Everly got a life makeover!

I’ll admit I’m the last person to watch reality television because I would rather read but I adored On the Plus Side. Everly Winters loves to watch On the Plus Side and lurk on their forums but she never expected to hear her name as one of the guest on the next season for her whole life to change with hosts Stanton and Jazzy.

I loved how Everly had to work through all of her issues with confidence and finding her style of clothing that would make her feel like a queen but she did it with style. But she had move on from being a receptionist to making her art her career with her growing friendship with cameraman Logan Samuel.

On the Plus Side is for anybody that feels like they need to step away from being a wall flower.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Jenny L. Howe for an ARC of this book!**

The last place Everly Winters EVER imagined she'd be is in front of a camera. Even though she's always been a huge fan of the makeover reality show On The Plus Side, where plus size individuals undergo physical and life makeovers (think Queer Eye with a dash of What Not To Wear thrown in for good measure), she would prefer to lurk on the "read-it thread" and stay out of the limelight. She's always dreamed of pursuing her passion for art, but feels her job as a receptionist is where she 'belongs'...and her mother's critical eye has only played on this insecurity.

But all of that is about to change.

When Everly finds out she has been NOMINATED for the ultimate makeover on her all-time favorite show, she's stunned, terrified...and yes, a bit excited. Was it her best friend who nominated her? Everly isn't quite sure...but she's hoping maybe she'll end up able to participate in the art Collective of her dreams and the shows two hosts will bring out the very best of her and a new confidence she's never known. And then there's the hunky guy James she's had her eye on forever too...could they be MORE than work friends?

And then there's gruff, flannel-clad hunky cameraman Logan. His grumpy demeanor is off-putting at first, but after a while, Everly starts to notice the twinkle in his eye when he talks to her on camera AND off...and she starts catching feelings of her own as well. But is there any 'reality' in this reality TV...or has this love triangle simply been orchestrated for ratings? Can Everly trust Logan...or is she simply a pawn in a ratings game, set to have her heart broken AND her dreams dashed, all in one fell swoop?

I was an instant fan of Howe's writing after thoroughly enjoying The Make-Up Test, a rom-com with a literary bent, where the bookish references flew fast and furious and the banter was reminiscent of Emily Henry's fun and quirky style. I was hoping for more of the same in this book, and as someone who is both a fan of shows like Queer Eye and ALL kinds of rep in my reading, Howe's brand of plus-size positivity. This seemed like a winning combination of story elements and writing style, and I was fairly certain I'd enjoy this read.

But when I say much of this one felt like a bicycle with flat tires...it's an unfortunate truth. While many would argue our MC Logan is far more likable than the male lead in Howe's last book...I have the opposite opinion. While I can safely say there isn't much to dislike about Logan, in many ways, this is part of the problem. He read more like a stereotype, from the bearded flannel lumberjack look, to his "gruff" introduction. As is the case with many of these type of reads, I had a hard time believing that he was so unapproachable anyway: he went from quiet to talkative and kind in no short order, and because there was such a quick transition, it lost impact.

Everly also read as a bit more young and naive than I had hoped she would be, I yearned for her to come into her own FOR herself, but it still seemed like she was more focused on impressing others...and fixating on her clothes more often than necessary. Yes, it's a makeover show and I know the author was also inspired by What Not To Wear, so the references make sense...but after a while, it just felt like overkill. I wasn't interested in hearing about EVERY single outfit she was wearing, especially those that just seemed a bit young or unprofessional for her (rather than unbecoming to her body type). I was more interested in her internal journey, and although this was discussed, I STILL felt like it was overshadowed at times.

There's also the "readit" (think Reddit) posts tossed in, which often felt goofy and inauthentic and the fourth act 'scandal' is MORE than a bit convoluted. It was nice to skip the obligatory third act breakup, but because the plot got so implausible, it still didn't quite land. As an administrative assistant myself, I also didn't like the implication that being a receptionist should just be a temporary position while you look for a REAL job in marketing (or in Everly's case, design). While this kind of job isn't for everyone, people work in different professions and roles for all sorts of reasons...and she certainly was able to utilize and hone her art skills both at home AND at work...but despite her life transformation, I'm not sure she ever came to appreciate that fact.

Of course, one of Howe's trademarks at this point is plus size rep, and she handles it well. I'm glad to see her continuing to tell these stories. With that being said, however, it did feel at times like we were retreading territory covered in The Make-Up Test, and maybe I was dreaming, but it honestly felt like certain passages by the MC felt almost paraphrased or just restated from her first book. While I realize the main themes may be similar, I sometimes felt like I was hearing the author's direct POV rather than the original thoughts of her different characters...and while Everly may not have been my FAVORITE heroine, she certainly had a unique personality...and I think COULD have had subsequently made some more interesting and impactful statements along her journey.

