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A review by expressivekim
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-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
2.0
I had super high expectations for this book, and went into it wanting it to be a new favorite. However, I found it really hard to get into the love story when the main character spent most of the book lamenting on how men couldn't love her because of her size, feeling uncomfortable in her own body, and watching her be thrown into impossibly tone-deaf scenarios by a straight-sized character. I hated that the producer ended the book in a positive relationship with Bea. The sleeping around aside, it always felt like she was manipulative and it never was properly addressed .
I did really like Bea as a character. I thought she was funny and smart and relatable outside of the hatred she had for her fatness. I feel like as a fat person, I spend so much of my day having to navigate a fat-phobic world, and it was kind of triggering to read a book that so blatantly forced fat-phobia into your face. In those moments, the book went from a fun and relaxing read to something that required work and actively checking myself for negative thoughts. I personally would've rather seen an unapologetic plus size character and not had intensely triggering vitriol be thrown in. Although I respect the book that was written and can see why the author wanted to write it that way, in the very least the book description could've provided a warning about how intense the anti-fat rhetoric is for a lot of the book, both for the main character internally and for the wider plot.
Overall, the book was well written and it has a lot of cute moments. It holds up as a rom-com, and I did like how it ended. I think the intentions were good in the "learning to love yourself" and "being fat isn't bad" pieces of the plot, but ultimately it just wasn't what I was hoping to find when I picked this up. This would be better suited to someone straight sized trying to understand what it's like to live in a fat body, or a fat person who is just starting their journey into acceptance and self-love. For a person who had put in the work to love themselves and push back against fatphobia - this won't be a fun, lighthearted read.
I did really like Bea as a character. I thought she was funny and smart and relatable outside of the hatred she had for her fatness. I feel like as a fat person, I spend so much of my day having to navigate a fat-phobic world, and it was kind of triggering to read a book that so blatantly forced fat-phobia into your face. In those moments, the book went from a fun and relaxing read to something that required work and actively checking myself for negative thoughts. I personally would've rather seen an unapologetic plus size character and not had intensely triggering vitriol be thrown in. Although I respect the book that was written and can see why the author wanted to write it that way, in the very least the book description could've provided a warning about how intense the anti-fat rhetoric is for a lot of the book, both for the main character internally and for the wider plot.
Overall, the book was well written and it has a lot of cute moments. It holds up as a rom-com, and I did like how it ended. I think the intentions were good in the "learning to love yourself" and "being fat isn't bad" pieces of the plot, but ultimately it just wasn't what I was hoping to find when I picked this up. This would be better suited to someone straight sized trying to understand what it's like to live in a fat body, or a fat person who is just starting their journey into acceptance and self-love. For a person who had put in the work to love themselves and push back against fatphobia - this won't be a fun, lighthearted read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting