Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell by Taj McCoy

35 reviews

allysonw_'s review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Prior to reading this book I had read a review that mentioned this novel felt more like women’s fiction rather than romance, and after having finished it I can see why someone would come to that conclusion. Although the romance plot was an important part to the story the MMC, Spencer, felt more like a support character rather than a male protagonist. Now the book did end with an HEA so I’d still classify it as romance, and I think the message it sent about self-love and self-exploration was great! As a thicker Black woman, I related to Savvy a lot when it came to being comfortable in your own skin and traversing the dating scene and looking for someone who accepts you as you are. I was satisfied with the ending and that Savvy was able to find her person in Spencer. This book is a solid body of work. I just would’ve fixed some of the pacing because it felt like the book kickstarted off well but sort of petered out and then picked-up a little over halfway through. I would’ve maybe liked some chapters from Spencer’s perspective instead of us only learning about bits and pieces of his life here and there or for there to have been even more moments of connection between him and Savvy. This is the first book I’ve read by Taj McCoy, and it’s definitely motivated me to look more into her work and see if what I felt missing in this one I can find in one of her other novels.

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beccabees's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I loved the main love interest! I wish Savvy had got to feeling good as hell a little faster.

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reading_rebellion's review against another edition

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Ugggh! I really wanted to like this one! I was looking forward to rooting for a positive, uplifting story about a curvy Brown girl MC but this wasnt it sadly. So many things just didn't hit the mark for me. The writing, the pacing, the narrator ( I listened to the audiobook), the characters and character motivation, the dialogue between the characters, the message. It left a lot to be desired. So many things fell short for me. I got to around 33% (Ch. 10) before calling it quits.

Spoiler's below

The narrator and the writing just isn't it for me. The narrator over does the Joanie southern accent in a stereotypical way and the men's voices sound flat, dull, disinterested and don't have any difference to them.

I didn't like the writing style at all. It's like it's overly written in some areas and under written in others. The way some of the secondary characters were written seemed overly dramatiatized. Like the lady at the salon, Savvy's mom, and Joanie.

Savvy's character is written in a way that makes her seem really insecure even for someone who has body and self esteem issues. I get she's a people pleaser but something about it just doesn't seem authentic or maybe just not relatable to me. Joanie's character seems to takes center stage more than Savvy which isn't great. I also didn't love Savvy's motivation for improving her health was for a revenge body and a man iccckk! The inner dialogue writing of comparing herself to everyone else didn't seem authentic either.

The fact that Savvy ignored her sexist, asshole ex's comments multiple times and still wanted to appease and even considered taking him back??! The fact that she immediately assumed Stephen was homeless just because his clothes were a little disshelved and tattered screams privilege to me. Like why was that the first conclusion to jump to without ever asking questions? They saw each other plenty of times to establish that earlier. I understand that it's set in L.A. where homelessness is an unfortunately extremely common thing and was used as a plot point but it wasn't a good one. I just didn't connect with any of the characters. Yeah it's a no for me on many fronts.

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kaykaysbookshelf's review against another edition

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3.5

What to expect: post break up, fat rep, neighbors, weight loss

I liked most of this book, but didn't love the way it handled weight loss. The friend group was really well done, and the romance could have benefitted form a little more development.

Spice: 2.5/4

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stateofiction's review

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3.5

idk why I went into this thinking it was a rom-com, but I quickly readjusted my expectations. this is definitely women's fiction about self improvement and self love with really supporting friends and a hot guy with a dog. overall I enjoyed this, but it just isn't something I'll think about again. I will say that this book made me hungry as fuck!! Savvy is a creative hobby chef and everything she makes is described in detail and.... can I come over?

however, while the food descriptions were phenomenal, the character descriptions lacked. I didn't even know Savvy wore glasses until over halfway through the book when she was getting contacts. I didn't know a character was holding something until they interacted with it further. it was just things like that that made me go "wait did I miss something?" and the answer was no it wasn't me it was the author.

also there is a HP reference in a book published in 2022 so shame on that.

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ohsnapsabrina93_'s review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Not really into romance novels but this one was cute story. Alot of challenges on the way, but the main character made it through & it inspired me!

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igood54's review

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emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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kyrstin_p1989's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I felt like this book treated fatness as a problem to solve instead of fully allowing Savvy to embrace her figure, the only way she begins to love herself is by noticing how her body has changed from the beginning of her workout journey til the end. To me, body positivity is about loving the skin you’re in without having to change yourself and this book didn’t really espouse those ideals. I liked the romance aspects and the friends made me laugh out loud often so the book wasn’t a total wash.

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leo_k's review

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The story was cute but it read like a wish fulfillment fanfiction. The plot is all over the place & what is the central tension?!

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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I have a feeling that this would've eventually gone in a really positive direction, but I struggle a LOT with reading about body shaming, negative body imagery, and verbal abuse. So, this was one that I had to give up at the 35% mark. I'm sure it's a great pick for others, but it just wasn't for me.

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