And although I won't say how this one ends...rest assured there's at LEAST a 50% chance of a Happy Everly After!

3.5 stars

#OnThePlusSide #JennyLHowe #SMPRomance #StMartinsPress

A celebration of just how human even those of us that are plus-sized can be! I am a big fan of reality TV. I love the drama, the ridiculousness, the feels, but I am not ignorant to the producer influence. This book helps illustrate the perspective from a contestant's side. I liked that. I also enjoyed the overall approach the author took to address the clear lack of body inclusivity that occurs. This book actually celebrated how no matter a person's size, they are still someone's cup-o-tea! I was a little leery that it would be redundant with specifically stating that the FMC is plus-sized at the beginning. It took about 25% before I was able to focus more on the story rather than the physical descriptions of Everly.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author Jenny L. Howe for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[4.75 rounded up]

Everly Winters loves On the Plus Side, a reality makeover show that focuses on plus sized individuals - and is hosted and produced by plus sized people. So, when Everly is surprised at work by Jazzy and Stanton, the two hosts of the show, she is immediately star struck. As she gets used to being around the cameras, Everly begins to see herself for who she is, no longer trying to hide behind her clothing or other people. To get to the end goal, she must endure difficult discussions and events - some real and some manufactured for the viewers. However, as a love triangle arc begins to form within the narrative, Everly begins to question who nominated her and why? When she finds out the truth, she will never be the same. Will Everly receive the transformation of her dreams or will everything in her life come crashing down?

As a plus sized person, I am SO happy to see someone like me in a romance - and not just as the butt of the joke or the ugly fat friend. I really connected with Everly's struggles of self-esteem, dating, and finding a career path that sparks joy. I quickly became attached to Everly and reacted alongside her whenever something good or bad happened. She was like the plus sized friend I've always wanted. It was a little slow in the beginning and one part of the plot really bothered me, but overall it was a super heartwarming book that made me feel seen. I could cry. Seriously.

Lots Of Grand Ideas. No Technical Errors. Plenty Readers May Not Like. This is one of those books that is filled with GRANDIOSE IDEAS it wants to communicate and build an interesting story around. And it does that. There are no glaring technical errors with anything about this book. The plot works within world, the characters are serviceable enough for the genre generally, and the GRANDIOSE IDEAS are all given at least some "screen time".

All of this noted, there are *several* issues here that individual readers may have problems with, depending on their own experiences.

The book opens with an author's note about why she doesn't have a problem with "fat" in the context of this tale + trigger warnings. Ok, there is a lot of discussion on trigger warnings at the front of books in Booklandia, with different people coming down on different sides there. Clearly, Howe has staked her position. Fair enough, but again, some readers may not like this.

Then we get into the various GRANDIOSE IDEAS as we go throughout the actual tale.

Self Acceptance. Noble idea, some may not like the execution of how it is explored.
Family Drama. While a certain family member is written almost as an antagonist... this is going to be one of those "antagonists" that at least some readers are likely going to agree with more than the main character.
"Reality" TV (and the lack of actual reality therein). This is a main driver of the plot, and for the most part works well enough. But there is a lot of social commentary here that I suspect won't hit as hard for many as perhaps Howe had hoped.

Others get more into spoiler territory, so I'll not discuss them here. But you get the idea. For at least some readers, this will absolutely be OHMYGODAMAZEBALLSAWESOMESAUCETHANKYOUFORWRITINGTHISMOSTIMPORTANTBOOKEVAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! level. I suspect that for most readers, this book will more likely fall into the "ok" - "good, but a few problems" range. And I do think that its 4.06 average across just over 500 reviews just days before publication (yes, I too read this as an ARC) is both evidence that I am right and, to my mind, roughly where its rating average is likely to pan out over time.

Recommended.

I was really excited about this one, but I got turned off pretty quickly by the foreword and felt like it just sort of overexplained things. I love to see representation of plus-size characters on the page, but there was just something about the stance it took that made me less excited to read this. So sorry that this one wasn't for me!

On the Plus Size is basically my catnip - a plus-size main character, reality show setting, and delightfully grumpy love interest are some of my favorite tropes. And on top of that, there wasn't a third act break up, which makes me so happy. This story felt believable with just the right amount of drama. I will definitely continue to read whatever Jenny L. Howe puts out into the world!

