I really loved this story!

Everly is a plus sized woman who has forgotten who she really is. She's stuck at a desk job and lives in her brother's garage apartment, never to stick herself out into the world and try something new. In comes the team from her favorite TV show - On the Plus Side! Jazzy and Stanton work to make over each person's life - and not just in the physical way, which I liked a lot. This book showed how Everly worked to find her inner voice that she had pushed down and ignored for so long and I loved the ending - she's found who she's meant to be and found love, too!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I LOVED this book. I loved the premise of this tv show and wish it was real!! The chemistry between the main characters was so great.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. The author eloquently blended a plus size storyline, reality TV and romance for a book I couldn't put down. This feel good read tackled some tough aspects of living in a world that shames "fat" people. Everly lost herself after the death of her grandma, and with the help of the reality On the Plus Side she'll find her joy again.

Logan, the camera man for the show, is fantastic at his job. He captures her every moment, even her constant catching his eye and heart. Throughout the book, he knew just what to say like "to me, you're what matters." SWOON. This sexy, lumberjack, aka camera man was the cutest and how they fall was written perfectly.

Overall, this is a great romance and the cast of characters added so much to the story.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy.

A cute rom-com, thought everly was frustrating at times, but what leading lady in a book like this isn’t? If this sounds like something you would like… you probably will. Logan gets five heart eyes 😍 though!

3.5 stars.

I enjoyed "On the Plus Side" by Jenny L. Howe for the most part! I loved the overall message of this novel, that being plus-sized and fat doesn't mean you shouldn't take up space or be who you are, that you should honor and cultivate who you are and your self-esteem based on your *own* standards, not the standards of others or what society dictates. I liked watching main character Everley's growth throughout the story. While she makes leaps and bounds in discovering who she wants to be and what she wants to do with her life, I will admit, she is sort of an exhausting character. I enjoyed Zura Johnson's narration of this character. She makes Everly feel authentic and lived-in as a person. I liked all of the reality show elements that get integrated throughout the novel. I don't watch much reality television, but I found this aspect to be fun, interesting, and compelling, especially the way that people get manipulated into doing things for ratings. I also love how Howe navigates tough topics like abusive parents, grief, loss (human and animal), and online hate and integrates them seamlessly with the more humorous, self-reflective, and entertainment-driven elements. Try as I might to get over it, it rubbed me the wrong way that, at first, Everly felt like she needed to be small and "take up as little space as possible." I get that she changes her mindset throughout the story, but this is something that fat people are taught to do over and over again by society! She should have gone the other way and taken up more space! She was clearly capable of doing that! I also feel like the ball was dropped where Logan is concerned. He felt like he was just *there,* and I didn't absorb a whole lot about him and his life apart from the basics. We know he's a cameraman for the show, that he has a tight-knit relationship with one of the other people working on the show, that he loves and adopts elderly dogs and gives them a comfortable home before they die, and that he wants to open a dog sanctuary. That's about it. I feel like Howe could have gone deeper with this character. I unfortunately didn't feel much of a spark or any chemistry between Everly and Logan. I *really* wanted to, but I just didn't. Their romance feels underbaked and frequently forced (and not just because of their forced proximity). I disliked the third-act conflict, but appreciate how Everly and Logan actually talk through their issues instead of ignoring them (even though they shouldn't have existed in the first place). Still, this book can be frequently lovely, funny, and charming. It's not too long and is not overly preachy (though Howe is preaching to the choir with me, so some readers might disagree).

Thank you to NetGalley, Jenny L. Howe, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

This was such a lovely book that I really enjoyed. I really loved the main characters and the journey that they went on together. I also really liked the element of the reality tv show, though the filming schedule was not the most believable. The family conversations were heartbreaking and I really enjoyed the romance.

Everly and Logan are absolutely freaking everythinggggg!!!

I seriously loved everything about this so so much!

I liked this one, but I really feel like I should have loved it. It had everything I like in a romance, good characters, a good storyline, good relationships, a happily ever after and some sparks. But for me it dragged a bit. I still suggest it, it's cute and a lot of fun!

4 stars

I read Howe's debut novel last year and while the love interest in that book was absolutely horrendous, I loved Howe's writing and the characterization of her main character enough to know that she would only grow from there. On the Plus Side absolutely proved that!

It's absolutely insane how much I feel like Howe is writing for me specifically. Beyond just the way that she captures what it is like to live in a fat body so succinctly, I have been weirdly in the exact same career circumstances as her main characters at the moment that I picked up each book. That coincidence has made the process of reading her books absolutely addictive, almost as if I can use them as a how-to guide on how to live my life. The characters and the situations that they find themselves in always feel true to life and on top of that, they are just downright entertaining.

The best part about this novel is how much the writing of the romance blossomed with the introduction of a fantastic love interest. Logan is a protective and grumpy man with a mouth on him and I was OBSESSED. It absolutely proved that the romance in The Make-Up Test was just a fluke and I couldn't be happier about it.

