Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

This is the story of high school students Bethany Greene and Jacob Yeun as they navigate having relationships and all the fun and not so fun aspects of high school. Bethany has discovered her attraction for men and wants to set the record straight that she is available unlike what everyone else thinks at school. Jacob on the other hand has had a few girlfriends. However, he has just been dumped by his girlfriend. His girlfriend wanted to move further in their relationship than what he was comfortable with.

I thought this was a great story with such diverse characters. I loved that normal topics about high school were mentioned and covered. I thought the author did a great job of making it seem normal. I believe these are great topics for young adults to be reading about and normalizing.

Content: Swearing, body shaming, talk about sex

Read if you enjoy:
Diversity
Dual Point of View
High School Stories
Romance
Coming of Age/ Character Development

Bethany is set on asking her crush to go to Homecoming with her, but when he turns her down, she decides she needs to do something. She agrees to go to Homecoming instead with her best friend's boyfriend, but when they break up, she has no clue what to do. Eventually, Bethany and Jacob decide to still go together and decide to fake-date to bolster their reputations. The only issue is fake dating never really is fake. This was a fun YA romance about two awkward teens whose fake dating turns real.

It's hard growing up in a family so cool that even your teen peers acknowledge it. Bethany does her best and her best is adorable. I enjoyed her friend group and how much this story relied on her finding ways to embrace her inherent talents rather than her being sidelined by body insecurity - as way too many of us are even post-adolescence.

Lighthearted romance books with a multicultural cast are too few and far between. This is an easy addition to the shelves for teachers and librarians.

DNF at 55%

I wanted to like this book so badly, but unfortunately, this just isn't the book for me. These characters read too young to me and I wasn't invested in the story.

This is such a well balanced story. The characters were trying to find their footing in a changing landscape between a child and an adult. It comes with mistakes, embarrassment, and friendship. The author brought back those feelings of wanting to get to know someone better, crushes, and self doubt. Throw in rejection and you have a great story.
The characters were so unique and vulnerable. I was rooting for them.
Enjoy!

I dnfed this book at 60%. I tried to stick with it, however, it bugged me that everything would have been good if they communicated better. Not just in the relationship but with their parents and friends too.

It's not the book I've read, but Her Good Side is cute, fun, and addictive. Fake dating is one of my favorite comfort tropes, and Rebekah Weatherspoon had a great take on it. Bethany's voice is fairly strong and entertaining, the side characters are fun, and the banter is cute. I do wish the characters were developed more and think the plot needed some work. Still, there's something unputdownable about Rebekah Weatherspoon's debut that makes it a quick weekend read.

The book was cute! Im definitely not in my YA romance phase anymore so it was a bit immature for me but i love the representation.!

This book was adorable, even to someone in their mid 40's. I have a teenager and thought this was pretty accurate to how the times are and what some teenagers go through,

This was the story of Bethany (a plus sized black basketball player with two moms - hey! GOOD REP) and Jacob, a photographer who struggles with relationships. They end up going to homecoming together, as friends, and end up fake dating. Obviously, we know where this goes.

The representation of so many things was spot on in this book. I enjoyed the friendships, even the family members. Cute story and definitely recommend- especially to young adults!

Thanks to Netgally for a copy!

Received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Received a free LibroFM Educators Audiobook.

If you want a fun, cute, good time, this is a great book for you. Bethany is a star basketball player, who hates basketball and also just starting to have interest in boys. Jacob is a yearbook photographer who is figuring out how to handle becoming “hot” after a growth spurt and what it takes to actually be in a relationship. They end up teaming together to help each other figure out how to navigate this new territory together by fake dating.

This book covers may topics really well. Bethany is a plus size girl whose mom pushes her to put in that extra workout and cut down on her ham intake for basketball season when she likes her body as it is. She is also trying to navigate wanting a different future than her parents have for her. Jacob wants to be a famous cinematographer, but with a less than stellar grade in his videography class, he’s not sure if his dreams of getting into an awesome college program will happen. There are also some talks of physical intimacy and having good conversations about comfort levels and taking it slow when you’re not ready yet. Throughout the novel, there are some lack of communication incidents which you would expect of teenagers, but Bethany and Jacob are always supportive of each other. Would highly recommend.

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to Razorbill for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. unfortunately this was a major let down for me. From the dialogue to the reasoning behind the fake dating, everything just felt so odd. The romance was great but it wasn't enough. Also those kids needed a damn breather, relationship after relationship. I think there was an attempt to reach the younger demographic here but it was honestly painful. It's a shame because I loved seeing non stereotypical YA romance leads but I hate that this was their story.

Are the allos okay? I mean is this really what it's like being alloromantic? It sounds exhausting.

I actually enjoyed this book despite me being consistently confused by the allocishets. Do I think that there is a stupid amount of crushes and immediate dumping and getting together with someone new throughout this whole book by all the characters? Yes. I do not understand. Did I still like it? Also yes.

I really loved the fat representation and the cooking representation. I loved the soft sweet nature of Jacob and their fake dating scheme seemed almost realistic even if it ended The way every fake dating scheme ever goes.

