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A review by 0ivy0
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia