⋙ Read Gratis To Be Honest Maggie Ann Martin Books

To Be Honest Maggie Ann Martin Books

Download As PDF : To Be Honest Maggie Ann Martin Books

To Be Honest Maggie Ann Martin Books

1. Family first. While I love romances most, stories about families and their complex dynamics are a close runner-up. Maggie Ann Martin paints such a realistic picture of Savannah's prickly relationship with her mom (who's recently lost a lot of weight and has become fixated on dieting and exercise), and her suddenly growing-pained relationship with her older sister, Ashley.
2. Body positive (this cover, though!). Savannah is fat and cool with it, and wow -- how refreshing. As someone who's struggled with body image over the years, I found myself constantly wanting to break into applause for Savannah because even while she struggles in realistic and relatable ways, she truly loves herself.
3. Voice. TO BE HONEST tackles some serious topics (diet culture, fat-phobia, insecurities, divorce, anxiety) but thanks to Maggie Ann Martin's effervescent narrative voice, the story never feels bogged down, or like it's forcing a Message on readers. It's sometimes funny, often moving, and always heartfelt.
Guys, I love this book. A LOT!


Tags : Amazon.com: To Be Honest (9781250183156): Maggie Ann Martin: Books,Maggie Ann Martin,To Be Honest,Swoon Reads,1250183154,Family - Parents,Romance - Clean & Wholesome,Social Themes - Eating Disorders & Body Image,Families,Love;Fiction.,Mothers and daughters;Fiction.,Overweight persons;Fiction.,Weight loss,243505 SWOON Hardcover,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Family Parents,Fiction-Romance,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 7-9 Ages 12-14,Romance Clean & Wholesome,TEEN'S FICTION ROMANCE,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Parents,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance Clean & Wholesome,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Eating Disorders & Body Image,Young Adult FictionFamily - Parents,Young Adult FictionRomance - Clean & Wholesome,teen books about self esteem; self esteem for girls; ya books about fat girls; fat characters; plus size characters; body positive fiction; body positivity fiction; teen clean romance; young adult sweet romance; wholesome romance; teen contemporary romance; high school; senior year; school newspaper; tutor; strong female characters; little sisters; mothers; toxic parents; single parents; helicopter parents; NPR best books of the year; best books of 2018; feminism for teens; teen books about identity; girl power; realistic teen fiction; first love; diet culture; mental health,teen books about self esteem; ya books about fat girls; body positive fiction; body positivity fiction; teen clean romance; young adult sweet romance; wholesome romance; teen contemporary romance; school newspaper; tutor; strong female characters; little sisters; toxic parents; single parents; helicopter parents; NPR best books of the year; best books of 2018; self esteem for girls; fat characters; plus size characters; high school; senior year; mothers; feminism for teens; teen books about identity; girl power; realistic teen fiction; first love; diet culture; mental health

To Be Honest Maggie Ann Martin Books Reviews

I don’t read “fluffy” contemporary titles very often; if I do, it’s probably either because it’s a random, rare exception, a nostalgic favorite, or diverse in some way that I can’t pass up the opportunity to promote the story and author. To Be Honest falls into that last category, and as soon as I heard about this book, I knew I absolutely had to get my hands on it.

To Be Honest is an own-voice story about a fat girl named Savannah, who’s learned to love her body regardless of its size. Fat rep is not something we see often in stories, but it’s slowly becoming a little more common, and I think that’s so important, because we’re finally getting to see in YA books that, just because a character is plus-size, doesn’t mean they’re a villain, or a slob, or a bad person.

Not only does Savvy deal with her weight and the way the world interacts with her, she also has a very toxic home life with a mother who, ever since going on a fad weight loss reality television show, has brought home an obsession with fitness that has reached an unhealthy level. She starts off by promoting a balanced diet and exercise, but it gradually ramps up until she’s trying to coerce Savannah into disordered eating habits. The entire issue stems from something that fat people are very familiar with, something we call “concern trolling”, which is where a person uses the guise of health concerns to harass, belittle, and/or mock overweight people.

