On the Plus Side follows Everly Winters on a journey back to herself as she participates in a reality tv show. Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story was charming and full of plot and detail. I liked the premise and the characters were charming. The writing was strong and the dialogue was realistic.

At times, I found Everly to be an unreliable narrator and her framing of things to be redundant. Her growth was noticeable and seemed authentic. I enjoyed her voice around body image and her confidence.

My only other critique is that it was a bit too long and at times felt redundant. I think it could have been 25% shorter and left as strong and important an impact.

If you enjoy reflection, change and a hot office romance, I recommend you pick this up!

I love loved loved this book so much! The story follows Everly, a plus sized woman who is nominated to be on her favorite reality TV show “On the Plus Side.” Everly goes on a journey to stop hiding who she is, confront issues with her family relationships, and although she isn’t looking for love, a certain love story unfolds that is just all the sweet goodness. There are a couple of spicy scenes but not too graphic in my opinion. In all fairness my only complaint about this book is one of the spicy scenes mentioned an “ick” for me. Other than that, this was a very emotional, heartwarming read.

I love Everly. She truly inspired me like her grandma did to her. I want to be “Striking!” And Logan, oh my goodness. I need a man like him in my life asap. I loved that Everly advocated for herself and let it be known when something bothered her and I love how Logan was right there with her to support her. I loved all the characters that were meant to be loved and i disliked the characters that were meant to be disliked (Sdy & Jms, I’m side-eyeing you big time.) Loved how descriptive it was that i was able to imagine in it all as i was reading. I wish a Sundae’s Sanctuary really existed! I’m not going to lie, i love me some good smut and felt like maybe there could have been a bit more of it.

I had a little trouble getting into this book, so I set it aside. But I picked it up again and decided to plug through and ended up really liking it. The main character (Everly- great name!) is confident and body positive. She's had some setbacks but she's ready to reset and focus on her artistic aspirations. The grumpy hero Logan was sweet; I like the way he "heard" her and adjusted his camera work to accommodate her wishes.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a review- in short I loved this one! It reminded me a bit of “One to Watch” but I loved the concept of this show even more. I liked that romance wasn’t Everlys end all and how organic the relationship felt. It was a truly cute book about personal growth. Def recommend this one!

Yes yes YESSSS I loved this story so much! Plus sized representation without fetishizing is SO NEEDED and this was so well done! I loved the build of the story, the added Hollywood Glam of the show and the behind the scenes relationships within the show. I really connected with the MC and loved watching her grow into her best self, or should I say...return to her best self. Extra thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for offering me this ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion :)

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this fun book. Great concept, and what I thought was going to be pretty predictable (which is just fine!) had a turn of events at the end that made me enjoy it even more. I enjoyed seeing Everly find her voice and love for herself, that rippled out to her making her dreams a reality. 3.75 stars.

One moment I'd be dying of laughter and the next I'd be sobered by honest inspiration. Jenny Howe knows how to balance poignancy with wit and On The Plus Side showcases that with every page. The central theme of society's perception vs, personal perception of ourselves could not be more culturally-relevant and socially-relatable. I think Howe handled the theme with care and I adored the character's representation. Everly's character arc was so honest and raw but through Jenny Howe's writing, it just felt perfectly balanced with the romance, cast of characters, and humor. A beautiful and deserving story for a deserving and beautiful girl, On the Plus Side by Jenny Howe would be the perfect read for women from all walks of life!

I very much enjoyed this book. It was witty, funny, and focused on the role society plays in our perception of ourselves. I loved that the author was able to show so much of how I think of myself through Everly. Having character share that they love their body, they just don't like other people's perceptions is important. Body issues generally come from society and family, I like that there is another book focusing on how the impacts someone's perception of themselves. I felt like I could see myself in Everly's character and it felt nice to go along her confidence journey.

I don't think there is anything I would change other than just more. It felt very well balanced with likable characters, a believable plot line that was not immediately obvious. Logan was an amazing book boyfriend, I really enjoyed his dialogue and would have liked to delve a little deeper into his insecurities. I think the author did a great job of not making anyone the bad guy, you could see where each character was coming from even if it was not a good place. This ending fit, it was not expected though made sense, and the sense of dread that often follows stories of plus sized characters was not necessary. There were fun twists and that ever present sense of unease as the end came near, but the story wrapped in a beautiful way without feeling too perfect.

Okay, let me just start with I absolutely LOVED this book. As a plus sized girl, I think it is really important for other plus sized women to be represented in books. The authors note was a really great introduction and I felt that it was so perfectly worded in order to bring awareness to the idea of “fat” being used as a neutral term rather than a negative one.

I felt that there was excellent character development which enabled me to feel like I was actually picturing the characters infront of me rather than just reading about them.

I absolutely loved Everly. I saw a lot of myself in her and it made me feel connected to the story on some level.

One thing that I would change about this story would be to allow for more of an introduction of the TV show, On The Plus Side, before Everly becomes a guest on the show. I felt like I was a little confused in the beginning as to what the show actually was. Maybe a part of the story in the beginning could’ve been Everly watching the show and then the readers could have gotten a better idea of what it was like for someone on the show. But other than that, I am not sure that I would change anything about this story.

One of my favorite quotes from this book was this: “People see you the way you see yourself.” And it is 1000% true. You have to feel confident and happy in your own body and with yourself in order for others to see you that way as well. If you portray yourself as a happy, confident, beautiful person, then that is exactly what others will see you as!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC. I also just wanted to quickly say thank you to the author, Jenny Howe. I was able to reach out to her on instagram and spoke with her a few times about the book and it made me feel even more connected with the story!

I’m a sucker for plus size rep and good plus size rep and this one delivered. I was sucked in right away and couldn’t put it down.

I adore Jenny Howe and was SO excited to read this early! I read her other title last summer and have been waiting for this one! I love her plus size main characters and being able to see myself in the fmc. This was a great rom=com that also touched on deeper topics in a perfect balance. I highly recommend and will continue to read anything this author publishes!

I was a big fan of Howe's last book. Well except for the male love interspersed. But this time, I would wholeheartedly officiate Everly and Logans nuptials. Haha

Any book with a plus size FMC is a must read. But there was something all too real about Everly's triumphs over adversity and route to love. I greatly appreciated this journey on the page.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Everly is obsessed with a reality TV make-over show, On the Plus Side, so when she is ambushed by the filming crew at work revealing she has been selected for the show she is thrilled. Working in close proximity to the hottie but grumpy cameraman doesn’t hurt either.

The focus of the reality show was not really about physical appearance. Instead there was supposed to be a focus on body positivity and inner confidence. The messages about self-confidence and self-love that the book delivered was by far the best part. There were a lot of life lessons offered and provided a wholesome self-growth journey set amongst some spicy scenes… when they finally arrived. Because the first half was nothing but longing glances at each other before things go all-in pretty quickly. They are essentially two-cinnamon rolls who love each other for all the right reasons. It was cute and I can see the appeal for some but, I missed the angst that the author’s previous novel, the Make-Up Test, delivered. Everly and Logan’s relationship needed a little more tension for me. There was no drama in the relationship itself. So the drama had to come from somewhere else. It was contrived from an outside source that felt a little forced all for the sake of creating some quickly resolved conflict.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Everything about it! I love that Everly is so unapologetically herself! I related with this story so much! I love the way Jenny writes her books and I love the plus size representation!

As a plus sized person I enjoy reading stories with characters I can relate to in appearance and/or life struggles. On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe is a wholesome love story in which the heroine is surprised by being chosen for a television makeover and overcomes unexpected challenges while learning to regain her confidence and true self. The story line is slow moving at times, but the love interest is so supportive of the main character and he helps to keep the focus of the story on the main character's self development. This is truly a feel good story with a HEA. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a great view into reality TV, being seen by someone who loves you, and the reality of being plus size.

We have:
- elder dogs living their best life
- a plus size heroine on a journey to realize she is not too much!
- a grumpy, bearded cameraman ready to ensure the show is a success

This is a slow burn but very worth the journey.


Thank you to St. Maarten's Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

A very sweet book about a reality TV show contestant finding her voice, and her man, on set of "On The Plus Side".

Everly is in a rut -- she works at a receptionist for a design company but doesn't have the courage to ask to apply to be a designer. She is mildly content helping her work-crush, James, with his designs on a daily basis.

She is then nominated for On the Plus Side, a reality TV show that is part styling, part encouragement for plus-size contestants to go after their dreams without being afraid of rejection. Everly wants to become a designer in earnest and needs help finding the confidence to finally go for it. She loves the hosts of the show and quickly becomes infatuated with one of the cameramen, Logan, too. But when the showrunner begins to take her show in a different direction, Everly needs to dig deep with her newfound confidence to stand up for the story line, and ultimately the life, she wants.

I loved Everly's quick wit and finding the ability to finally see herself as those who love her do. Lots of cute dog cameos too!

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this book.

This book made me happy. I enjoyed the characters and what they brought to Everly's story. Would definitely recommend for a beach read1

I'm here for the plus size representation in books. I love it and I loved this book. What a fun and easy read! I will definitely be asking Santa for this book for Christmas since it's going to be published around that time.