I loved the male love interest in the book. Logan was great! The book felt a little long in some places, but it was a fun read. I appreciated the plus size representation and the taking back of the word "fat."

This romance was very good. The mainly male characters was amazing and I loved the plot so much! The writing was beautiful and I could not put it down

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

ON THE PLUS SIDE was the perfect feel good, slightly cheesy, romance I was looking for! Featuring a plus size leading lady and a "lumbersexual" (Howe's words, not mine) love interest, PLUS SIDE had my heart fluttering more than once. The idea that everyone deserves a sexy love story, including fat girls, is a trend that I am 100% behind (and directly benefit from as a plus-size girlie myself) and I will continue to support any and every effort to normalize fat stories. However, that mission becomes a lot easier when stories like this one are out there getting published!

Everly Winters has spent most of her adult life attempting to shrink herself. Not physically, but personality wise. She chooses drab clothes so she'll blend in, settles for "good enough" rather than reaching for her dreams to become an artist, and never dares laugh too loud. However, when she becomes the next guest on the fat-ulous reality show On the Plus Side (OTPS) Everly suddenly has the chance to push her boundaries with the support of a whole, fabulous, TV crew. However, when the show suddenly starts to focus on a fictionalized love triangle, will Everly have the courage to stand up for her art (and a budding relationship)?

Is this a perfect piece of literary fiction? No. The characters can be frustrating, one dimensional (at times), and sometimes do illogical things, But, ON THE PLUS SIZE was <i> fun </i>, and that's something we all need a little bit of every once and a while!

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a romance reader. It sounded cute, though, since I am myself plus-sized and a fan of What Not to Wear! But alas, it turns out I'm just not a romance reader. I spent the whole story waiting for something exciting to happen, but there was nothing that wasn't mundane. A kiss or a makeout or even sex or an "I love you" isn't anything special enough to build a whole story towards. I do believe I'm gonna stick with fantasy and horror officially.

All that said, the story itself is fine, and the characters are likeable enough, so I'm giving On The Plus Side three stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet novel and I loved the body positivity messaging in this book. I really loved Everly’s journey to self acceptance in the book and how she found the love she deserved. This was a good romance novel and gave me warm fuzzies.

I loved this premise! I related to the character so much. I didn’t love how it ended so happily ever after actually! The reality show piece was great I thought!

I listened to the audiobook of this title, and I have to say, the narrator did a great job!

The story itself was promising - Everly is a plus sized woman cast on a makeover show. She wants the show to highlight her strengths, all the things she lost touch with when her favourite person, her grandmother, passed away. Loved this. Everly is an artist, but works as a receptionist in a design office. The producers take a different path on the show and only want to showcase her as a fat girl who needs the confidence to take her workplace crush to the next level. When she and the cameraman, Logan, begin to strike up a friendship, the ratings go crazy. This was a great premise, but at times the story dragged for me. Everly kept experiencing (and rehashing) the same disappointments over and over. After a while it felt like she was wallowing while being on a show that was supposed to make her feel like she was moving forward.

Overall, I liked the plus size representation and the body positivity message. The story and characters just didn't wow me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this romance a lot - I do enjoy plus-size romances. This one fits the bill. The narrator, Zura Johnson, was fantastic. Everly Winters is a plus-size woman with dreams and aspirations; however, she sometimes holds herself back. She is selected to be on her favourite show, and this is her chance to go for the opportunity to showcase her art and do things she has been too scared to do
Meanwhile, the show portrays her in a way she doesn't want, and she has to find her voice while falling head over heels in love with the camera director, Logan.

I couldn't put this book down; I had to know how it would end. The villain in this book was not the most hated person until the end.

Her coworker was the worst, mostly because he played innocent while knowing the hurt he could cause

I enjoyed this read - and I would do it again.

As a plus size lady i was honestly hesitant at first... i don't like when people call each other fat, even if someone doesn't show it we all know it kills us a little inside when we hear that. anyways i did love the book in the end.

Everly Winters is perfectly happy to navigate life like a good neutral paint color: appreciated but unnoticed. That’s why she’s still a receptionist instead of exploring a career in art, why she lurks but never posts on the forums for her favorite makeover show, On the Plus Side, and why she’s crushing so hard on her forever-unattainable co-worker. When no one notices you, they can’t reject you or insist you’re too much.

This plan is working perfectly until someone secretly nominates Everly for the next season of On the Plus Side. Overwhelmed by the show’s extremely extroverted hosts and how much time she’ll have to spend on screen, she finds comfort in a surprising friendship with the grumpy but kind cameraman, Logan. Soon Everly realizes that he’s someone she doesn’t mind being noticed by. In fact, she might even like it.

But when their growing connection is caught on camera, it sends the show’s ratings into a frenzy. Learning to embrace all of herself on national TV is hard enough; can Everly risk heartbreak with the whole world watching?

Thanks to NetGalley & Spotify Audiobooks for the ARC of this book.

