Chase all the ghosts from your head: ONE TO WATCH.

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun and addictive reality romance

With more than half a million Instagram followers and a popular blog, Bea Schumacher has a great life. But she doesn't have love--she's still pining after her best friend, who broke her heart. Bea also loves the reality romance juggernaut, Main Squeeze, where men vie for the affections of a beautiful women. When Bea's critique of Main Squeeze goes viral--why doesn't the show feature any diversity of size in its cast--the show comes to her. They want Bea to be the next star. Bea agrees, but she's adamant: she won't fall in love. This is just for her career. But once on set, Bea realizes this might not be as easy as she thinks.

"Life isn’t often a fairy tale, even on a show that aims to create one.”

I've never seen "The Bachelor" (Main Squeeze's equivalent) before in my life, but I found this book fascinating. (Probably more enjoyable than the actual show, ha.) It's frothy and entertaining but also tackles serious topics like body issues and racism. Once on the show, Bea meets a host of men: some truly awful, some quite lovely. It's quite the ride to watch her have her choice of eligible and handsome men.

I found Bea a little frustrating in her absolute unwillingness to open up, leading her to wallow in self-pity and a complete inability to even consider love. But, she had her reasons. The body positivity in the book was excellent and frequent. Bea is fearful of opening up and revealing herself and her body after being hurt. But she's also a successful and strong businesswoman (and now a celebrity!). The book draws you in to the episodes of Main Squeeze--it's honestly quite addictive. It sprinkles in excepts from Twitter, chats, publications, and more to tell the story--a very effective format. And there's true humor, romance, and heartbreak involved as well.

Overall, this was probably 3.75 stars for me--bumping up due to its strong coverage of serious and important topics. Oh and for Bea's stepdad! I loved him so much. Worth a read, for sure.

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing and Random House / The Dial Press in return for an unbiased review.

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