Since Everly's grandmother passed away, she has lived a quiet life. One of the bright spots is her favorite reality makeover show, On the Plus Side. Everly loves to read all the fan forums about the show, even if she can never bring herself to participate. Then, she finds out that someone has secretly nominated Everly to be one of the stars of the next season of On the Plus Side. All of the sudden, Everly's life is thrown upside down and on display every week on tv. Pushed out of her comfort zone, Everly increasingly turns to one of the show's cameramen, Logan, and finds they may have a surprising connection. Just as the show seems to be putting her life back on track to reach her dreams, the executive producer makes a choice that threatens all of the progress that Everly made, and the one relationship that has become the center of her life.

This was an engaging and well-crafted story, featuring strong characters and exploring interesting themes around confidence, family dynamics, and trust.

Highly recommended!

Thank you St Martins Press for the review copy of On the Plus Side by Jenny L Howe. This would be a great read for fans of the Charm Offensive and One to Watch, it was a fun combination for me of those two books while still being it's own story. I really enjoyed this book and what worked for me other than the general themes of body acceptance was that this book really was about Everly's own self-growth and confidence, how finding "your people" who are your genuine cheerleaders, who see you, can be transformative.

I also loved the chemistry with Logan, the secondary characters with Everly's friends and OTPS mentors, and I appreciated the blending of art and creativity with Everyl's story (her work, her goals, her ways of expressing herself, of connecting with people who understood her). There are some nice notes on grief as well that are nice depth without weighing the story down.

I’m so torn about my feelings for this book. I loved the premise; I was such a huge What Not To Wear Fan, and enjoyed Queer Eye as well, and the similarities of those shows in this was great. I also really liked the romance, and especially appreciated that there was not a third act breakup.

Unfortunately I don’t think this authors writing is for me. I am a plus sized woman who is always looking for more books with plus sized representation, and I just simply do not like the way she writes her characters. Which is 100% a personal thing, I am sure other people see themselves in her characters and that’s incredible, but is not the case for me. Because of this, I did not care for Everly. I hoped it would change as the story went on, but it did not.

I think there’s too much going on with the story. Some things would have been fine but something about them just went too far. The tattoo storyline was fine, but why was an apprenticeship necessary? Logan’s business plan was fine, but why were there numerous mentions of Brian his business partner, just for him to never actually be in the book? The Collective was a cool idea, which then just got brushed over. It felt rushed at times, because I think there was just too much that was trying to happen.

I think readers of The Make-Up Test will appreciate the quick appearance of Allison and Colin in this book. As soon as I read ‘cardigan’ I immediately realized it was them.

While this story was only okay for me, I can see that even one week before it officially releases it has hundreds of positive reviews, and I honestly am happy to see that. I hope that if you pick this up, it works better for you than it did for me.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This has What NOT to Wear Vibes (I swear the show On the Plus Side is Based off it)- but for a strictly plus size audience. It's a cute and fun read, but I did feel as if the chemistry between Everly and James/Logan was somewhat forced.

I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a plus size ripped rom-com and where there was growth and character development, it also felt as if it was full of fluff?

Maybe it was just my mood at the time, but I had hoped for a bit more from it!

On the Plus Side is a fun read! I'm not a huge fan of reality television in my daily TV-watching but I still enjoyed the premise of Everly being on her favorite show and meeting Logan in that fashion. This book was cute from beginning to end, and Everly and Logan were a sweet pair of grumpy x sunshine-ish, and I enjoyed their relationship and how it grew both on and off camera. I would recommend this one looking for a fun, easy romcom.

As a big girl myself, I felt the fat representation was pretty well executed; however, my only issue was Everly having to go through this big journey to gain her self-confidence. Just because she's on a show that helps her organize her life a bit, doesn't mean she couldn't have been confident in her own body from page one. I know this is a story a lot of fat people live through, myself included, but it would be nice to see some fat FMCs who were confident in themselves from the beginning without the help of some outer entity.

Aside from that, I enjoyed On the Plus Side.

Thank you to St-Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed listening to On the Plus Side, narrated by Zura Johnson!

Everly is alright hanging out in her secretary role and commenting on On the Plus Side reddit forums. Nominated for the show, she is thrown into the world of her favorite show. Next step? Rediscovering her art and not letting others define how she should look.

I listened to On the Plus Side over a few days and enjoyed the overall premise. Jenny L. Howe identifies triggers at the beginning and shares the topic of body size is featured (not in a body shaming way). As the book focuses on Everly's self journey, I appreciated the trigger early on to know it wasn't "fat bashing". While this book could be classified as contemporary romance, I'd say it more identifies as "finding yourself" fiction. Everly's inner monologue regarding her mom was truly relatable. Some of the male characters were hard to keep straight and I wish they were more easily differentiated- I quickly had to make notes. While that was a setback, I adored the little reddit thread comments at the end of several chapters.

Thank you Spotify audiobooks and SMP romance for my alc / earc in exchange for my honest review.

