In Her Good Side, we meet plus-size, confident teen basketball star and secret chef, Bethany, just as she's turned down twice for homecoming. Not wanting to go along, she decides to pair up with her BFF Saylor's then-boyfriend, Jacob, since Saylor had already said yes to a friend date before they got together. But when Jacob and Saylor break-up, Jacob and Bethany become friends. Disappointed by their romance struggles, the two decide to fake date to brand themselves as relationship material for future suitors. But the plan works a little too well as they start to fall for each other.
I read the first few chapters of this book for BookishFirst and LOVED it. Bethany is a great character and I was so entertained by her. However, as I read the entire novel, my enthusiasm waned. It read very juvenile, even for YA, and Jacob and Bethany were so oblivious it was hard to stomach. It felt like the author, who normally writes adult fiction, was writing down, instead of bringing their skills to a new age group.
I also feel I must call attention to what I found to be an extremely offensive joke about a fellow student potentially enacting a knife attack at school. This was in extremely poor taste, akin to joking about a school shooting, which I can't imagine why anyone would do this day in age, and doesn't address mental health in the best way. I am hardly a "woke" person, yet I found this crossed a line. Hopefully it's removed for future printings.
Thanks to Penguin Teen for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3 stars - 6/10
I read the first few chapters of this book for BookishFirst and LOVED it. Bethany is a great character and I was so entertained by her. However, as I read the entire novel, my enthusiasm waned. It read very juvenile, even for YA, and Jacob and Bethany were so oblivious it was hard to stomach. It felt like the author, who normally writes adult fiction, was writing down, instead of bringing their skills to a new age group.
I also feel I must call attention to what I found to be an extremely offensive joke about a fellow student potentially enacting a knife attack at school. This was in extremely poor taste, akin to joking about a school shooting, which I can't imagine why anyone would do this day in age, and doesn't address mental health in the best way. I am hardly a "woke" person, yet I found this crossed a line. Hopefully it's removed for future printings.
Thanks to Penguin Teen for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3 stars - 6/10