Member Reviews
I loved how this story showed Savvy and her journey to find a better stroger self. The story it felt more of a women's fiction than a rom-com that the cover kind of was leading to believe. I think the end message of her finding herself I really liked.
I found this to be a really good, fun, summer read. The main character was relatable. I also really loved all the tennis plays, because I am a sucker for a good sports romance with fun characters, and this book checked those boxes!
This is a heck of a lot of fun, and this author is definitely someone to watch. I love the positivity and it's the perfect amount of spice!
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell by Taj McCoy was the kind of contemporary romance that was also inspiring. Don't get it twisted, there is some spice in this book it is absolutely not closed door. However, I thought Savvy's story was inspiring. We open the book with Savvy who has made herself small and conformed her life to what her boyfriend of six years wants. He unceremoniously dumps Savvy because he wants an upgrade and she has gained weight/is fat. To which I say F him. Savvy is the catch in that relationship. However, this whole dumping sets Savvy on the path of making some life changes - engaging in wellness activities, making her house over, making her whole life over. Along the way, she hires this contractor who really revs her engine.
I think that some people got a wrong impression of Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell. The book does mention a revenge body but that's not really the point. It's more that Savvy gets comfortable and confident in the body she already has while implementing exercising and things that make her feel good. She still makes and eats really good food - which plays a big role in the book. I actually really liked a lot of how this book played out and was like oh, maybe I want to move my own body more and do things like yoga. She also finds a work life balance too. We see some of a romance with Spencer the contractor and his dog also steals Savvy's heart too. But more of the story was about her life transformations. The audiobook is narrated by Adenrele Ojo and is 10 hours and 6 minutes long. I liked Ojo's narration - so much so that the next book I picked up to listen to was also narrated by Adenrele Ojo.
I found this to be a good, fun, summer read. The main character was relatable. I could have done without all the tennis plays.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.
When Savvy gets dumped, she decides to renovate her life - she loses weight, hires a sexy contractor (Spencer) for her kitchen remodel, and figures out a work-life balance.
I didn't like this - its a hard pass. I'm all about a plus-sized heroine, but it felt like Savvy's life magically fixed itself. Not for me!
I liked Savvy specifically and that kept me reading this book through to the end! The connection wasn't as strong for me as written.
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell by Taj McCoy is an empowering and heartwarming story about a woman who learns to love and accept herself just the way she is. Through the relatable experiences of Savvy, readers are reminded of the importance of self-confidence, self-love, and kindness towards oneself and others.
Taj McCoy's writing style is engaging and full of humor, making it a fun and easy read.
Overall, Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell is a must-read for anyone in need of a self-esteem boost and a reminder of their worth.
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.
I love plus-size positive love stories and it seems like there are so many coming out recently that I really need to catch up! This was definitely worth the read and I'll be reading more of McCoy in the future!
This feels more women's fiction than romance, to start off with. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing!
This caught my eye because I loved the "makeover" aspect, but I didn't love that the body positive message got a little lost here. While Savvy, the main character, seems to be making herself over for the right reasons, the concept of a "revenge body" was troubling for me, as well as the reference to the love interest as looking "homeless." All in all, there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way for a book that I really wanted to love.
A great read about self discovery. Loved that it focused on her relationship to discover herself again over a romantic relationship!
I liked this book, but not as much as I wanted to. I had such high hopes based on the premise all the appeal factors. It just fails to get to where I wanted it. It was sweet and the friendships with the main character are delightful, but the concept of a revenge body is problematic and out-dated. I DO like that Savvy gets healthier and finds balance in her life both professionally and with her body. All of the right elements are here it just needed a little better editing to get it to that next level of being an absolute delight.
Savannah (Savvy) Sheldon is a hardworking, loyal person who sets off on a life makeover after her a**hole boyfriend dumps her because he’s ready for an “upgrade.” I hated that Savvy took his words to heart and started her personal renovation based on his criticisms. But I loved how she moved away from that and had real growth with the help of her friends and a cute contractor who likes her just as she is.
Actual Rating: 3.5
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell follows Savvy as she goes through a break up and turns that heartbreak into focusing on self-care and deciding what she wants in her life.
While this book is marketed as a romance, the story really focuses on Savvy becoming who she wants to be. There is romance, don't get me wrong, but the book is more focused on Savvy and her life. Savvy's love life is just one aspect of many that Savvy works on throughout the novel. Savvy explores her passion for cooking, starts playing tennis again, starts renovating her home, and explores her relationship with work.
If the idea of self care, food, and fitness intrigues you, I would highly recommend this. I was SO hungry reading this book! It was inspiring to read a book about a woman focusing on herself and figuring out what she wanted.
If your interest in this book as a romance, I'd say skip it. The romance is definitely there, but it is minuscule and interactions with the love interest (and Savvy's ex) get very repetitive.
While I was all for Savvy taking control of her life, the funny moments felt too forced. I wanted to root for her and her HEA but this ended up being a DNF.
I was lucky to "meet" Tej on Clubhouse, getting the chance to read and review her debut novel was especially exciting!
The best parts of this book were the food and friendships. Taj wrote Savvy to be an intelligent woman, who somehow has let her recent breakup get to her head, and inspires her to focus on a "revenge body" to get over him. While the plot had a curvy women of color / body positive theme that I was really excited to read, it was at times a focus that I lost interest in -- from calorie counting to tennis lessons, at times it seemed repetitive BUT it was saved by the delicious food Savvy created that left me hungry for more of those details! Her friends and family were so supportive and added great range to the story, I wondered if we would get their stories as well.
While the romance kind of took a backseat to the overall theme of Savvy bettering herself, I enjoyed her and Spencer getting to know each other and just wished there was a bit more to their romance shown in the story.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishers + NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review, and for having me on the blog tour, head over to bookaremagictoo.com for more!
This one gave me the same sensation as my get pumped diva playlist, energy at an all time high and brings out the joy.
I read the first 1/3 of this book, but could not read anymore. I thought this was going to be a book about empowering women, but it was not that at all in my opinion. Savvy's long-term toxic boyfriend breaks up with her because he says that she's "let herself go" and it's "time for an upgrade." And then Savvy decides with the support of her friends, to get a "revenge body." She goes to yoga and gets a trainer and throws out all of the junk in her house and devotes herself to "clean eating." I am not a big fan of women changing their lives and bodies for a man. As a woman who has body issues and have been overweight most of my life, this is not the type of book that makes me feel good. I was also not prepared for the amount of profanity in this one.
It might be my age, or my own history, but I just couldn't read any more.