This book fits in well with all the other body positivity books that have been coming out over the past few years. There are lots of readalikes to go with it.

Focuses primarily on the relationship between a fat girl and her mother who went on a weight loss reality show. Tension in this relationship works well but other relationships feel manufactured. Nice audiobook.

I loved this main character! She loves herself with no reservations. The author tackles some tough issues and hard topics, but does it well! I loved reading about this family's dynamics and how they change as one member goes away to college and another becomes a helicopter parent obsessed with healthy eating and dieting.

Savannah, the main character, is a short plus-sized girl who struggles with her weight. While her mother is just coming home from a weight-loss show that is kind of like The Biggest Loser type of show. However, her mother takes weight loss to the extreme and is constantly on Savannah and her daughter's cases to eat super healthy. It became super annoying and kind of triggering for me to read.

If I didn't enjoy the sister relationship I probably would have not finished the book. The close sister relationship was my favorite thing about the entire book. Plus, the romance wasn't half bad either. The book is predictable and nothing too special but what can you expect from a contemporary romance?

I breezed through the novel because it wasn't super long. Savannah is super smart and I enjoyed that aspect too. There are tons of diversity represented in the novel which was nice to see. Including mental health representation, weight issues, lesbian representation, and family dynamics including divorce. Almost to the point of there being too much diversity where it seemed forced at times.

The ending was kind of abrupt and the story randomly ended. I wanted to see so much more from these characters. I could see the book continuing into a second book. A critique that I do have only because I am a Gilmore Girls avid fan too is that the show is referenced by the characters visiting the set in Universal Studios. Although the set was actually at Warner Brothers studio where it was filmed. Where you used to be able to visit the set there on tour. I had to mention this.... that is just semantics of the author making a mistake. All in all, To Be Honest, wasn't anything absolutely amazing. It was just an average young adult novel. If weight issues are triggering to you be careful picking this one up.

Such a good and important read! Loved this YA romance and basically anything Swoon Reads publishes! I'd highly recommend this one!

When I first heard of this book I was very excited to read it, when I started reading the book I wasn't so sure, it's a bit slow starting. Though once I really got into the story I rather enjoyed this one.

I don’t read “fluffy” contemporary titles very often; if I do, it’s probably either because it’s a random, rare exception, a nostalgic favorite, or diverse in some way that I can’t pass up the opportunity to promote the story and author. To Be Honest falls into that last category, and as soon as I heard about this book, I knew I absolutely had to get my hands on it.

“News flash: fat isn’t a bad word, Mom. It’s the twenty-first century. I have blue eyes. I have blond hair. I’m fat. Literally nothing about my life is changed because that word is associated with my physical appearance. I’m sorry that someone taught you to hate yourself because of your body somewhere along the way, but I’m not going to let you pull me down with you.”

SO much to love here. I came for the body positivity and stayed for the adorable romance. I also loved that the girls in this truly supported each other and had each other's backs - this was as much about support and friendship as it was about swoons and feels.

This story reminds of me Dumplin by Julie Murphy and was just as fun. Aside from the diversity of the characters nothing really stood out to me in the plot but it was still an enjoyable read.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be.

It was better.

I started reading To Be Honest expecting a love story with the back drop of the issues of a fat girl. Since I am a fat girl (woman. whatever.), I was curious as to how the protagonist's size would be treated. Big people are not usually written about, and when we are written about - we usually hate ourselves etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book did not follow the formula I usually find in other stories. Beware - spoilers.

Savvy is having some difficulty because her sister, who is also her best friend, is going off to college - leaving her behind with the shadow of her mother. Their mother had been a part of a weight-loss show that appears to have had a less than healthy effect on her and the family. Aside from that, Savvy is busy focusing on her journalism efforts with her other, non sister best friend, Grace, and trying to figure out what is going on between her and Grace's cousin, George.

Instead of the focus being on Savvy's would-be love life, the focus was actually on Savvy herself. The author focused on the struggles Savvy has with her mother who back-handedly insults Savvy's body, the disappointment of having a father who prioritizes his new wife over his daughter, the adjustment of having her sister at college, and THEN comes the trouble with how George feels about her. Through all these experiences, we get to know Savvy - the anxiety and panic she feels in certain situations, how she actually loves how she looks, but is cut down by comments her mother makes, or when she thinks about how her best friend is treated differently because of their size difference.

Not once does Savvy turn bitter at the women around her for them being smaller than she is. Savvy's concern for her mother is more about her mother's moods and overall health than any kind of jealousy. Savvy has also learned to be strong - maybe too strong that is translating as too tough to be around, something Grace helps her to see.

Then after everything we have George. He is adorable as he is infuriating. Once he explains himself, it makes more sense - but I don't blame you if you want to smack him in the meantime. I know I did.

All in all - I was surprised when I turned the last page (not knowing it was the last page) to find the story had ended. This was not because the author failed to write a well-rounded story, no, it was because I wanted to learn more about Savvy - especially after her receiving validation from her family, George, and herself.

The only downfall for me about this story is that some things were wrapped up together too quickly, like the journalism project and Savvy's decision to possibly attend school for journalism. I was totally for that direction - I just thought she accepted it a bit too quickly for an anxious person haha (did I mention I also have anxiety?).

This was a book that I didn't know I needed until I read it. I loved everything about it and have never been so happy to feel like I (as in my body type) was represented in a positive way. The fat rep is wonderfully written (this is an own-voices novel!) and I just cried over how much I loved Savvy. The things she goes through with her mom being obsessed with crash diets and Savannah losing weight really hurt my heart but seeing her be so body positive and rising above her toxic relationship with her mother just made me so happy. This is a book my soul needed and I love it with every fiber of my being.

I liked this book. Having a strong main character is such an important part of a successful book and this book does it so well. Well written dialogue and plot made me really enjoy this book.

To Be Honest is an amazing YA Romance read. I love how it dealt with a plus size girl and the problems and feelings she faces. It looks at families, relationships, and how our self-esteem is intertwined between all of them.

Savannah is counting down the days until she can join her sister at college. In the meantime, she has to deal with her weight-obsessed mother's criticisms, her sister's discovery of life away from Savvy, and the mixed signals she is getting from her best friend's cute cousin. In so many YA books, the teen is the one fixated on body image or coping with an eating disorder, but Savvy is actually rather comfortable with her weight and body image. Her mother is the one that has become ultra focused on her weight after participating in an extreme weight loss show, and now her obsession is spilling over onto her daughter. Savvy is stuck between trying to support her mother and maintaining her own confidence in the face of her mother's increasingly pointed comments about her weight. This book is a welcome view of an issue that many teens and adults are struggling with in their own lives.

Eating disorders, anxiety, and familial angst are all serious subjects that too often are handled poorly, but not in Maggie Ann Martin's novel, TO BE HONEST. Her sharp prose was insightful as well as funny in all the right places. Thank you for allowing me to read this necessary book! I will keep this on my shelf when the right student comes asking for suggestions.

An amazing sibling dynamic and best-friendship. Wonderful discussion on extreme weight-loss shows and negative parent relationships, which are holy crap so realistic. The main character is an unapologetic fat girl and I love it. Nearly a five star read, but the only thing that kinda bummed me was that the relationship portion had a few miscommunication plot points, but one is very clearly driven by the shyness and anxiety of the love interest.

I really enjoyed this title. This is such a great book about body image and loving one's self, and pressure to conform to other's ideas of beauty. Savvy's struggle was portrayed in a very realistic way, and readers can identify with how people change due to these popular weight loss shows. This is definitely added to the purchase list for our teen collection.

I expected To Be Honest to be just easy summer contemporary read, but it is so much more. It very sweet story of falling in love, finding yourself and independence, but it deal with heavier issues, like body image, eating disorder and mental health. I especially like the the way eating disorder was portrayed, the way it slowly comes into your life and takes over and how it doesn't affect just the person suffering, but also the people who love him/her.

To Be Honest is a story of Savannah's last year in high school. She lives with her mother and sister (her parents divorced). After her sister leaves for collage, she is left alone with mom, but they don’t get along. Those issued get worse with time. After losing weight on show, her mom is determined to keep of weight and that include unwelcome advice to Savannah - All the time. It seems like all conversation between them is about food and it’s extremely relatable. She is trying not to let it get to her. On one of her best-friends family events she meet George, but they don’t get along at first. When she start to tutor him, they get to each other and develop friendship. The romance is slow but incredibly cute. :)

The best thing about the book is watching Savannah's character development, she is pretty amazing. :))

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I have to say that I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand I really liked it but on another I kind of thought it was kind of on the boring side. I guess this one is a take it or leave it book that will have you thinking about it long after you have read it.







Do I Recommend this book? Yes, I would recommend this one! If you are looking for something to end out the summer with I would say this would be a good book to check out.

Notes and Opinions: This one started really well but after getting into the actual story I thought it was kind of boring. But it covered so much stuff I felt that we didn't get enough of a story about any one issue she was dealing with. I really liked the main character but as I said before I just think that with this book being so short that the author should have chosen one or two things for the character to work on and ran with those vs. the amount that we got. Becuase it was just an overload and we don't really get to examine anything in any real depth.

The good things about this little book are the positive body images which this world so needs today. So many kids and adults are being body shamed and all they have to look to as a role model are tv shows like Insatiable that give a very unrealistic view point to losing weight.

For this one I really enjoyed what the author was trying to do but the doing just fell flat.

Go Into This One Knowing: Good Characters, Jumbled Story

I absolutely adored To Be Honest. This YA book has so much REALNESS to it! The characters are immediately lovable and the drama is realistic. It shines a light on body image in teen girls that isn't always talked about. I absolutely adored Maggie Ann Martin's writing and will be looking forward to much more from her in the future!

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.