Ok, so I loved Savannah and felt like I could relate to her - not feeling like she fits in with other girls her age, unrequited love, and family drama. I read this all in one day - it would have been one sitting but I had to go to work. She really dealt with a lot, some the normal high school stuff, and some pretty intense stuff. She dealt with things in a way I could understand, even when she reacted badly or impulsively. Great book.

To Be Honest was a book that wasn’t even on my radar until I saw Chelseadolling Reads mention it on her channel. It peaked my interest enough that I went right to Netgalley to see if it was available for request, and luckily it was! This book kicks off with a major change taking place in Savannah’s life as she and her mom move her sister, Ashley, to college. Ashley’s always been the buffer between Ashley and her mother, and since her mother is always after Savannah about her weight, she’s sure things won’t go well – and she’s right. I really loved Savannah’s character. Obviously she was aware she was overweight, but I didn’t feel like it defined every facet of her life all the time. There were obviously situations where it defined her more than it normally did, but I feel like, as a whole, Savannah’s bigger issue was her mother’s problem with her (Savannah’s) weight, not her own issue with it. Savannah cared about everyone around her. She was a good daughter, sister, and friend. There were times when I wished she’d stood up for herself, but I understand how a mother’s criticism of one area of your life can spill into others and make your confidence non-existent, even if only temporarily. It was sad to see things through Savannah’s eyes – with all of her friends starting relationships and her feeling like she was living life on the sidelines, and I think that’s the part of this book that resonated with me the most. I really liked Savannah’s best friend. She gave solid advice, and when Savannah needed her, she had no problem prioritizing Savannah over her boyfriend. She was constantly telling Savannah how great she was, and their friendship felt so genuine and precious. There was a cute little love story in To Be Honest, but it didn’t overwhelm the plot, and that was another thing I really loved. It didn’t seem like any one part of this story outshone another. Everything that was going on in Savannah’s life was equally important to her. Throughout this story, Savannah grew and started finding her own way and really honing in on what she wanted for herself, not just what was going to keep things comfortable for her, and I loved seeing her taking chances.

To Be Honest may be about an overweight young woman, but I think anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t measure up would enjoy this story and be able to identify with Maddie. I know I did.

To Be Honest is such a feel good read that I could not put down. I wish I could tell my teenage self: “in 2018 there will be books you can relate to. They are fat positive and realistic and swoony as hell.”

In To Be Honest, I adored the main character Savannah. She is fat and healthy and proud of all her successes. Yes, she is apprehensive about big life changes and possibly dating, but this young adult rocks at math, journalism, and being an amazing friend, sister, and daughter. I loved that Savannah is bold and funny; I love that she is determined and 95% of the time says what is on her mind. 

One of my favorite parts of this novel is that the book focuses on Savannah’s internal thoughts and doesn’t sugarcoat her flaws and struggles. Instead, we are there for every verbal fight with her diet-obsessed mom, every tear-stained mascara mark, every sloppy kiss from a handsome poodle, and every laugh between half pepperoni half pineapple pizza-loving friends. I adored this book so much; every page was like a comforting hug of support and love.

If you are fan of realistic high school stories, tulle skirts, and watching young love struggle to ignite, definitely give To Be Honest a read. I loved the story and the characters and of course the white poodle named Fiyero.

Things I liked:  Savvy.  George.  Their relationship.  The focus of a book with themes of weight being about a person who was too thin rather than overweight. Savvy's ultra-supportive and fun best friend.  The "it's not even worth addressing" fact that her sister is gay.  Portrayal of a character who has panic attacks.  Condemnation of a reality TV show.  Most of the book.


But then.... I was thoroughly enjoying all of this book - even with the typical back and forth of a romantic relationship - up until the last couple of chapters where everything suddenly just ended.  Was the author under a high pressure deadline to wrap it all up?  Threads that were unsatisfactorily concluded for me:

    Savvy's mom crashes which was not a surprise with the foreshadowing that had been included, but then she goes to the hospital and that's about it.  We hear third hand that she's going to to have spend a couple more weeks somewhere, but there's no real resolution between her and Savvy.  And with her eating disorder, is she suddenly just all better?  That's not usually how such things work.
    George's problem is his insecurity about getting too attached but he says that and then Savvy says it and now they're all good?  
    The initial panic attack was nicely written and Savvy mentions having a history of them at other times in the book, but otherwise that issue is dropped.
    Savvy's article for the newspaper!  She goes to the award ceremony at the end of the book because her article was such a great thing but as readers we see so little of how she got there.  She interviews the coach, they crash a practice, and she talks to a former player.  But we are not let in on the writing and publishing of the article nor on the fallout from it other than a quick mention during the award scene.  George tells her how proud he is because she has worked so hard on it, but I didn't see that hard work, just a few threads that were leading to something explosive.

I wish the conclusion of the book had been as well done as the first three quarters.  The more I reflected on the story, the more unhappy I was with it overall.

This book was impossible to put down from the moment I started reading, and I flew through it so quickly that I could honestly read it again. 

I love Savannah, I love her confidence, her positive outlook and attitude, her loyalty and her compassion.

"News flash: fat isn't a bad word, Mom."

I also love that she's completely relatable. She has principles that she stands by, she has her own insecurities, and she has anxiety (something I feel is portrayed exceptionally well by the author, especially since not one single person treats it as a problem or a burden they have to deal with or as something that she should just 'get over'). 

"It suddenly felt like all the air had been pushed out of my lungs. I swayed on my feet as the ringing in my ears began. No matter how many panic attacks I had, my body always believed that it was dying."

I also found Savannah likeable and truly funny, this book had me chuckling so many times, especially when she's around George and her thoughts take a turn for the amusing.

"My mouth watered (for multiple reasons, mostly the pizza, though, to be honest) and I invited him inside."

Parts of this book were a little tough for me personally. I've "struggled" with my body image my entire life, and truthfully, a lot of that stems from people close to me telling me that they're worried for me, that I should try to be more healthy to the point where I no longer felt comfortable in my own skin. 

The way Savannah's mum treats her perfectly illustrates the things I've gone through in my own life and honestly, there were moments that were so real they had me close to tears. 

"You'd be a lot happier if you could just make the choice to lead a healthier life."

One thing that Savannah has that I didn't is an amazing, supportive friend. I absolutely adore Grace, Savannah's best friend, who is always in Savannah's corner. 

Then there's George; sweet, naive, blushing George. The romance in this book is completely adorable, especially as both George and Savannah are a little clueless when it comes to expressing their feelings.

If you're looking for more body positivity in your life, if you're sick and tired of body shaming and reading books with toxic friendships, I urge you to read To Be Honest. I especially recommend to fans of Becky Albertalli who I think will adore Maggie Ann Martin's writing style!

I'm so thankful to Maggie Ann Martin for writing this fantastic book and to Swoon Reads for publishing it! We need more body positive YA. I feel certain that if I'd read more books like this when I was younger, I wouldn't have spent most of my teenage life feeling so insecure. 

"There's no expiration date on acceptance."

RATING: 3.5 stars ⭐️ 

——

I enjoyed a lot about this book. I liked the main character, Savvy, and I really related to her passion for journalism. It was so interesting to read about, and it made me so happy! 

I also loved Savvy’s friendship with Grace. They were perfect for each other, and I really appreciated everything Grace did for Savvy! 

The book also had such a positive message to it. It was all about body positivity and embracing the skin you're in. 

However, there were a few things that drew me away from this book. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style, and there were some phrases/descriptions that were repeated over and over again which was a little annoying. I also didn’t really like the romance, it just didn’t feel realistic to me!

Where was this book when I was in high school? No, really. Where? The sad thing is that books with these types of heroines are still rare today. I mean, honestly. How many young adult books can you find in a bookstore with an overweight main female character? I am not kidding. I needed this book 20 years ago. But, moving on.

To Be Honest follows Savannah "Savvy" through her senior year of high school. Her sister, and BFF, just moved into her dorm room at college and Savvy is having a difficult time navigating life without her as a buffer between Savvy and her mom. Savvy's sister is tall and thin, Savvy is short and, well, not thin. Their mother recently participated in a weight loss reality TV show (think "Biggest Loser"). Since then she's been obsessed with her weight, exercises often, and shames Savvy about what she eats and her physical size. To make things more stressful for young Savvy, George moves to town. She finds an instant connection with George but worries that he isn't really into her "that way" because of her size. While she hides her insecurities, George hides his own fears about their possible future.

A'ight. Let's talk. I love what Maggie did with this book - in so many ways. Savvy is 17, George is 16 (was I ever that young?).  Maggie didn't create an obsessive Twilight type of love that devoured both characters until neither was thinking rationally. She brings the reader back into the terrifying world of high school, first loves, and imperfect parents. She helps us see that being overweight isn't cause to shame, or feel shamed by, others. Body-confidence is such a huge issue today. It is a well written, fast read. It's also a book that should be read by people of all sizes. Perspective, especially in high school, is huge. How you perceive yourself, how others perceive you. 

So, go pre-order this book - it comes out on the 21st. When you get it in your hands, grab a blanket, some pizza, some type of comforting beverage (cherry Dr. Pepper from Cheddars is my personal choice), crawl into bed (or onto your couch), and prepare to be moved - either emotionally or from laughing so much. It's a good book. I can't imagine you'd regret it.

4.5/5

Maggie is one of my favorite new authors to watch! I loved her first book so much. Needless to say, I was so excited to get my hands on this! 

Savannah was a great MC, it was never hard to be in her head. I loved that we had multiple conflicts happening all through it. It gave us the chance to see the full spectrum of Savannah. From missing her sister, deciding her future path, dealing with her mother's weight loss and her father being absent. The romance was a key component but lent to the flow of the whole storyline. I really enjoyed the relationship between the two.

Maggie always writes a stellar read! It did lull in some spots but all in all, it was great! This is a great back to school read. Pre orderrr, you know you want to!

Cute read - I would recommend for a younger YA audience. The romance in the book was sweet and clean. Savannah has a lot on her plate - a sister moving to college, a fitness fanatic mother (putting pressures on Savannah), divorce, and school. She navigates this fairly realistically and well. As she faces these problems she stays true to who she is.

Savannah has always been close to her older sister. However, it is time for her sister to move away to college. Savannah is stuck alone in the house with her weight obsessed mother. Ever since her parent's brutal divorce, Savannah's mom has been on a weight loss kick, she even went on one of those weight loss reality shows. Savannah is on the heavier side and her mother is constantly pushing her and fighting with her to lose weight. Will Savannah be able to make it through this school year and join her sister at college next year? As Savannah continues to grapple with her weight and identity, she also develops a major crush on her best friend's cousin. 

I enjoyed this novel. Weight identity issues felt realistic, but also appropriate. I enjoyed this novel, but felt that the ending was rushed. I wish that the author was given more time/pages to develop the romantic relationship and Savannah's overall character arc.

**I received this book free from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.**
This book by Maggie Ann Martin was a cute YA rom-com (with only a few plot holes) that just made you feel good.

Savannah and her older sister have always been close, but now her sister is off at college and can no longer be the buffer between Savannah and her weight-loss driven mother.  Savannah is larger, and ever since her mother lost a lot of weight on a TV reality show, she’s been nagging at Savannah to lose some weight too.  Savannah, however, is confident in her body, a stellar math student, and an investigative reporter for her school’s newspaper.  And she may have a new love interest in George, her best friend’s cousin who just moved to town…that is, IF he reciprocates her feelings.  Savannah has a lot of duties to juggle during her senior year, and with a little help she might be able to survive in one piece.

This book had a lot of smaller conflicts going on (love interest, her newspaper story, feeling estranged from her sister, her untrusting relationship with her divorced father) but it really revolves around loving your body and feeling comfortable in your own skin.  Savannah, I think, sets a good confident example while her mother seems the weaker one for allowing her weight-loss to consume her thoughts.  My one complaint was that there was a lot of side stories going on (you can keep up with them all, it just made the story seem unfocused at times) and the fact that we know almost nothing about George’s previous life before moving.  Yes, it has the high school drama, but overall it was a fun, quick read.

First, I have to be clear that this is absolutely a YA book with an ultimately romancey-schmancey plot point. That being said, it reads like YA in tone, intensity of emotions, school drama, etc. All there. 

This book goes up at least one star because of how dang refreshing it was to read a book about self described fat girl without a tragic drama focused on how fat and ashamed she was. She was funny, pretty, loved bright colors, likeable, had friends, was involved with school stuff, and she loved math! She wasn't tragic because she was fat, she wasn't bullied because she was fat, the boy didn't hate her because she was fat ... All things that regularly appear ANYTIME a main character is described as overweight. There was some side line drama about her mom having a disordered eating scenario from that dumb weight loss reality show, and putting Savvy down for not being ashamed of her weight like her mother was, but that's totally real life. Mothers with weight focused lives, whose mothers brought them up to feel shame for their bodies, tend to pass it right on down, like a plague. I'm all for all bodies getting to exist how we want inside of them. And her sister was just casually gay, like without the book falling apart about the *utter tragedy* someone's life had to be because of their sexual identity. Things can be intense for a minute without these body issues and sexual preference issues always being a source of tragedy and drama, especially in teen fiction - this only perpetuates the"otherness" of people in these scenarios in real life. Hooray for this book! I hope teens get more books like this to choose from. 

A couple choice excerpts that prove my point:

“News flash: fat isn’t a bad word, Mom. It’s the twenty-first century. I have blue eyes. I have blond hair. I’m fat. Literally nothing about my life is changed because that word is associated with my physical appearance. I’m sorry that someone taught you to hate yourself because of your body somewhere along the way, but I’m not going to let you pull me down with you.”

“You don’t have to pretend with me,” she said. “It’s okay not to be okay.”

I wish I would have had more books about positive body image when I was a teen.  Savannah is an overweight girl who is pretty, smart and she likes herself.  The problem is her mom.  After a divorce, mom loses weight by participating in a reality TV weight loss show.  When the mom comes home and it is obvious that there is something wrong with her and her obsession with losing weight.  Her obsession is affecting the relationship with her daughter.  

This is a book that many teen girls would like.  I enjoyed reading it myself even though I am not a teen but I think positive body image for young women is important.  When I was teen, I dont think this book would have been written.  The teen fiction in my time would have been about transformation from fat to thin, from ugly to beautiful.  I am glad to see this kind of fiction that encourages self acceptance and promotes self esteem in positive ways in a story that interest girls and teens.

I will alway support a book that promotes body positivity, and this one also happened to feature a main character I totally fell in love with. 

• Pro: Savannah was too fabulous, and charmed the pants off me. She was smart and full of life. She was driven, confident, and lots of fun. I absolutely loved her, and I loved her, because she loved herself. No approval needed. 

• Pro: The sisterhood Savannah shared with Ashley was really wonderful. These two were pretty adorable together, and supported each other through their parents' divorce and their mother's weight loss journey. They were so much more than sisters to one another, they were best friends, and even though Ashley was away at college, she was there when Savannah really needed her. 

• Pro: I really found George sort of adorable, and the scenes he shared with Savannah were precious. I loved his nerdy t-shirts, his pineapple pizza, and his musical prowess. 

