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ginmeettonic's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
As a fat woman myself I really enjoyed this book. I loved that the main character's attitude. She didn't let anyone else's hang ups about her size or appearance affect her. I also liked the male leads attitude. Especially when he was talking about her. He learned from his mistakes too which was a nice change.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Bullying
westcdf's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is an incredible romance novel. Incredible! I found the characters incredibly lovable with rich backstories. Having a fat woman as the romance interest, and someone who is seen in a desirable light, was really wonderful to see. Additionally the sexual aspects of the book were more focused on giving her, the woman, pleasure, which was also great to see since so many romance novels have a male gaze. I read the ending twice I liked it so much!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
distilledreads's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was an adorable story that had me squealing in glee at all the fandom references. I feared that it would mock fandoms and cosplay culture, but it really celebrated and uplifted those communities. Dade’s debut was a genuine delight.
The premise of Spoiler Alert is that the star of a hit TV drama, Marcus, sees a tweet April posted of herself cosplaying as his character’s love interest. He also sees the vitriol of abuse April is being sent targeting her weight and asks her out on a date. It doesn’t go all according to plan, but they do agree to a second date.
Oh.
And Marcus also writes fanfiction and has become best friends with April through their fanfic aliases.
Marcus realizes this connection before April, which means there’s a big chunk where their mutual understanding isn’t equal which I don’t love; however, the overarching plot was something that I enjoyed.
It definitely requires a heavy dose of suspending your disbelief, but the rewards were plentiful. Dade doesn’t shy away from heavier topics though. The fatphobia that April has experienced through her life is explored in depth, as is the strained relationship it has created with her parents. This was incredibly difficult and painful to read.
As well, it did take me a little while to catch my bearings. The TV show Marcus stars in features heavily, obviously, but the storyline is explained piecemeal between chapters. Once I understood both worlds though, the excerpts between chapters became something that I came to enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
maryjanewatson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Bullying
thelittlebookishcorner's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I will sit down and re-read this one. I enjoyed April and Marcus and their chemistry, and the spice was good ;)
~ spoiler free ~
I loved reading about a plus size main character who didn't want to alter or change her body for her partner. April was a strong woman who liked herself and her body and who enjoyed her sexuality. Marcus was a kind and sensitive partner, who had his own self worth issues and body image issues. I enjoyed the spice and how much Marcus appreciated April and made her feel loved. I thought the side characters (Alex, and the rest of Marcus' cast mates) were interesting and I will seek out the rest in the series. It was cute, funny, and had some good spice.
~ spoilers below ~
More things I liked:
- April setting boundaries with her parents and other people who made her question her self worth.
- Marcus setting boundaries with his parents too.
- I loved their love scenes
- Alex was a fun side character - he is a little shit and I cannot wait to read the next book which is about him.
~ spoiler free ~
I loved reading about a plus size main character who didn't want to alter or change her body for her partner. April was a strong woman who liked herself and her body and who enjoyed her sexuality. Marcus was a kind and sensitive partner, who had his own self worth issues and body image issues. I enjoyed the spice and how much Marcus appreciated April and made her feel loved. I thought the side characters (Alex, and the rest of Marcus' cast mates) were interesting and I will seek out the rest in the series. It was cute, funny, and had some good spice.
~ spoilers below ~
More things I liked:
- April setting boundaries with her parents and other people who made her question her self worth.
- Marcus setting boundaries with his parents too.
- I loved their love scenes
- Alex was a fun side character - he is a little shit and I cannot wait to read the next book which is about him.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, and Eating disorder
books_bunny's review
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Just because I gave this book 2 ⭐️ doesn’t mean I thought this book was a bad book.
The body positivity within this book was really well executed. As the main character, April, is a plus sized woman in some books there can be a fine line of fat shaming coming through in the writing, in this book I didn’t feel that at all. Whilst some characters in the book are indeed fat phobic they are side characters and normally confronted about their views. Similarly, there is a lot of emotional abuse done to both main characters by their parents, including child neglect in the main characters past which has followed them their whole life and comes out in different ways in their daily lives. Throughout this book we follow both characters come to terms with this abuse and start to stand up for themselves against it. Having the other main character, Marcus, going through his own individual issues gave his character their own emotional battles to fight. I enjoyed this as it made April seem less like she needed to be ‘saved’ and instead made their relationship a lot more two sided with them both being there for each other.
On the other hand, I did feel like this book had a lot of issues as well. From the offset it is very obvious what the main disagreement in this book was going to be about but the whole books talks about bigger possible risks, and yet, do these ever come to be? No, in the end it comes to fruition through one of the side characters instead. If the main thing that keeps being mentioned ends up happening to a side character instead I personally would of preferred to be following them the whole time. I also felt no connection between these 2 main characters and that the whole middle section of this book was for nothing since not a lot happened other than a couple of steamy sex scenes which I thought were good but didn’t save that section. However, the beginning and end were enjoyable.
If you are an adult looking for a romance book with several steamy scenes or characters standing up to emotional trauma then I would recommend checking this book out. However, for me personally this book just didn’t quite keep me interested for the whole 400 pages. Since the next book in this series focuses on the character Alex and his love interest, who in this book had the storyline I was much more interested in, I hope that it’s plot is more enjoyable and intriguing where I found this one was just generic and a little unmemorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
Minor: Body shaming and Bullying
rainstormdragon's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Really great depiction of the world of fanfiction and its appeal to fans, as well as the betrayal felt from scriptwriters throwing away plotting and character development for shock value! I enjoyed this book a lot. Making the fics themselves so much a part of the book made it even better. A good balance of steaminess, humor, and angst with maybe a little more angst than I would have liked. But the characters were very well developed and their internal conflicts resolved in ways consistent with their characters. This book is not for the reader who wants their characters flawless, though! They both make some pretty big mistakes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Minor: Eating disorder and Bullying
Trigger warnings: The heroine is naturally plus-sized and has accepted that about herself but is still sensitive about others commenting on it, especially her mother, who is obsessed with herself and her daughter staying slim. She struggles with insecurity around relationships because she is afraid she will not be accepted for who she is. She also is shown dealing with some online hate after posting a picture of herself in cosplay. The hero is dyslexic and his academic parents homeschooled him in a way that ended up being pretty traumatic for him as he could never succeed by their standards. He has been made to feel that he is not intelligent enough and developed a cheerful, dumb on screen persona that he now doesn't know how to escape.betweentheshelves's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There is so much to love about this book. A fat-positive romance with characters that have great chemistry. Entertaining and engaging, even it if was a bit predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
expressivekim's review
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
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Bullying and Eating disorder
larxaa's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Bullying