4.5 stars
Bethany is a late bloomer, never been kissed, on a date, or had a boyfriend but after her crush turns her down for homecoming, she is determined to change that. Bethany's best friend convinces Bethany to take her boyfriend, Jacob, to homecoming as a friend. But when Saylor ends up breaking up with him, Jacob and Bethany decided to fake date. So that they can both build up their confidence around dating.

This book was so cute! It had fake dating and it’s a romance for all those late bloomers out there. My kind of content haha. Anyways, yea it was super cute. I loved all the characters they were all very well written. The relationship between Bethany and Jacob was all I could have asked for and more. I can't get over how sweet they are. I thought that the fake dating aspect was fun. I always find the fake dating trope to be a real hit or miss and in this case I think it was a hit. Overall a cute and fun ya romance that I highly recommend adding to your TBR.

A stunning YA debut, Rebekah Weatherspoon has captured the essence of young love in such a beautiful and silly way. Bethany and Jacob are so truly adorable in their fake dating idiots to lovers goofiness. The whole cast of characters is just precious beyond words. I hope there are more books with these babies because I cannot let them go quite yet.

god, I sure do love a good fake dating plot, but I especially love it when the MMC is a skater boy with a passion for film <3

from the first few chapters, I knew this was going to be an incredible book, between the fantastic queer side characters (love you heaven), the cutest romance I've read in a while (Jacob and Bethany forever), and the believable teen characters who actually seemed like teens and not adults pretending to be teens. the sweet progression of Jacob and Bethany's relationship throughout the book felt like I was watching a cute teen romcom, and watching Bethany manage the pressures of finding what she wanted to do rather than what her parents wanted her to do...I felt like a proud older sister cheering her on.

all in all this book was an amazing fast-paced read with such a cute romance definitely put this on your preorder list <3

thank you to penguin teen for providing me with a physical copy to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion,

The first thing that grabbed my attention was that cover, which I loved. From the diverse characters to the eye-catching color scheme, I was interested immediately, and while I have a few of Rebekah Weatherspoon's titles on my shelves, somehow I had yet to read one of her books. I am SO glad I read this excerpt because it was the perfect glimpse into a flirtatious, fake-dating YA romcom full of emotion and fun friendships.

In both our male and female leads, Weatherspoon manages to capture the pressure of a high schooler, from their looming futures to the family dynamics, class assignments, and how first loves all impact their everyday lives. Quick to fall in love, fast to change their minds, all as time flies by too soon, it was a pleasure to read these characters find their joy. As someone who doesn't always pick up sporty titles, I love how the setting wasn't just her devotion as a basketball player, but gave us the highlight reel of a typical teen, with unique hobbies and families, and how that all looks vs just focusing on Bets as an athlete.

Thank you Penguin Teen + NetGalley for the eARC to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion, this title was such a fun, quick and easy read.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the gifted copy of Rebekah Weatherspoon's upcoming YA novel, HER GOOD SIDE. (Publication date: May 30, 2023)

This novel was just a nice marshmallow fluffy read. For the romance fans - it's fake dating (your best friend's ex-boyfriend, no worries, she set the two of you up), wrapped up in educational kissing. It's just enough to give you warm fuzzies.

It's also a novel about having fabulous, and strong friend groups, how friends change as their interests change - but it doesn't have to be a bad thing to grow, and that everyone needs to move at their own pace.

For those that have read Weatherspoon's Cowboys of California series, Chef Evie's show is mentioned a few times.

I really hope that you put this book in your radar, and to pre-order and/or ask the library to add it to their collection.

Note that this is a contemporary YA, and there are passing mentions of the Pandemic.

I have been anticipating this release since it was first announced and it honestly exceeded my expectations by far. Witherspoon’s transition into YA was smooth and incredibly well done. This book was fake dating done right, mostly because Bethany and Jacob did not start fake dating for anyone else– they started fake dating for themselves. This small detail made this book stand out against all other fake dating books out there. The book was centered around their experiences in their fake relationship, and not the drama that typically ensues in fake dating romance books. Bethany and Jacob both had excellent development throughout the book, both individually and with each other. They truly became best friends before anything else which made the romance that much sweeter. Witherspoon did a stellar job at building the worlds around Bethany and Jacob; their families and friends were a large part of their lives, but they did not take up too much of the story. I loved that Bethany and Jacob both helped each other achieve their goals (cooking for Bethany and filmmaking for Jacob). The romance was so so so sweet! This is a must read for fans of YA romance!!!

This was such a cute teen rom-com! Her Good Side is my first book by Rebekah Weatherspoon but I've heard so many great things about their books! I loved following Bethany and Jacob in this novel and watching them go from acquaintances to friends to fake dates to lovers. Their secret thoughts about one another were so cute and I was rooting for them to confess their feelings for so long. At times their dialogue and interactions seemed overly awkward, but it also highlighted how awkward being a teenager often is.

The additional subplots involving Bethany and Jacob's friends and family, such as Bethany's desire to go to culinary school instead of play basketball professionally, her relationship with her parents and her body image, and Jacob's desire to attend a top film school were also super interesting. I loved how strong of a friendship Bethany and Jacob had with their friends as well. The fact that in this novel, the female main character is the "jock" character archetype while the male main character is the nerdy, shy, awkward character archetype was super refreshing. I think all fans of teen rom-coms and the fake dating trope will love Her Good Side when it releases next year.