The only thing that made this book not a five star was that it was 50 to 75 pages too long. Other than that, this was an absolutely delightful romance and I need more people to put this on their radar.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review! I will be withholding my review from Goodreads and my other social media platforms until St. Martin's Press holds their employees accountable for their racist and antisemitic actions.

the plus size rep was amazing! i can't say if it was 100% well done because i, myself, am not plus size; but hearing from my friends, they said it was great which makes me so happy! everyone should be able to have representation in books and i've heard from some plus size friends (and from my own reading), that a lot of books with plus size characters include an immense amount of fatphobia which a lot don't like to read about! (i mean, who would?) so this was very well done! i will 100% be reading more from jenny l howe in the future! she has a place on my bookshelf!

I think this book was so cute. It was a little hard for me to get through but that is just because it’s 3rd person. Personally, I don’t read third person but that’s just because I like experiencing what’s happening through the eyes of the main character. With that being said I think this book did a fantastic job at depicting the struggles of being plus size and relationships. I myself am plus size so I related to a lot of things. Their relationship was so cute and I loved the way the story progressed. I loved this book and I can’t wait till I can have a physical copy of it when it releases.

On the Plus Side was a swoony, heartfelt, powerful declaration of body positivity.

The novel follows Everly and her chaotic journey through reality TV, family dynamics, and loving yourself in your own body. The writing was captivative and engaging, and I was completely engrossed in Everly's story.

The character writing is dynamic, and the plot is full of ups and downs that kept me hooked.

Overall, 5/5 stars, would recommend!

I absolutely adored this book, which says a lot as I abhor most reality TV. I do like the author so gave it a try. So glad I got to read Everly’s story. Everly is a smart, beautiful woman who spends most of life in hiding because she felt both not enough and too much all of the time. She’s in a job for which she is tremendously overqualified, has very little self worth or confidence, is dressing in clothes so she fades into the background and is the one to find the corner in a round room to stay off everyones radar. Such a shame, but having spent a lifetime of being told by her own mother as well as most of the world who she is is not good enough, it was who she became. When she gets secretly nominated to be on her favorite show, On the Plus Size her world changes. She is hoping to find herself as well as help others. From some ugly lows to incredible amazing high her road to finally being comfortable with in her skin, actually loving herself, letting love in and so much more is an emotional feel good story with a great happily ever after.

I love this trend of including more body and fat positive main characters in romance. It’s about time!

I thought the setup of the reality makeover show was cute and provided a scenario where Everly, our MC, gets a chance to really discover herself and her self worth.

I will definitely be recommending this body positive read to my romance loving friends!

I’m not sure where to start with this review. I had to really push myself to get through it. I didn’t connect with Everly and she felt really immature to me. I don’t know how to feel Logan and I wish we had gotten more of him. I didn’t feel like these two had much chemistry but that could just be me…I wish there had been more romance in the story. There was some good humor in parts that had me giggling. Over the story was okay for me.

What a sweet and sexy read! Everly is such a vibrant and relatable character and the relationship she builds with Logan over the course of the book was so loving and fun to read. I loved how open their communication was and how honest they were about their interest in each other. It was very refreshing that they didn’t fall into the miscommunication or lack of communication tropes.

I loved the supporting cast of characters and only wish that we had gotten more of them, especially Jazzy and Stanton. I also found the plot to move at an excellent pace and love the twist on ‘What Not to Wear,” a favorite early 2000s show of mine.

I really love romance novels where the heroine/fmc is plus-sized. I relate to them somehow. This book was no exception. I love how body positive it is and the message it sends out is amazing. My problem with this book is the writing itself. It felt all over the place and maybe it’s a third-person narrative thing, I’m not sure. But the events that I thought we were going to be shown, was just told. And the ending felt rushed. I hoped we would see what happens after Everly and Logan got the justice they deserved but we were just told about it in the end. I wished the ending was written differently (not the events of what happened but just how it was written). But it’s still a good book overall. I loved Everly and Logan, they were cute together.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this book a lot! I thought the fat representation was excellent and honestly a lot of what Everly was dealing with was incredibly relatable and I think will resonate with a lot of people.

The growth Everly goes through in finding herself and pursuing her dreams was lovely to see. The relationship between her and Logan was very sweet and I absolutely loved them together and could see their chemistry. The way he helps her stand up to her crush who has been taking advantage of her kindness was wonderful. And I loved that there wasnt a third act breakup and the conflict was resolved by the characters actually communicating with each other!!

Read this for:
- Fat representation
- Makeover show thats about so much more than a makeover
- No third act breakup
- Cute dogs!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is one of those romances that felt like the romance was the 2nd plot line and the real focus was Everly's journey. I think the majority of the book being from Every's POV really tilted the read toward her. I loved her story and found so many of points that resonated with me. I did love the romance we see on page and the banter between Everly and Logan from the very beginning was fantastic. The TV show element was, of course, a very large part of the plot as well. I don't usually gravitate toward those TV shows, so I'm not super familiar with their own tropes but Howe does a great job of giving the reader enough information in a natural way that I didn't feel lost at all.

Everly is plus-sized but trying to live a quiet life and tamp down her natural ebulliousness. She has a receptionist job, crushes on a friend from afar and lives above her brother and best friend's garage. Suddenly, she is nominated as a contestant on her favorite reality show "On the Plus Side"-kind of a Queer Eye/What Not to Wear mashup for plus-sized women. As Everly learns to love herself and embrace her bold, artistic side, she is falling for the grumpy cameraman Logan.
Very cute yet meaningful romantic story about how society throws us in certain lanes and learning to embrace being authentically oneself.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.