3.5 stars
I enjoyed this book a lot. I love the representation and the body positivity. The main couple was adorable and I was smiling during the whole story. The fake dating trope was written well. I did feel like there was too many info dumps. The ending was also a bit underwhelming in my opinion. But overall I really liked this story.

🏀Book Review🍴
Her Good Side
Author: Rebekah Weatherspoon
Method: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin
Published: May 30, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to PenguinTeen for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one. It was sweet and fun with quite a bit of diverse representation. I really loved how real it was, too, as we watched Bethany learn to navigate making her parents happy and being true to herself as well as high school dating. And Jacob was kind and sweet and always told her what she needed to hear, even if it was hard. The writing was great and didn't feel full of drama like many of the YA high school books currently out. Most of all, though, my favorite was Bethany's confidence and body positivity. We need more books with characters like this.

Read if you like:
🏀 Sports rep
💙 Fake dating
🍴Solid friend groups
🏀 Diverse casts

#qotd : Did you play any sports in school?

#review #penguinteen #penguinreview #sportsrep #basketball #penguinrandomhouse #fakedating #diversity #bodypositive #teen #youngadult #romance #betruetoyourself #hergoodside #netgalley

Thank you so much to Penguin Young Readers (Razorbill) for an early copy of Her Good Side by one of my favorites, @rebekahweatherspoon! Her Good Side is my new favorite young adult fake dating romance. I loved Bethany and Jacob together and their respective friend groups. One of the reasons I loved the fake dating so much is that they like each other from the very beginning and even though they are chicken about telling each other, it was just so satisfying to read. So I guess it's more like it's fake dating but only because neither of them will admit it's real dating.

I found the book to be low angst, full of representation and 100% a good time. I smiled a lot while reading it and sped right through until the very end because I had to see how everything wrapped up, bedtime be damned.

Her Good Side is out now and I haven't stopped thinking about these characters since last night when I closed my Kindle.

I loved the characters and their overall chemistry! Bethany wears her heart on her sleeve and she’s so fun and spunky. I was highly rooting for her and for Jacob, such a cute book!

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

This was so freaking cute!
Seeing the evolution of Joshua and Bethany's relationship had me so giddy.
It was so great to see teenagers who knew what they wanted and had their passions that were important to them, but who also had vulnerabilities and were working on themselves. They were both incredibly self-aware, and had great familial (mostly) and friendship supports.
A feel good read if there ever was one.

A beautiful story brimming with the joy of new friendships and first love. This story expands beyond the center romance, encapsulating the conflicts of adolescence, ie with parents, with coursework and wraps it all up in a tale that feels like a warm hug.

Fans of YA romance, this is one that you can’t miss!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC of Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon. I was fortunate to also receive Her Good Side as an ALC from LibroFM. It was really nice to be able to flip back and forth from print to the audio version. Her Good Side was a easy and fast read. It was a sweet and satisfying coming of age young adult novel. I enjoyed the story of Bethany and Jacob who are two friends that are bad at dating and they fake a relationship in order to practice. The end up liking each other as more than friends. I would definitely pick up another book by Rebekah Weatherspoon.

Her Good Side is a lovely coming-of-age story about figuring out what you want in life and going for it--both romantically and generally. I loved how the mcs hobbies were incorporated into the plot and that aspect never felt forced. The romance did sometimes feel forced to me because it felt like the author was trying to make it too cute? But also it was really cute in parts... just other pieces didn't work for me.

Overall I liked this and thought it was light and fun. Give it a read if you're into Nicola Yoon or Tashie Bhuiyan.

I loved this!!! Bethany and Jacob had me giving heart eyes the entire book. I loved the dual POV because you really get to see each ones individual thoughts, I loved getting to know the friend groups and how eventually they each became friends. Jacob was such a good book BF and was so thoughtful. This book is something i would have devoured at 16 and also something i devoured as an adult.

This was just such a sweet YA with such interesting characters. I really liked the twist on fake dating... so often one character has dating all together and the other is clueless but in this one... both were clueless and were just late bloomers when it came to relationships. It worked so well for a YA and I loved the amount of diversity (race, LGBTQ rep) in this book. I hope she writes another YA because Rebeckah nailed this one.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!
‘Her Good Side’ was a conflicting read for me. Parts of it were great, but parts were also very frustrating. I can totally see the appeal of this book though, as it’s inclusive and could peak interest for those in that age group. I, however, feel as though I am slightly just out of the desired bracket. There is possibility that a second read would increase the rating.

3/5 stars.

I can definitely see the appeal for this one, I think fans of "Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute" or "Ophelia After All" will really like this one. Unfortunately, Bethany was too boy crazy for me, so I did not enjoy it as much.

Could this book me any more adorable? I want everyone--especially adolescents and young adults--to read this book because I think it's possible to read without identifying with at least one of these characters. Bethany is so many things: Black, daughter of two moms, basketball player who secretly hates playing basketball, inexperienced with dating and boys, and a good friend, She describes herself as fat, and has respect for her body, and expects others to as well. Her best friends, Saylor and Tatum, support her in everything. Seriously, these girls show up for each other, and I love that this book is as much about friendship as it is about romance, Jacob is an Asian skateboarding, film-making, long hair wearing, all around good guy. He's an introvert who sees himself more as skinny and awkward than the hot guy that his classmates all view him as. He gets dumped twice for being too nice and quiet. He's also a virgin who isn't afraid to tell people he's not ready to have sex yet. When Jacob and Bethany make a deal to help each other out by fake-dating, they think all they are doing is giving Bethany more experience with guys, and helping each other's reputation. What they don't count on his their very real friendship turning into their first loves. This book is so so so sweet and hilarious. It means so much to see these two navigate their relationship with such kindness to each other. I couldn't have loved this book more.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

Bethany is 16 and has now been turned down by TWO guys for homecoming. The first stating he was worried she’s still “cry baby Bethany” who would struggle to do more than hold hands with him, and the second sighting similar reasons. So Bethany’s best friend Saylor gets her boyfriend Jacob to go to homecoming with Bethany as Saylor had a date already before becoming Jacob’s girlfriend. Too bad for Jacob before homecoming Jacob gets dumped by Saylor, the second girl within a month. To build confidence in dating for each of them, Jacob and Bethany come up with a fake dating scheme… until fake feelings become… real?

This is such a cute YA novel! Full of cute, supportive friends and cute guests in a relationship, this book gave me all the feels and squealing joy! With some fab fat rep and other diversity sprinkled through this book shows how a straight romance can still have plenty of diversity thrown around. If you’re looking for your next fave YA here it is! 😍😍

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC.

4.5 stars

Such a cute rom com for the YA audience. I loved how Bethany and Jacob wanted to do things their own way, at their own pace! A message to be learned…

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was sooooo cute! In this YA romcom, Bethany and Jacob start to fake date to practice how to be better boy- and girlfriends.

Bethany is a basketball star and was once caught crying over the thought of having sex. Jacob loves photography and was dumped twice in two months for being too shy. They agree to practice dating together, so that Bethany can get less anxious around boys and Jacob can get more comfortable in talking to girls.

I liked the relationship between Bethany and Jacob. They were so cute together, even when they were still just friends. The fake dating aspect was well executed, it got me rooting for them!
I also liked that both Bethany and Jacob wanted to wait for the right person, and until they were ready, to have sex. They didn't bulge under the peer pressure, and they just took it slow.
The writing style of Rebekah Weatherspoon is great. It's easy to read and got me giggling from time to time.

The book was pretty diverse. There were black, asian and white characters, and there were queer side characters. I liked how the characters being queer wasn't a big thing in this book, but that it was treated as a normal thing (as it should be!).

Trigger warning: fatphobia/body shaming (minor).

*Thanks to NetGalley and PenguinTeen for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Já começo a resenha admitindo que o livro me atraiu primeiro e logo pela capa mesmo. Amo ilustração, não é segredo para quem me conhece, e foi assim que Her Good Side captou minha atenção à princípio. O fato do casal na capa ser interracial também colaborou, e somado à sinopse enfim, embarquei na leitura.

Posso dizer que, mesmo não tendo sido nenhum 5 estrelas, a leitura ainda foi bem sólida e gostosa. Depois que se pega o embalo da narrativa, que acontece em primeira pessoa tanto pela Bethany quanto pelo Jacob, o livro é facilmente devorável pela leveza da trama, sem grandes dramas ou desentendimentos desnecessários para gerar confusão.

É um misto de strangers-to-friends-to-lovers e fake-dating que funcionou muito principalmente pela forma como os protagonistas vão se conhecendo aos poucos, em meio à um arranjo inusitado para um baile escolar, e logo a amizade vai surgindo e abrindo porta para o romance mesmo. Bethany e Jacob são fofos juntos, além de dialogarem fácil, sem joguinhos entre si, nos fazendo conhecê-los e ao mesmo tempo ser convencido da relação a ser estabelecida entre eles, com ou sem o namoro falso.

Só senti que o final, em comparação à isso e mais à abordagem do mundo do basquete na família da protagonista e seu dilema nisso, que foi bem trabalhado também, foi um pouco apressado. Acho que a autora poderia ter desenvolvido um pouco mais pausadamente os três últimos capítulos, de forma a fechar bem as pontas e não passar a sensação de conclusão abrupta dos últimos parágrafos, mas ainda assim é uma boa leitura Menção honrosa aos personagens secundários, em especial o grupo de amigos dos protagonistas, que diferente de outros livros não soou amizade forçada ou engessada, foi natural e inclusive cativantes em alguns momentos também, no caso de personagens como a Saylor.

Enfim, recomendo a leitura para quem procura um YA leve, sem grandes dramas, com um casal que antes disso constrói uma amizade bacana, e cujo romance não tem cenas hots (apenas insinuações aqui e ali, mas nada excessivo).

So fun, so sweet. If you love teenage fake dating, this is where it's at. I laughed, I yelled, I cried. This was such a sweet YA romcom. The side characters were fun and enjoyable. From these first few chapters I knew I'd enjoy the way these characters were portrayed, I loved how we were introduced to the main characters, their personalities and friendships. And while I did think the end kind of was rushed and wrapped up a little too nice, I will still recommend this book! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, for this read. This was fun and funny. I found that it read very YA but I still enjoyed it. The book did not have much plot to it but it included fake dating with supportive friends and that made it an easy read.