Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - One to Watch

gathering full thoughts !!

edit:

I was going to lay out all my thoughts on this book but I have so many and honestly, most reviews I've read sum it up very well! I went into this book expecting body positivity and a plus size character starring in a fun rom-com with some drama. Maybe it was naive of me but I wasn't expecting this book to be as triggering as it was in terms of fatphobia and negative self image; it was honestly a bit tiring. Otherwise the premise was fun but I didn't really love context of the romances (maybe I'm just not a reality tv person aha) and some of the narrative felt weird! Overall, not a huge fan rip.

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kegila's review against another edition

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3.0

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zombiewilhelm's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Y'all, this book. I could not put this book down. I think I stayed up until 2 am on Friday because I was so invested in Bea and her journey. The ups and downs of reality TV dating was wild.
The format is interesting. Mixed in with the storytelling are text conversations, slack channel conversations, podcast transcripts, e-mails, blog posts, etc. I thought this was going to bother me when I first saw it, but it adds to the reality TV storyline.
There are several great characters in this book, but I think my favorite is Bea's stepfather Bob. He's too pure for this world and he's just so adorable in how much he cares about Bea.
Things I didn't like: This book is on a bunch of lists of body-positive books and I think I was hoping that Bea would have had a stronger self-image than she did. She does a good job putting up a strong front, but she gets whiny throughout and is constantly thinking that none of the men could want her. I was hoping she'd live up to her convictions.

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reneebethreads's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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erinhanso's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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0ivy0's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

One to Watch is a plus-size romance exploring the diversity and filming of reality television dating shows. I really enjoyed this read and am surprised that I haven't seen many reviews and recommendations for it.

We follow Bea, a plus-size fashion blogger who drunkenly rants about the lack of body diversity withing the reality dating programme 'Main Sqeeze'. This rant gets a lot of publicity, meaning that she is invited to be the next 'main sqeeze' on the programme. She's glad for the opportunity but is still pining over her friend, she's adamant she won't find love, but is that all about to change?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found that it was very unique for a romance read. The characters are diverse in terms of race but also personality, with fantastically written and unique dialogue which shows the characters' personalities really well. Unfortunately, although there are discussions regarding sexuality, gender and gender non-conformity, all of the love interests are straight and cis, the majority of the men also being thin and muscular (though this is a discussion point within the book).

Dispersed throughout the text is an exploration into characters' texts and emails, as well as the media's response to the goings-on in the book. I found this really unique and interesting, really benefitting my immersion and experience of reading.

Although this is a fun romance, it was also quite difficult to read due to the constant fatphobia, from the cast, media and internalised fatphobia from Bea herself. A lot of the fatphobia was very realistic to what it can be like online. So it definitely wasn't the fluffy, easy-read romance I expected.

I loved the writing, characters and plot and would definitely recommend this book.

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

I didn’t want to put this one down! It’s a scenario where a plus-sized woman is cast as the Bachelorette (though it’s an alternate universe with a different show name of course). It has all the fun of watching dating show reality TV without the unnecessary side plots and over-hyped “most dramatic episode yet!” filler. I loved it so much, and I wish it was a real show! I would watch the hell out of that. It’s making me want to actually start paying for Hulu to watch The Golden Batchelor to bump up their numbers and convey that the world is ready for more diversity in reality TV.

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