Reviewed by Kaelin Lee, age 15
Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Bethany Greene is a late bloomer who hasn’t had any romantic experience in her 16 years of life. When she finally finds the courage to ask her crush to Homecoming, she is shot down due to that very reason. Jacob Yuen, also 16, had been dumped by 2 girls in the last 2 months, one being Bethany’s best friend. Disheartened by their recent romantic failures, they decide to fake date each other for practice in relationships, starting with being fake dates at Homecoming. However, the more time they spend together, the more the relationship starts to feel real. As secret feelings develop on both sides, will they realize their perfect match has been right in front of them?
The plot wasn’t my favorite, as the message was sent that teenagers needed to fake dates to compensate for their lack of relationship status. There was such heavy pressure for the characters to be good at dating despite their young age of 16. Although, the book felt very realistic in the characters going through stages of dating and dealing with the trials of school and parents. That being said, for me, the realism and absence of high stakes led to a lack of compelling drama or exciting plot points to raise interest. However, I still did root for the relationship between Bethany and Jacob, with their lovable characterization being the star factor of the novel. Both of them were portrayed as sweet, sensitive, and had overall traits that suited each other well. Bethany’s love for cooking and hatred for basketball, plus Jacob’s passion for filming did feel like big parts of their personality. While a bit one-dimensional in that aspect, they were extremely likable characters. Their admiration of each other was also endearing to read about, supporting why they were a good fit for each other. The book had no shortage of cute and wholesome moments between the two. All in all, this was just a good lighthearted romance read that I’d recommend for young readers
3 stars out of 5 stars
Find this book in our catalog: Her Good Side
Catalog Number: YA FIC WEATHERSPOON,R
296 pages