Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

2 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism

So, I had a few issues, and they're all spoilery content warnings, so:

one character has internalized fatphobia, alcoholism of a secondary character is barely addressed, one main character exhibits stalkerish obsession, one main character overly sexualizes a women who is just doing her job and also indulges sexist sexual fantasies about her, the "first time" virginity trope is used, anxiety attacks feel more like a plot device than a thoughtful character development, BUT there is some character growth to partially address some of these issues and there's some positive therapy rep (or at least the declared intention)

cover2covertx's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

3.0

This was such a fun, sweet read! The style was very much in keeping with Tessa Bailey’s sweet but spicy trademark.

I really enjoyed the professor angle and the secret admirer letters. She also had a lot more character development in this one and I appreciated the male love interest having panic attacks and struggle with anxiety. Not only is this subject not represented nearly enough but I think it was refreshing to see the male lead struggle with it rather than a female character. It made his character very vulnerable and even more realistic and likable.

I know a lot of Tessa Bailey fans like myself were really excited to see her write a plus size character, but I will say that was one of the only things lacking for me. I feel like this could’ve been touched on a little more and at times it felt like she was being fetishized rather than celebrated, which can be a fine line to walk w/ a spicy plus size rom com. However, it was great to see that the MC was still comfortable in her own skin and didn’t equate her beauty with her size or talk about diets or any of the other stereotypes authors get into when they decide to write a plus size MC.

Overall, a really fun cute read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC to review! :)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia