Fans of Jennifer Weiner will love this book! Our main character, Sunny is a professional with her own public relations business, a popular newsletter/blog and an engaging personality. Coming off an ugly divorce, her self-esteem is in tatters. When the book opens, she is planning a Bahamas “divorcation” with her two besties, Noor and Brooke, successful professionals with complicated divorce stories of their own. The only problem is that her body size makes shopping for a hot swimsuit, or any swimsuit, a sad and loathsome chore. Sunny gathers her resources, hires a fabulous and talented assistant, engages the services of her tailor and contacts from her besties, and a company is born. I found myself rooting for Sunny as she picks herself up from the ashes of her broken marriage and finds romance with two different men. Will either of them be “the one”? This book tackles body image issues women have and sends a powerful and positive message about self-care and self-love. The conclusions Sunny reaches are great reminders for us all. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this galley in exchange for an honest review. Coming June 24, 2025.

I adored this book!

As a plus-size reader, this was the main character energy I've yearned for and more.

Sunny lives her best life. Even though she's had some issues (divorce, starting from the bottom, etc.) she's on the rise. She has a successful company, she's dating a few men, and has the assistant of her dreams.

When life starts to shatter, Sunny has to pick herself up and start again; what she finds is true happiness and a lifetime of love!

There are things I really like about Sunny Side Up and things I really don’t. I think a focus on body acceptance is great. I haven’t gone through the struggles that Sunny has, but like just about every woman and most men out there, I have days where I don’t love what I see in the mirror or it seems like no clothes I try on fit quite right. While it’s more of a struggle for people that wear larger sizes it is not a problem or state of mind that is exclusive to this group. Being able to sew to your own measurements, having a tailor, and having an eye for what’s flattering to your figure is a legit godsend. So is having a culture that’s not obsessive with appearance, but quite honestly fixing that is accomplished in tiny victories. I love how Sunny has supportive friends and men interested in her for who she is as a person and don’t set their standards based on toxic societal “norms”. I like that she knows where she wants to be and what she wants to do, and pursues it successfully. I like the fact that not only does she start up a swimsuit line for women of all sizes, but she restarts her blog that helps remind women they aren’t alone in the struggle they face with not just accepting themselves, but owning it. But there are things I don’t like about this story too. Sunny starts off judgmental about Dennis because he’s a postal worker. Even though she’s a successful businesswoman, she gets into a romantic relationship with Ted, the man that’s investing in her company, something I would think she would know better than to do. Then she starts dating both Ted and Dennis at the same time and justifies it because she has never committed to exclusivity with either one. This despite being hurt by the way she’s been treated in relationships, her husband cheating on her, and knowing that Dennis feels vulnerable after being hurt in his relationships. Then she goes out on her hugely popular blog and writes about the men. Even though she’s using nicknames it wouldn’t be hard for word to get around in her community of friends and associates. And her best friends support her in this! Despite arguing for a woman being her best self and not getting wrapped up in how others perceive her, she still spends a lot of time thinking about how her ex will perceive her actions, spending a lot of time getting pretty for dates, and wearing things she knows the man she’s seeing will like, while understandable, it also feels like it undermines her whole argument. Sunny does learn some lessons in this story, and while I want to give it a higher rating for having a positive message about empowerment, I can’t because of the things Sunny does that are hurtful or contradict the very things she claims to stand for. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5, rounded up.

This book?! Hello?! I LOVED it.

Maybe it’s because I’m the same age and size(ish) as Sunny, but I found myself fully rooting for her. We’re at totally different places in life but I still found so many moments of connection with this spectacular protagonist. I loved the message of not making yourself small to appease others. I adored the growth of the love story (and all the surrounding dating stories). Overall this book felt like such a warm hug, uplifting and positive while still being overwhelmingly (in a good way!) real and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my copy of this book! 💗

I really enjoyed this book...it was funny, serious, sad, and hopeful all wrapped into one. Sunny Greene is newly divorced and is need of a date to her brother's upcoming nuptials. She goes shopping for a new bathing suit for her upcoming girls trip and is again reminded of the slim pickin's for the plus-size ladies on the racks. She selects the best of the worst, has her swimsuit altered and a spark is ignited. Along the way, you watch Sunny grow from an insecure and unsure woman to a confident business professional, determined to secure her own happily ever after.

Being someone that has struggled with weight throughout her life, I felt for Sunny and the struggles with her confidence and establishing trustful relationships.

Thank you to #celadonbooks and #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sunny Side Up follows newly divorced Sunny as she moves on and focuses on herself. First, I want to say I did love the character of Sunny during the first half of the book and could really relate to her. I've been through a divorce myself and like many others struggle with body acceptance. I really enjoyed watching her struggles because I felt like they were my struggles too. But ultimately it fell apart for me in the second half. I think it tried to be too much at once. I feel like the author may have felt torn between writing the romance and writing Sunny's journey. I honestly read a lot of romance, but the romance fell flat as it became the main focus in the second part. For starters, I think I expected more of her dating around with the beginning and the comparison to Sex and the City. The reason love triangles are difficult for me is because I find it hard to believe someone is the love of your life if only pages ago you weren't sure who to choose. And (spoilers) it felt like Ted was pushed to be the bad guy in the end to nudge her in the other direction. There's nothing wrong with playing the field, but playing hot then cold and leading someone on isn't cute when you're Sunny's age. I think that may be my other problem. Often Sunny felt more like a just out of college age instead of the more mature recently divorced woman I was expecting. Her blog in particular felt like it was written by someone much younger and trying too hard for me to believe that women were reading it. In contrast, the swimsuit idea I can get behind. But it bothered me that the woman who created the suit was so pushed to the side. When Sunny was talking about creating the line and empowering women, I expected her to go to the seamstress to cofound the business with her. Instead, there was not significant focus on what she was doing. Without her, there isn't a SONNY. Yes, Sunny had the ideas, but I feel like they should have been equals. I think the book would have been better fleshing out the issues with her creating her line and less about the men she was trying to date. It just did not feel authentic to me. But overall it was not a bad book, just too adventurous for such a short read.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

I really wanted to love this book. The main character is a plus-size woman who runs an incredible business and has great friends post-divorce. It follows her journey as she starts an inclusive swimwear line and dates after her divorce.

I enjoyed seeing the swimwear line come to fruition but to be honest, the men she dates were not it for me. They were so drastically different and I found myself not loving all of her choices. I also kept waiting for her assistant to do something to cause a disruption.

It took me a few weeks to get through this one. I enjoyed parts of it but could have done without others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for giving me the opportunity to read Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino in exchange for my honest review.

Sunny Greene is thirty-five, newly divorced, and on the verge of a self-love revolution—or at least, that's what the book promises. What follows is a fast-paced, light-hearted read with good intentions, but unfortunately, those intentions often trip over their own feet.

Let’s start with what worked: there are moments of raw honesty that I felt deep in my bones. The dressing room scenes? Spot on. The frustration of swimsuit shopping as a plus-size woman? All too real. And Sunny’s circle of supportive, equally flawed friends going through their own divorces? Absolutely one of the highlights.

For a book that sets out to be body-positive and empowering, it spends an unexpected amount of time dwelling on the difficulties of living in a plus-sized body. Instead of allowing self-love to emerge naturally through the story, it constantly trying to convince us of the struggle, repeating the same points over and over again. And while those struggles are absolutely real, the constant emphasis becomes too much. I live it every day, and yet I started to get annoyed.

Sunny herself is... complicated. I wanted to root for her. I tried. But too often, her choices didn't work for me. For someone preaching self-respect and empowerment, she sometimes uses people in ways that undercut her message. It’s hard to celebrate her growth when her actions seem to contradict the lessons she’s learning.

Every plotline seems to fall into place with suspicious ease—career success, romantic options lining up like it’s a dating buffet, the perfect comeback moment. It felt more like wish fulfillment than a believable story arc. Confidence is great (and Sunny does have some fierce style throughout), but confidence without genuine growth can come across as a little hollow.

One particularly jarring moment came with Sunny’s mother, who spent most of the book being so obtuse and disrespectful, only to suddenly turn a complete emotional corner near the end. The shift felt completely out of left field and not at all earned, more like a convenient wrap-up than a realistic evolution.

This book had potential. It had glimpses of greatness. It has heart, for sure. It’s a quick read, and with all the swimsuit talk, it's perfect for the upcoming beach season (just don’t go to a store to try on suits if you're over a size 12).

I absolutely loved this book! Sunny Side Up is a vibrant, funny, and sooo relatable story about friendship, family, and fitting in. This book is for anyone who saw themselves in Shrill, cries at Queer Eye, and loves female friendship! I love LOVED it!

