What I love about YA of this time—as opposed to when I was growing up—is that there’s so much more diversity and messaging of being happy with who you are. That’s probably a big reason why I still read it: It’s easy for me to go back to high school and imagine how I would have felt reading these stories back then. When I saw a beautiful fat girl on a cover for a YA romance, I was ready to read it, no matter the storyline. And when Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon also included the “fake dating” trope, I had high hopes.

Sixteen-year-old Bethany Greene, though confident and self-assured, is what they call a late bloomer. She’s never had a boyfriend, date, or first kiss. She’s determined to change that, but after her crush turns her down cold for Homecoming—declaring her too inexperienced—and all her backup ideas fall through, she cautiously agrees to go with her best friend’s boyfriend, Jacob. A platonic date is better than no date, right? Until Saylor breaks up with said boyfriend.

Dumped twice in just two months, Jacob Yeun wonders if he’s the problem. After years of hiding behind his camera and a shocking summer glow-up, he wasn’t quite ready for all the attention or to be someone’s boyfriend. There are no guides for his particular circumstances or for taking your ex’s best friend to the dance.

Why not make the best of an awkward situation? Bethany and Jacob decide to fake date for practice, building their confidence in matters of the heart.

And it works—guys are finally noticing Bethany. But things get complicated as their kissing sessions—for research, of course!—start to feel real. This arrangement was supposed to help them in dating other people, but what if their perfect match is right in front of them?

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I received a free copy from Penguin Random House Canada as part of their Penguin Reads program, where they send you a physical copy of the book after it’s available in stores with a promise that you’ll give an honest review to your network. And I kept putting it off for whatever reason (without rereading the synopsis, mind you)—and I’m so disappointed I waited as long as I did to read this! From the relationships between parents and children to the relationships between friends and the acceptance of everyone as they are…it was truly refreshing and brought me into a fantastic world I didn’t want to leave.

What didn’t work for me

The cuteness: I had to find some constructive criticism here, so don’t come for me, but Jacob and Bethany did so many thoughtful, creative, attentive things for one another that it almost felt unbelievable. But maybe high schoolers are just like that now—I know promposals were not a thing back in my time. But really, they are adorable. It will make your heart melt.

What I liked

The representation: Sometimes, in YA books these days, I find the diversity a bit too…perfect. Like every high school has a transgender friend, an ace friend, is bisexual and has gay parents. And though I love that for the world, it’s just not realistic. But the representation here is diverse without going too much into the land of the unbelievable. And I absolutely loved the portrayal of Bethany’s moms—because they were present but very much had their own lives—and there was no tragedy around their relationship either.

The boundaries: One of my favourite parts about this book is the fact that both MCs wouldn’t let their peers pressure them into doing anything they didn’t want to do. Not ready to have sex? No problem. Don’t want to go to a party because it’s not their scene? That’s fine too. They were firm on their boundaries and stuck to them—and I loved reading that.

4.5 STARS

“I like food ’cause good food taste delicious. Did that cause me to gain weight? Sure did, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t turn me into a bad person.” —Rebekah Weatherspoon, Her Good Side

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.