I am DNFing this book at 20%. I just couldn’t get past the main character ogling over the two love interest in this book I’m assuming. any time she was around them she always mention their jawline, or their eyes are their scent and I don’t know for this book it was just kind of an ick for me. I also didn’t like how thrown into this world you were you didn’t get any background information really you just got thrown right into it, I think if I continued reading this book, it would be a three star and I am really trying to DNF books sooner if I’m not enjoying them as much as I feel like I should be.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to preface this review but saying that I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, while it was an easy read, I did not either love or hate it - I would say I am indifferent to it. Despite it's aim to allow for more size inclusivity in books of this genre, it fell flat for me. While having laudable aims, it felt like the book tried to do too much - so much so that I didn't have time to connect with any of the characters. The main female character felt whiny, the main male love interest had no depth, and the "antagonist" seemed to come out of nowhere with no motive. While attempting to explore the main character's emotions, it felt like the plot fell by the wayside. I clearly see that I'm in the minority with regards to my opinion on this book, but like I said, while it was an easy read, it did nothing for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Everly Winters is content blending into the woodwork. She's fine with doing the work behind the scenes, but not necessarily getting the credit for it, which is why she remains in her position as a receptionist instead of pursuing her dreams as an artist. Everly also has a crush on one of her co-workers but doesn't have the confidence to pursue anything further with him and continues to let him use her artwork and ideas in his job.

She is anonymously nominated to be a contestant on a show she enjoys watching, "On The Plus Side", to build her confidence in her professional and personal lives. This nomination and experience are eye-opening for Everly, but she finds solace in her friendship with one of the cameramen for the show, Logan. Everly realizes that the crush on her co-worker might be superficial and that her feelings for Logan may be more than platonic.

I love the general message that the author conveyed in the story relating to self-acceptance, building confidence, and standing up for oneself in the times that matter most. I appreciated the author's inclusion of what she called "fat" representation, which is always important. However, the book fell flat for me for at least half of the story. This book didn't engage me as much as I would have liked. It lacked that "it" factor that books have when a reader wants to finish a book, which was disappointing. I'm not sure whether it was the writing, characters, or what, but there wasn't this urge to finish it like I've had with other books.

I also thought that the pacing was slower than I would have liked. I wanted more focus on Everly and Logan, which I didn't get until closer to the end of the story, and the main characters didn't act upon their feelings until at least 50% of the story was done.

The book was marketed as a contemporary romance, but I would say this book is more focused on self-acceptance with some romantic undertones. If this is your cup of tea, feel free to pick this up.

Jenny has a great way of writing plus size heroines that are relatable.

In this one Everly is perfect satisfied with flying under the radar being unnoticed. Until she finds herself on a makeover type show. A bit overwhelmed she ends of finding comfort in someone else, Logan, who is also use to going unnoticed because he’s one of the camera on the show. Their friendship is sweet and I enjoyed their relationship and how it developed. I loved how Everly became confident in herself and her body,

If you’re a reality tv lover definitely give this one a try.

This story was such a delight- I loved Everly- seeing her remember herself and get back in touch with her dreams was so relatable. She was deeply lovable and easy to root for and I loved seeing all of the normalization of fatness in just existing and living her life that Howe pulls to the surface in Everly’s story.

And Logan! Sweet Logan. I loved his grumbly protective side and seeing this love story come together. It was sweet and spicy and I loved seeing the way their relationship grew.

The backdrop of the show was a fun catalyst for the plot- I’m a sucker for a reality show setting and this one was no exception! I can’t wait to make everyone I know read this.

I truly wanted to love On the Plus Side as the concept seemed really wonderful - unfortunately the execution fell flat. While I loved the overall message of self love - the characters read really young to me and the major conflicts felt very unrealistic.

Thank you very much for the ARC.

Finally a new book by a very talented writer! Her romance stories are such a breath of fresh air!
Howe does not disappoint! If you loved The Make-Up Test you’ll love everything about her newest title On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe.
Talk about an absolute cute, sweet and funny story! This book was everything!
I loved all of the characters, I loved the banter between Everly and Logan, I loved all of the amazing references, all of it was just perfect.
I was instantly charmed by the characters. I know she is going to be such a relatable MC. This book was very well paced, with a great introduction to characters to make you like them, and a slower unfolding of all their complexities, faults, and strengths.
It was so easy to fall in love with Everly from the first chapter because she is so effortlessly relatable. The main character is lovable, and even though she is flawed, you can't help but root for her anyway.
A smart, funny and heartwarming story. That stole my heart while reading the synopsis.
I loved this book. It was sweet and romantic and the perfect book to get lost in.
It’s official…… Jenny L. Howe is an auto-buy author!

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!