It’s not only crucial that Savannah breaks down why her mother’s actions are harmful, but also that it comes from her mother in the first place. A lot of people will say that “concern trolling” comes from their own family members most often. Not only can it cause some pretty hurtful effects, but it rarely works, instead making people feel discouraged, self-conscious, and attacked.

Savannah has some incredible quotes here and there as she talks about how she has grown to love her body, even if she still has her moments of self-consciousness. We get to see firsthand that being plus-size doesn’t make her unhealthy, but that she also doesn’t have to obsess over weight loss and eat nothing but salads to deserve the basic air she breathes. She’s so empowering, and every time she ranted or went on a tangent, all I could think about was how much a younger Destiny needed stories like this, instead of cruelty from extended family members and crash diets that let to eating disorders. I want to put this book in the hands of every young girl, regardless of size, as we can all use a friendly reminder that we deserve to love our bodies and the amazing things they do for us.

Savannah’s story isn’t all about her weight or her strained relationship with her mother; it’s also about her sister Ashley (her best friend, who happens to be queer and proud), her friend Grace and Grace’s cousin George (who both are Colombian), and how the three of them help Savvy not only with life in general, but with her anxiety disorder, too. As someone who also has severe anxiety, I thought the representation of Savannah’s symptoms and panic attacks was done so well, and I loved that her loved ones never treated her like a burden or as though she could just turn off her anxiety. There’s also a really fun underlying story arc as Savvy and Grace, as school journalists, investigate some unfairness between the boys’ and girls’ sports teams.

Finally, there’s the romance, which was absolutely adorable. I don’t want to get too personal (I think I’ve done that enough in this review already!), but the interactions between Savvy and George reminded me so much of myself and my partner when we first met! The friendship graduating into awkward, sweet flirting, and the fact that neither of them seem to be able to grasp how they landed the other—it’s so sweet and fluffy and cutesy, and I really enjoyed watching them come together.

To Be Honest was one of the cutest things I’ve read in ages. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer, but I think that’s a pretty good “complaint” to have, since it just means I loved the story so much, I wanted even more of it. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a cute contemporary read, but especially to anyone who’s looking for a little body positivity in their life. Thank you so much, Maggie, for writing this story—it meant so much to me.
An amazing sibling dynamic and best-friendship. Wonderful discussion on extreme weight-loss shows and negative parent relationships, which are holy crap so realistic. The main character is an unapologetic fat girl and I love it. Nearly a five star read, but the only thing that kinda bummed me was that the relationship portion had a few miscommunication plot points, but one is very clearly driven by the shyness and anxiety of the love interest.
I generally judge a book's quality by whether it makes me feel something, and this one made me laugh out loud dozens of times & cry twice both markers of a resoundingly great read. I loved every minute of this book; once I picked it up I had to read it all the way through. Savvy's character is extremely relatable and easy to connect with, and I wish more books with characters like her had been around when I grew up. Maggie perfectly captures the feelings of a high school girl in a non cliche way. The book has the perfect amount of drama and charm. It took a couple chapters to really get into the story, but once it picked up, it really soared. If you love young adult fiction, then this book is one to add to your to-read list ASAP.
1. Family first. While I love romances most, stories about families and their complex dynamics are a close runner-up. Maggie Ann Martin paints such a realistic picture of Savannah's prickly relationship with her mom (who's recently lost a lot of weight and has become fixated on dieting and exercise), and her suddenly growing-pained relationship with her older sister, Ashley.
2. Body positive (this cover, though!). Savannah is fat and cool with it, and wow -- how refreshing. As someone who's struggled with body image over the years, I found myself constantly wanting to break into applause for Savannah because even while she struggles in realistic and relatable ways, she truly loves herself.
3. Voice. TO BE HONEST tackles some serious topics (diet culture, fat-phobia, insecurities, divorce, anxiety) but thanks to Maggie Ann Martin's effervescent narrative voice, the story never feels bogged down, or like it's forcing a Message on readers. It's sometimes funny, often moving, and always heartfelt.
Guys, I love this book. A LOT!