Review: To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin

Summary from Goodreads:

Savannah is dreading being home alone with her overbearing mother after her sister goes off to college. But if she can just get through senior year, she'll be able to escape to college, too. What she doesn't count on is that her mother's obsession with weight has only grown deeper since her appearance on an extreme weight-loss show, and now Savvy's mom is pressuring her even harder to be constantly mindful of what she eats.

Between her mom's diet-helicoptering, missing her sister, and worrying about her collegiate future, Savvy has enough to worry about. And then she meets George, the cute new kid at school who has insecurities of his own. As Savvy and George grow closer, they help each other discover how to live in the moment and enjoy the here and now before it disappears.

Review:


What I Liked:

Characters. I adored the main character Savvy, she was relatable and that made me want to pick this book up every single time I had the chance. 

Plot. Martin covers important topics, body image, the relationship between child and parents, and many more that she covered extremely well in this novel. 

Anxiety/Overweight Representation. As someone who has struggled with weight and with anxiety attacks I connected deeply with the main character. I felt that Marin did an amazing job showing writing those two representations while not being negative about them. I also loved how the panic attacks were right at the start of the book and like reality it came out of nowhere on a normal day, it deeply reminded me of my own experiences with anxiety. However, I would have liked more about Savvy's panic attacks but I connected a lot with that aspect that you don't see a lot in novels. 

Emotions. I know that book is hard hitting and good when my eyes start to burn. And that is what happened with this one. I felt for what the main character was going through and nearly had me in tears. 

What I Disliked:

Length. I wish that this novel was a lot longer! I would have loved it even if it was 500 pages. I wanted more with these interesting characters. I felt that the main issues, most of all with Savvy and her mom could have been expanded on. 

I recommend checking out this hard hitting and well-written contemporary. I will be checking out more from this new author. 

Rating:

4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars