Review: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he's known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster.  Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet’s favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he’d be fired. Immediately.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her “real life” for years—but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus, one half of her OTP, sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realizes life is really stranger than fanfiction.

Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she’s actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her.

With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

Review: This was the body positive romance I had been waiting for. This featured all of favourite tropes in there or the tropes I love in a novel anyways. We had characters who were thoughtful and intelligent. Characters who were relatable and lots of lovely consensual hot sex. 

April is a great main character because she is confident about her body and proud of being fat and beautiful but she also has the same kind of hang ups and insecurities that we all have. I loved the fact that she had a separate online persona to her real world persona and I found that very very easy to relate to. She is also confident in herself and her beliefs and it is clear that she doesn't need a partner to validate who she is or where she is in life. She was an intelligent breath of fresh air and I was rooting for her all the way through the novel. 

Marcus is an interesting character because he has that celebrity about him. I have found that I actually really like when we get a little look into celebrity culture in a book and this is really well written because his character isn't just his celebrity lifestyle. We get to hear about his past, his hidden geeky side and his learning disability. All of these things should be normalised and well done to this author for taking massive steps in that direction.. 

Then we have the sex. The sex in this book is wonderful and sexy and hot and I was here for every sexual act on the page. I love the way this writer described her characters right down to the feeling of their skin and the smell of them and that added to the quality fo the build up and the romance before the sex itself. This book also features some convention action and I have realised that I love a convention in a novel. It bring back memories of Book Expo in NYC and it makes me happy so I really enjoyed those scenes in the book almost as much as the sex scenes. 

If you're looking for a romance with a realistic fat heroine and a bit of celebrity gossip then I highly recommend this novel. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favour to ask. Daphne hasn't spoken one word to Drue in all this time - she doesn't even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media - so when Drue asks if she will be her maid of honour at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

Drue was always the one who had everything - except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne's no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She's built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend's siren song.

Review: Oh my goodness I loved this book so much. I actually ordered a physical copy of this book but then ended up listening to the audio of it through my library and the narrator was excellent. I have enjoyed her in movies and so having her read me this story was amazing and highly recommended. 

This book takes everything I am thinking about my own body image and puts it out there on the paper. It has an amazing message about fatphobia, internal and external and it puts it out there on the page. What is it like to be fat and in a bar? This book explores that. What is it like to be fat and in a wedding? This book has you covered. And when it comes to being fat and dating and sex, oh my goondess this book literally is a warts and all coverage of that, I loved it. 

Daphne is a great character because she does live her life in the limelight and so that internalised fat phobia has to be shut down when she is posting on instagram and working with fashion brands in her role as influencer but in her own head is it very much there and present the entire time. I loved the New York setting and Daphne’s group of friends there. It makes for some fun outings and an interesting take on the world. 

About halfway through this book switches direction from a romantic comedy with a fat lead to something entirely different and I was shocked but totally here for it. No spoilers here though but I know you will all be shouting WHAT when you read it for yourselves. 

I loved this book, it is important and I love everything Jennifer Weiner has written. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon

The irresistible companion novel to the New York Times bestseller When Dimple Met Rishi, which follows Rishi’s brother, Ashish, and a confident, self-proclaimed fat athlete named Sweetie as they both discover what love means to them.

Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

Review: I was always going to love this book, I mean it is a Sandhya Menon novel with a fat main character and lots of lovely romance what's not to love? Let me tell you exactly what I loved about it though...

Sweetie is just the best character to spend time with. I love the fact that she is fat but she is also an athlete and also a kick-ass singer! She doesn't let her being fat hold her back or stop her enjoying life but it does cause a lot of tension between her and her parents. I love that she decides she wants to be a sassy woman and go for what she deserves out of life. She really grows as a character over the course of the novel because of the things she experiences and events that happen to her and her family. I loved watching that journey and I would LOVE to hear more from her in the future!

