This one was a much rougher read for me than any of her other books. While Katie and Hutch are cute, their romance is overshadowed by the depths of Katie’s body image issues. I really wish this book had come with a warning at the start for the amount of graphic discussion of body image issues.
If this hadn’t been a Katherine Center book I would’ve DNFed it for how intensely it focused on her self-hatred. While the aim was to empower women to learn to love their bodies for simply existing, it left me feeling like I would’ve been worse off in my relationship with my body had I read it just a few years ago.
George Bailey and Rue are the highlights of this book and bring much-needed humor and lightness to the story. Rue and her Gals felt vibrantly real, and I loved the depiction of female friendship through them. I wish we had gotten to see more of Hutch and Katie when things were good between them, it felt like we got to see very little of them on good terms for a romance.
There are a lot of heavy themes in this one, and while I know she typically puts characters through a lot to find their happy endings, this one didn’t feel like the same type of light summer read that the previous three I’ve read did. I’ll still continue to pick up her new releases excitedly, but I really wish this one came with some warning of what I was getting into.