Now my one genuine concern was that for characters who have a plethora of queer friends, I refuse to believe that none of them know about asexuality or aromanticism. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are so much better educated about queer identities and you cannot convince me that a friendship group with a non-binary friend, a sapphic relationship, and a main character with two moms can't comprehend or understand what being ace or aro meant. And there isn't actual discourse on the page but there are questionable comments about virginity and how everyone would want to be dating or hooking up etc. Those type of blanket statements are dangerous and off-putting and aren't something that benefits any sort of story.

If you could get past the overwhelming number of crushes and relationship boomerangs, this is a cute YA.

Also though this book is not queer. I suppose a book with multiple secondary queer characters could technically qualify but for me a Queer book has to have at least one queer main character or love interest and that is not the case in this book.

I also think that this book would have been a thousand times better if Bethany was aspec. I saw another reviewer mention that it would have given some context to her crying after hearing that her best friend had sex and being so hesitant towards physical contact but she's instead labeled as a late bloomer. That's fine it's whatever but I think this book would have been more dynamic with that representation.

Bethany and Jacob are planning on going to homecoming as friends only. It's only slightly awkward, he's her best friend's boyfriend (now), but she already had a date (previous boyfriend). The guy Bethany asked, turned her down flat, same with another one. Sooo, Jacob's going anyway to take pictures for yearbook...it works. But by the time the dance rolls around, Jacob's had his second break up this school year! A proposal is made-obviously, they have no clue what they are doing and need practice. They should practice together. Fake dating with rules and and end date (!) is arranged.

I loved the way the friendship developed between Jacob and Bethany. They shared more with each other than they did their friends or family members. They did a pretty good job of talking to one another about boundaries and consent. I also liked how they supported one another's activities and struggles. I am definitely buying this one for the high school.

ALERT ALERT INCREDIBLE FAT REPRESENTATION!! AND SHE'S EVEN GOOD AT SPORTS!

Well I absolutely adored this book. When I say Rebekah Weatherspoon was attentive to EVERY aspect of this story. No character was static no matter how small. The story was rich and loving and I rooted so hard for both MCs.

All the stars!

This wholesome, funny, and realistic teen romance is great for fans of You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. The characters are so sweetly awkward, and everyone cares about one another. I felt like the author really based the characters on people she knows or facets of various people, because of how well she portrayed them.

I was charmed from beginning to endand would love to see more books by Rebekah Weatherspoon!

This was such an excellent book from start to finish, and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to read this one. Thank you so much to penguin for this story I really thought the story was so cute and I loved both of the main characters and I wanted to make this book come to life I have got to see this on the big screen please make it happen

i think the first thing i need to mention is the queer rep in this book. i’ve been seeing it mentioned a lot in marketing that it’s got a queer friendship group. and that’s true. but at this point in the book both our main characters seem to identify as cishet. we do have a few lesbian side characters, including the female main character’s parents being in a sapphic relationship, and the male main character’s best friend. we also have an enby side character in a sapphic relationship. *so* do with that what you will.

do i wish our female main character was on the ace spectrum… yeah. i just personally think it would’ve given bethany a lot more depth into her previous experiences and reactions surrounding sex and sexuality. and in my mind, it would’ve given me essentially an explanation to why she literally burst out crying after hearing her friend had sex (and yes, i know it was portrayed as being apart of her personality. she cries. a lot. but i’m just saying…) but who knows, could it be something, a term, an identity, she just doesn’t know of at this point in the book. maybe.

as for the actual story, it was fine. i think their justifications for fake dating was definitely better than some i’ve seen before, for sure. but it felt as though not much happened in this story but also somehow dragged a bit in sections? it took them like 20% of the book to get to their starting point of their fake dating, fine. but that was after he was already dumped twice and she was already rejected twice. then they fake date for a while. but somehow the ending felt so rushed to me? like, i wanted it to be a bit longer, but also not really. and that, i can’t really explain. but it’s definitely an interesting phenomenon.

also, saylor felt *so* eager to set them up like a literal day after she’d broken up with him. is that not strange to anyone else?? are the cishets okay??

also also, i know jake’s father made him go through the whole tattoo healing process but as someone with multiple tattoos, his father should not have even let him get one. he’s currently a junior in this story, so was like 16 maybe 17. yeah, that’s illegal in the state of california. legal tattooing age is 18, regardless of parental permission in that state and it’s likely jake was even at least a year or more younger. i know it was just one line. but anyone with tattoos would know that an artist wouldn’t risk that, even if it's their own child. (also also also, why does jake only ever wear his parents’ company merch?)

Her Good Side is a cute romance. With two perspectives to manage the story went by pretty fast and almost felt like it was over too soon. Definitely a very sweet novel.

This book was absolutely heart-melting! It was one of most anticipated reads of this year, and Im obsessed! This is a very important topic that may concern a lot of people. I'm happy that the story is told here and the attention is focused on it. I loved Bethany and Jacob so much they were really sweet for me and I enjoyed their story. Of the minuses, it seemed to me that the book is a little slow for me and I would like more action. In general, it was a very sweet young-adult romance and perhaps I would like to re-read it and enjoy it again.