Ashish is our other main character and he also goes on a bit of a journey over the course of the novel. He is just as independent at Sweetie is, or so he thinks. He has experienced some heartbreak (we met him in When Dimple Met Rishi) and now he is struggling to get his mojo back. He realises just how much his family especially his parents can actually be there for him. I loved watching his relationship with his friends develop over this novel too-I think friendship is often reserved for female characters in YA fiction and it was great to read about male friendships and the ups and downs in this novel. 

There are some great date suggestions in this book. I really enjoyed watching as Ashish's parents send him in four allocated dates, the first of which is at the temple. They provide some real comedy moments but they also provide an emotional backdrop for some of the deeper character revelations during the storyline. They were definitely great fun. 

I think that my favourite thing about this book was the fact that Sweetie realises she may have some fat phobia inside of herself and is actually missing out on some experiences or holding back in others because deep down she does believe her fatness is holding her back somehow. This is something I have definitely experienced as a fat person and something which just doesn't get talked about enough in novels in any genre. I love that fact that Sadhya Menon expose this and the fact that Sweetie shines a light in this herself, it was a great way to explore what it means to be fat. 

We met Ashish in When Dimple Met Rishi and so there are some cameos of characters from that novel. If you don't want to be spoiled for that book the  definitely read it first, you won't regret it. But no matter what you do, I definitely recommend picking up There's Something About Sweetie and diving in right away. 

To order your copy just click the link: UK or US

Review: Puddin' By Julie Murphy

Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream of being a newscaster—and to kiss the boy she’s crushing on.

Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend.

When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

A story about unexpected friendship, romance, and Texas-size girl power.

Review: This is a companion novel to Dumplin' which I absolutely loved. It is not a sequel but we do get to visit with Willowdean and Bo and it is set in the same town of Clover City and features the same high school, all of which was great news to me! This book centres around two main characters, Millie and Callie who are almost polar opposites of each other. We met them both in Dumpln' and now they are back with their own stories to tell. 

Millie is just the most wonderful character to read about. She is so much fun and just exudes positivity and determination so I defy anyone not to fall in love with her and root for her as a character. Her friendship group is also made up of characters that we met in the first novel, people who are somewhat social outcasts at high school but band together to make their own kind of social standing. I just loved that about these girls. One of the thing I also loved about this group is how different all the girls are, this is certainly a novel filled with diverse characters. 

Callie is a diverse character herself because she may be pretty and skinny but she is not your typical white, blonde teen that we read about in so many YA novels. She also doesn't follow the rules. I loved the fact that she doesn't follow the rules just as much as I love Millie for following the rules right down to the extent that she doesn't swear. It is fabulous watching these two characters interact because thy are just so different!

As I have mentioned, one of the great strengths of this novel is the fact that it is filled with diverse young women. These women know their own minds and know the difference between right and wrong, even if they don't always choose the path that is right. There is more than one character of size in this novel as well which I was so up for, and they reclaim the word fat, there is a whole discussion about it and how they have reclaimed it and I actually applauded so thanks for that Julie Murphy!

There is some romance in this novel too, the kind of sweet teen romance that just made me want to curl up and gaze at the words on the page and coo over them all. The romance is very light so there is no worry of anything getting too hot and heavy. The friends in this book do talk about sex with one another frankly though, as teenagers do and I really valued their openness and their open mindedness. 

In case you can't already tell, I loved this book. I loved the plot and the characters and the diversity of the whole thing. You don't have to have read Dumplin' to enjoy this book but you will be spoiled for that novel if you read this one first, there's still time to enjoy that one before this one though-yey! I wish I had had this novel to read when I was a teen because I can see myself in some of these characters and I am sure you will be able to do the same. I highly recommend this novel, definitely go and pick this up as soon as it is released!

To order your copy, just click the link: UK (17th May) or US (8th May)

I also made a video covering my thoughts on this book as three others over on my BookTube channel.