Review: On the Plus Side

 


So there’s this interesting trend of romance books set in reality tv shows over the last couple of years, and the ones that I’ve read have consistently had the same kind of tension. They want to simultaneously be set in a cutesy reality tv setting and be a lighthearted romance while also critiquing the exploitative, voyeuristic nature of reality tv (which from my perspective you can’t really get around). The results vary, and this book did better than some others because it actually addressed the problems that Everly encountered on the show, but there ultimately still tends to be an element of glossing over the more underlying problems. Whatever, I’m sure this doesn’t bother everyone, but it’s always hard for me to put aside. But beyond that, this book did a lot of things really well. It unpacked fatphobia in a really great way and was a lot more diverse than I expected it to be. Also, I do love a romance that revolves around a deeply protective love interest, not to mention a character who secretly loves dogs. So generally perfectly nice, but not my favorite romance ever.

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