the issue is just the book being different from my expectations and that influenced my enjoyment.
Plus, Bea was a bit insufferable at times. I get it was her journey to self love but each page being “he couldn’t possibly be attracted to someone like me” was so repetitive, boring, and annoying.
And I would have also loved more male body diversity in this. It felt a bit hateful to me that Bea’s first thought was “well a heavier man I could settle for” when all bodies are beautiful!!
I did love the creativity of adding in interviews, blogs, podcasts, and messages. It created a mixed media novel and if the novel was just told in these forms, that would’ve been super fun and I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more.
But as we have it, it was hard for me to get behind because it differed from my expectations and honestly, I didn’t like the MC. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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infjkiki's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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leligavi's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

2.0

I was listening to a new book podcast and she recommended this book and I couldn't help myself. The Bachelorette is like a guilty pleasure. But to have it in book form is EVEN better!
I did enjoy this book. However, there were a lot of things I didn't love about this book.
I will say however, that one of the main criticisms of this book is not one I agree with. I don't think that Bea was overly insecure or untrusting. I feel like her feelings were totally realistic and I really could empathize with her. I mean, that would be a hard situation to be in when you're dating 25 different "Adonis" type men and being plus-sized and hearing EVERYONE'S thoughts about it. And then on top of that, having to parse through your insecurities and inner thoughts. I mean, I could only imagine.
I did see who she ended up with from the beginning, but I liked it nonetheless.

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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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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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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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