Review by jessicaraebailey - Sunny Side Up

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jessicaraebailey 's review for:

Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino

2.0

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was REALLY hard for me to read. As a confident, plus-sized single woman, I felt like the main character was an antithesis to all that I love about myself and other people. The first 60% of this book is rife with fat phobia, negative self-talk, and body shaming. And those themes continue to dominate the language of the book even after Sunny decides to lean into body acceptance (while noting that body positivity isn’t worth her time). She also based an LOT of her self-worth on the male gaze. It seemed that if a male character wanted to sleep with her, then she was feeling great! If not, she was tearing herself down based mostly on her looks. Nevermind the fact that she’s super successful in business and friendship, living in the home of her dreams and making a business come together in no time with no obstacles to slow her down and finding immediate, wild success there too.

Overall, I had a hard time relating to this character and her rampant negative outlook on most aspects of her life.

That said, once we got to the actual love story, it was cute. It’s the only reason this book isn’t a flat one-star for me.

Content Warnings