On the Plus Side
By: Jenny L. Howe
Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
Narrated by: Zura Johnson
Release date: 12-26-23

I loved this sweet, fun, emotional story! Everly and Logan have the sweetest relationship. I loved how their attraction and connection was so natural and inevitable. They both were so sweet, kind, loving, and respectful of one another, it was so refreshing to read. I love Everly's whole story here: learning to speak up for herself, how to channel her confidence, finding her areas of comfort that aren't for the sole purpose of pleasing other people. I loved the way she was able to grow in her relationship with her mother, see things from her persepective and force her mother to accept the hurt and pain she had caused, all while knowing there was a foundation of love there. I love it when stories show healthy boundaries with the people we love without having to fully cut them out of their lives if that's not what they want. Overall, this was an amazing story with beautiful messages of love, acceptance, and worth. thank you for the arc!!!

Zura Johnson did a fabulous job with the narration!

This was a fun and easy listen that left me feeling empowered!

I finished this in one sitting, it was so intriguing I just couldn't stop listening.

The message of body positivity was expressed very well.

The honesty put into the story of being a fat woman was so nice to see.

And I enjoyed the romance a lot, such a sweet love story.

Overall this was a great book and I highly recommend to anyone!

Thank you to Netgalley and Spotify Books for allowing me to listen this book ahead of release in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first Spotify Audiobooks listen! I'm happy to report that the production was top quality. I'm not currently a Spotify Premium listener, but I'm definitely interested in trying it now. Zura Johnson's performance was a perfect match for this story. She's a new-to-me narrator, and I thought she perfectly captured Everly's personality.

This was such a good book. I love Queer Eye, so when the hosts of On The Plus Side stormed into Everly's work place I could perfectly picture how overwhelmed she was.

I think a lot of readers will identify with the body-positive messages of the On The Plus Side TV show. Howe tackles a lot within this book, but every point is seamlessly blended into the story. I loved the romance aspect--Everly and Logan were the perfect match. I loved that they actually communicated and that there was no silly third-act breakup.

I loved how the author snuck at least one friend of hers into the Reddit forums--such a fun easter egg for anyone who caught on! Thanks Jenny for an awesome read--I can't wait to see what you write next.

I really wanted to like this. I tried to damn hard and the premise was so good. Heck even the actual book was good but it just kept dragging on and on. This book would have definitely benefit from losing over a 100 pages. When romances get this long they tend to get tedious and thats exactly what happened here.

On the Plus Side
By: Jenny L. Howe
Narrated by Zura Johnson
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.5 stars

I started this audiobook at normal speed and was like, I don’t know if I can do this. I sped it up to 2.0 and that helped a lot. This whole book is about body positivity and being fat positive. I loved that aspect of the book but I felt it was brought up too much.

I liked the characters in this book they were all easy to like and each one played a valuable part at making it flow nicely. Everly and Logan are great together.

Zura Johnson the narrator did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and giving each one unique voices.

I hate giving the book a 3.5 but it just wasn’t for me, I am quite sure there are lots of people that would love this book and its message, but it just wasn’t for this fat girl.

I ADORED this book! On the Plus Side follows a fat woman who adores a reality show called On the Plus Side- think body positive What Not to Wear with a little Queer Eye mixed in! This book had sweet characters, and engaging plot, and gave me all of the feeling from tears to kicking my feet in the air and squealing!

In some ways, this is a story about self love, but it's really a story about stepping into the most whole version of yourself and not being small out of a fear of being too much. It was incredible.

If you like books about reality shows, especially if you liked One to Watch, this needs to be on your TBR ASAP! I am so grateful to NetGalley and Spotify Books for giving me the chance to listen to an audio arc!

When you live in a bigger body the world, and often those around you, constantly tell you that you should try harder to make yourself more palatable, smaller, quieter, etc. In On the Plus Side, main character Everly suddenly finds herself the nominee of a Queer Eye style show that celebrates fat folks in the way that the rest of the world fawns over straight sized bodies. Throughout the experience, Everly has the expected experience of finding the empowerment and love for herself that had slowly eroded over the years, while simultaneously realizing that she may have gotten more than she expected with the show when she realizes that she's falling in love. The dance of relearning how to love herself and be loved by others, while taking the space to see the difference between others showing affection and taking advantage is well explored here. But the real question that will keep you turning pages, is are the show runners and stars truly as well intentioned as they appear? And what is the cost if they're not...

On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe was a really entertaining listen. I liked the narrator and enjoyed feeling like I was along for the ride on the reality show. I really appreciated the disclaimer from the author at the start so I could be prepared.

A wonderful story about learning to love yourself and show the world that size doesn’t matter. Everly was a breath of fresh air: shy and uncomfortable in the spotlight but then growing into the person she was meant to be. I loved the transformation she goes through and how shows like this can be both positive and negative. The writing drew me in from the beginning and kept me glued with Everly’s humor, vulnerability, and her relationships with her family. A great tale about accepting who you are and thriving rather than trying to be something you’re not.

I loved this story. A super relatable heroine, who discovers that how and who she is is good enough for what she wants. Nicely written characters, great storyline, and in my opinion this could easily be a movie too!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A cute and entertaining read with a great message

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Inspiring and relatable characters
Makeover/reality TV shows
Grumpy sunshine
Romantic comedies
Sweet yet somewhat steamy romances
Great banter

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Plus size rep
Logan!
Dogs with pasta names
The authors note
I narration was great

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Felt a little repetitive
The show aspect was kind of hard to follow
There was a lot going on