• Con: This may just be me, but there were some loose ends for me, and some of the resolutions seemed a little rushed, but I really enjoyed all these subplots and just wanted more. 

• Pro: I really liked the way Martin challenged the reality weight loss industry. Those shows have created unreasonable standards and expectations for people, and it was an interesting way to explore healthy/unhealthy weight loss as well as the beauty standards that exist. 

• Pro: The fat rep was pretty great. Martin really touched on those things, which I think a lot of people, who have never been overweight are not aware of. Your jiggly bits being exposed and touching someone else, not being able to shop in the same store as your thin friend, being made to feel self-conscience when you eat in front of people, being thought of as invisible or "less than", because you don't fit the size-0 beauty standard. 

• Pro: Grace and Savannah were a great team, and I always love a healthy and positive female friendship. 

Overall: A rather charming and heartwarming story of family, friendship, and loving yourself.

Savannah is the overweight daughter to a newly thin mother who is obsessed with health and weight loss after being a contestant on a weight loss show. Now that her sister is away at college, Savannah will have to navigate her mother’s weight obsession and snide remarks all on her own. This was a quick read that deals with important topics. I really enjoyed that the main character didn’t feel as though she needed to change herself to be loved. Yes, she was insecure at times about how she might be treated by others for her weight, yet she still remained confident and happy in her own skin. That alone is a very powerful statement for teens to read. With that being said, I did feel like there were quite a lot of miscommunications between Savannah and her love interest that could have been avoided, although I understand that was probably only done to add plot interest. My other problem was the ending. It just felt like it was cut extremely short, almost as if we had reached a certain page count, and that was good enough. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and feel it shows a lot of positive body images for plus size teens.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading To Be Honest. Maggie Ann Martin pegs teenage angst. Her characters are spot on, with real life worries and concerns, and hopes and fears. I felt like I was there, experiencing Savvy's life as she did. This book should appeal to middle school readers on up.

Thank you Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review To Be Honest. I adored this sweet book! A full review will be posted closer to release date.

I didn't expect that I thought this book will revolve around body shaming, It was but equally with other elements.

What wasn't there? Close bonding of sisters? Body-shaming? Best friends? Anxiety? Romance? Complex relationship with parents? Everything was there.

I like the cover, It was vibrant.

The friendship between Savannah and Grace is so precious. 

Savannah, Who owns her body with pride, she is so comfortable in her skin and frim in her believes, She has issues but facing challenges with high chin is not on of these.

Romance is part of the story, but the story doesn't rely on it, It mainly moved around relations and hardships of a family.

I like the chemistry between George and Savannah, It was cute and the thing I like most is after their meetup, Savannah didn't just ignore school stuff, which mostly happens in YA when MCs met each other school or college just become part of the background.

Her mother's character is complex but written so well, Sometimes I pity her, Sometimes I feel her but mostly I hated her.

Her father was the worst character for me, He was simply mean and selfish, I know he has his own reasons but that didn't convince me.

The thing I didn't like was the last scenes of Savannah and George, I wasn't convinced.

Overall I really enjoyed the book.

This was a lot of fun! Great fat rep, great discussions about diet culture and fatphobia and the expectations of family. I wish it was a little longer because there were a lot of subplots I wanted to see more from, but otherwise it was wonderful. Great friendships, sweet romance, STEM + liberal arts mixing, discussion about jock stereotypes. Lots of things I adore.

TW for fatphobia, eating disorders (anorexia/starvation), a few mentions of homophobia, emotional abuse

A really enjoyable YA contemporary romance! Loved seeing a fairly confident fat teen girl and the effects of her mother going on a Biggest Loser-style show has on her whole family. It's an insightful look at how body positivity isn't a one and done kind of decision but rather an attitude that might ebb and flow depending on what's happening around you. PLUS a girl who's good at math tutoring a boy who's less good at math. plus a side queer romance. plus teen journalists on the CASE. this book has everything!