To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin

To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin
Published by Swoon Reads on August 21st 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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.

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This does not influence my thoughts on this book or this review.

I’m always on the lookout for cute reads so when I hear of a new Swoon Reads book coming out, I always check it out. I really liked To Be Honest and I definitely think it fits what I was looking for.

Savannah’s sister and best friend is off to college which means Savannah will be alone to deal with her overbearing mother. Ever since her mother’s gone on a massive weight loss reality show, she’s been pressuring Savannah and making snide comments about her weight. With the school year starting and all of the family drama going on, Savannah has more than enough to worry about. But when she meets George, she slowly learns that she can learn to enjoy the here and now.

Despite being a short novel, I definitely think that readers could easily connect to Savannah. Her POV has a unique voice that I think readers will definitely be able to relate to. I liked reading in her POV and the writing was clear and made for a fast but enjoyable reading experience. The romance between Savannah and George was not as much of a focus as the synopsis makes it seem but I kinda like that. The novel is about Savannah’s experiences in her senior year.

To Be Honest isn’t really focused on a plot as much as it’s focused on Savannah. For that reason, I really recommend To Be Honest for readers looking for a quick-paced but definitely memorable character-based novel.