Four and a half stars rounded up to five. Sunny Greene is a recently divorced, plus size woman. She has her own business, apartment, and dogs. What she doesn't have is a swimsuit in her size from a high end department store. And thus, SONNY is born, a swimsuit business that caters to women of all sizes. Ted is an investor in the business, older, handsome, successful. Then there's Dennis, the cute postman. And finally, Zack, her ex husband, re-enters her life. What's a girl to do?
I really loved this book. I read it in basically one sitting. It was sweet, funny, and touching, and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. Highly, highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

First off, I am a Katie Sterino stan! I wouldn't make it through life without her megababe products. But I was honestly leery about a book by her. I have red Body talk which deals with body image. But I was nervous about a fiction story. This book is so good. It was a great story, it was real, it was honest. It was refreshing, it was everything that a woman's fiction book should be buy it. Read it, gift it little library at everything......if I could do more than 5 starts i would- i hope we get more from Katie in the fiction realm. Amd she keeps on killing it in the body positivity world

Thank you, net galley, for the arc.In exchange for an honest review

(Actual: 4.5⭐, rounded up) Loved it! A surprising read for me tbh, as I thought I'd like it well enough, sure, but I ended up finding so much of it to be very relatable and grounded! I laughed, cried, and ultimately just did not want to put it down until I was all the way through. Definitely would recommend, and perfect for book clubs!

I really enjoyed this book. However, I do feel that weight was too big of a focus.
It was a cute romance with a great friendship side story that I liked almost more than the romance part.

I loved this book so much! It’s like I could hear Katie Sturino’s voice throughout the entire novel. I was laughing with, crying with, and rooting for Sunny the entire story. Loved!!

I managed to get 20% through the book before I called it quits. After reading about Sunny's body issues and her voyeur scene with the contractor outside her window, I was well, it will get better. So I kept reading, Then when Sunny made a 6 AM booty call with the same contractor, I was if the next chapter continues with this same theme, I will quit reading. In the next chapter, Sunny described the booty call to her two best friends. Enough. I couldn't read any more. I wanted a story, not a sexual description or more of Sunny's issues with being overweight and how she felt about her body. If you need to read about that sort of thing, then you will get that in this book.

Sunny has been betrayed in her marriage. She is a highly successful woman, yet she doubts herself. Luckily, she has great friends who believe in her. Together, they heal. Being a big girl, she embarks on a swimsuit line for women who don't fit the mold. Along the way she searches for the right man. It was great seeing her reprised blog, Sunny Side Up. I enjoyed her discovery of what and who she needed.
Thank you, Katie Sturino and net galley for the opportunity to enjoy this book.

I truly did not want this book to end! Could this possibly be a series? Please?! I loved Sunny - she is so very real! Wouldn’t it be great if Sonny were real too!! All of the characters were endearing but Mr Postman and Silver Fox especially so. And the friendship between Sunny, Noor and Brooke was heartwarming! All in all it’s a great book and I highly recommend!

Simply a brilliant story! Sunny is 35, recently divorced and has almost always had a problem with body image. She takes in every negative comment anyone makes about her body, even her mother. She has a newsletter she writes which becomes very popular. Her business is thriving and she has two great best friends. So she decides this is the time to accept her body image and get out and get a life. Here the journey begins and it is hilarious and heartwarming and just a great story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I appreciated the premise of Sunny’s journey, and I admired the effort to highlight body positivity and self-acceptance. I felt some of Sunny’s struggles were relatable, like navigating life after divorce and attempting to rediscover herself. I found her ambition to create a size-inclusive swimsuit brand inspiring. That said, I struggled to connect with the story on a deeper level. I felt the characters lacked development, and I didn’t feel fully invested in their relationships or decisions. I often found myself waiting for more meaningful moments or emotional depth, but those moments didn’t quite come. While I enjoyed some lighthearted elements, I felt the plot was predictable, and the narrative didn’t leave a lasting impression. I admired the intent behind Sunny’s journey, but I couldn’t help feeling that the story fell short of its potential.

Overall, I thought the book was fine for a quick read, but it wasn’t particularly memorable for me.

This book was a basic three stars (rounded up from 2.5). It was a quick and fluffy read but didn’t really leave me with anything more. Consistent with other reviewers, I found the book a little devoid of substance because the main character seemed so unrealistic. There was a lack of challenge and adversity in her business and dating experiences that left the book lacking. It was an easy rom com to read but I wouldn't seek it out.