Scan barcode
A review by jackiehorne
Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon
3.0
Two “late bloomer” high schoolers end up fake/practice dating to help their reputations and to get themselves some experience with how to behave with a romantic partner. Plus size, Black L. A. high school junior Bethany, daughter of two former WNBA players, would much rather be cooking than following in her moms' and two older sisters' footsteps on the court. Until this year, she wasn't interested in dating or sex at all, either, but has recently started to "get" the fascination of boys, one boy in particular. But she's feeling pretty down after asking said boy to go to the homecoming with her and having him say no. And then being rejected again, this time by a boy she doesn't even like that much.
Meanwhile, equally romantically-inexperienced Korean-American Jake, whose body and looks have shifted dramatically over the summer, is asked by two different girls to be their boyfriend. But both end up dumping him when they see how passive/shy/unengaged he is with them (and how more interested he is in taking photos and videos for the yearbook and for his film class than he is in talking with them).
Jake and Bethany decide to fake/practice date one another, both to try to shake off their "undatable" reputations and to get some more experience with the opposite sex so they'll be ready when they want to date someone they really like.
Of course, both catch feelings—but the deadline for ending their fake relationship is looming...
This read more like a middle grade rather than a YA to me, perhaps because of Jake and Bethany's "late-blooming-ness." Their experiment felt awkwardly pragmatic ("OK, time to kiss now"), in a very middle grade rather than late teen way, but without the cringing self-consciousness that I would expect such kids to be feeling. (But perhaps that is down to both the economically privileged status of both kids, as well as to Bethany's two moms' successful athletic and broadcast careers, which seemed to give Bethany far more self-confidence than I might have thought a 16-year-old who is so behind her peers in the dating realm would have).
The multi-cultural and multi-racial composition of their school and friend groups was just taken for granted, rather than made a big deal of, which felt very true to Gen Z (or younger? do they have a name yet?) culture.
Three stars rather than four, though, from me, because I was wishing for more tension, and stronger romantic feels, than Weatherspoon gives. The book's intended audience, though (especially late-bloomers like Jake and Bethany), may find this story more compelling than 58-year-old me....
Meanwhile, equally romantically-inexperienced Korean-American Jake, whose body and looks have shifted dramatically over the summer, is asked by two different girls to be their boyfriend. But both end up dumping him when they see how passive/shy/unengaged he is with them (and how more interested he is in taking photos and videos for the yearbook and for his film class than he is in talking with them).
Jake and Bethany decide to fake/practice date one another, both to try to shake off their "undatable" reputations and to get some more experience with the opposite sex so they'll be ready when they want to date someone they really like.
Of course, both catch feelings—but the deadline for ending their fake relationship is looming...
This read more like a middle grade rather than a YA to me, perhaps because of Jake and Bethany's "late-blooming-ness." Their experiment felt awkwardly pragmatic ("OK, time to kiss now"), in a very middle grade rather than late teen way, but without the cringing self-consciousness that I would expect such kids to be feeling. (But perhaps that is down to both the economically privileged status of both kids, as well as to Bethany's two moms' successful athletic and broadcast careers, which seemed to give Bethany far more self-confidence than I might have thought a 16-year-old who is so behind her peers in the dating realm would have).
The multi-cultural and multi-racial composition of their school and friend groups was just taken for granted, rather than made a big deal of, which felt very true to Gen Z (or younger? do they have a name yet?) culture.
Three stars rather than four, though, from me, because I was wishing for more tension, and stronger romantic feels, than Weatherspoon gives. The book's intended audience, though (especially late-bloomers like Jake and Bethany), may find this story more compelling than 58-year-old me....