* This review is spoiler free!
Yesterday I finished reading One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London. I received the book early through my Book of the Month subscription box.
One to Watch was a really good book. It’s just over four hundred pages and has a gorgeous cover. The plot is about a plus sized fashion blogger named Bea Schumacher who gets talked into going on a dating show called Main Squeeze. Twenty-five guys compete for her attention and you can imagine the drama that ensues! I don’t usually watch dating shows so I didn’t think I was going to like this book that much. I was wrong. But, one thing I DID’T like, this IS one of those books where the author made the character instagram “famous” and then only gave her six hundred thousand followers while it would have felt more believable if Bea had maybe around fifteen million? That doesn’t really affect much of the plot; it's really only mentioned a few times.
I thought it was going to be a cheesy book that wouldn’t capture my attention but something (other than the wonderful cover) drew me to it. As you read on it’s obvious the book really battles the stereotypes of women and the way they’re perceived because of their weight or their beauty. I was hooked pretty quickly.
The book describes Bea’s life prior to joining the show and throughout her reality TV journey, as Bea is learning to accept her body in more ways. She’s also trying to decipher whether any of the men on the show actually are interested in her or just being on TV. All the while she is completely isolated from social media and talking to her family during filming… which means no cell phone.
While on the show Bea encounters lots of twists and turns and deals with her own emotional turmoil as she goes. Unfortunately, not every contestant was excited to see a plus size woman on the dating show… (Bea’s appearance on the show was a surprise) there had to be some “villains.”
The style of the book is amazing! It’s a really good pace, the book includes fake podcasts, articles, group chats and tweets about Bea being on Main Squeeze. It’s really fun to read everyone’s opinions and the pretend group chats talking about the show. It reminds me of watching shows with my friends and talking about it after or reading an article about “celebrity drama.” Stayman-London really hit the nail on the head with that one.
It was a really entertaining book with a fun-to-follow main character that you really want to cheer for. The book is going to be released tomorrow July 7th, and I recommend you pick it up.
I can’t wait to see what Kate Stayman-London comes up with next!
