One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London | Book Review

Hello, book lovers! 💕

The following is from Goodreads:

Real love…as seen on TV

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers–and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition–under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men–and herself–for a chance to live happily ever after.

My Thoughts:

Okay, I don’t know what took me so long to read this book. I had it since June, and I just got to it this month. Then again, I decided to listen to the audiobook, but still. I wish I had read this as soon as I got it because it was so good!

I felt like I was watching a reality TV show, especially since the main character starred on one throughout the book. I don’t normally watch that type of TV, but for some reason, I really enjoyed it in this book. I was invested from page one from all the drama. I literally ate this book up like candy; it was so much fun seeing all those guys duking it out for Bea’s attention.

I think what originally drew me to this book was the fact that the main character was plus size, and she was into fashion. And that was something that I loved about this book. To say that Bea was badass its an understatement. She was so inspirational because she felt so real and genuine. Plus, you don’t usually see those types of people on shows like The Bachelorette.

The author handled the issue of body image so well throughout the book. It was especially apparent with Bea’s doubts that she had about someone like her finding love and deserving love. Not only that, but the fact that there were so many minor characters (most of the guys on the show honestly) who were so cruel to her made the whole story feel more concrete and relatable.

Being someone who has struggled with her weight all her life, I felt for Bea every time someone talked down about her weight and being able to find someone who will truly love her for her. I didn’t necessarily get it as directly as Bea did since she was on national television, but those thoughts and doubts that she had when she read comments online or had someone talk down to her about her being fat hit me pretty hard because they’re the same ones I have all the time. About whether I should indulge in that piece of chocolate cake. Whether I should wear something that shows off the rolls on my back. They’re all constantly in my mind.

Anyway, the whole story was a rollercoaster because of all the drama, but I was living for it all. Especially that ending! But I’m not going to spoil anything because I highly recommend this book if you like The Bachelorette or even if you don’t. This book is pretty much perfection wrapped up in book form.

So there you have it. Have you read this book? Do you plan on reading it? I’d love to discuss it in the comments below!

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