Synopsis
The person who ruined their lives just might bring them together...
Brad is ready for a perfect senior year: he has a seat at the popular lunch table, a gig co-hosting the school’s morning announcements, and a gorgeous girlfriend. But when Carissa breaks up with Brad, his carefully constructed life comes crashing down. Convinced everything would be perfect if only Carissa would take him back, Brad creates a “self-improvement plan” and vows to re-win her heart.
Rose wishes she were having a normal senior year like everyone else, but leave it to her twin sister Carissa to butt in and ruin her life. Carissa secretly nominated Rose for the reality TV show Help Me Lose Weight and Live Again—and now Rose is on her way to Texas for three months of calorie-counting, marathon-exercising hell. Rose already felt overshadowed by her “perfect” sister, and collapsing on a treadmill on national TV is not making things any better. Plus, Rose can’t squash feelings for her sister’s boyfriend Brad (even though she knows he would never see her as anything but a friend.)
For fans of friends-to-lovers romance comes a heartwarming novel about self-improvement, identity and acceptance in our image-obsessed culture.
The person who ruined their lives just might bring them together...
Brad’s ready for the perfect Senior year: he’s got a seat at the popular table, co-hosts the school’s morning announcements and he has a gorgeous girlfriend. That is until Carissa dumps him and everything comes crashing down. But Brad has a plan to win Carissa back…
Rose has spent her entire life in the shadow of her beautifully perfect twin, Carissa. As Senior year approaches all she wants to do is have a normal time, preferably without too much attention. But her sister ruins it by secretly nominating her to appear on reality tv show, Help Me Lose Weight and Live Again. Now heading to Texas for three months of calorie counting and extreme exercise—on on national television no less.
Collapsing on a treadmill is embarrassing enough but having every humiliating moment of it on camera for the world see is even more so. It doesn’t help that Rose can’t quash her feeling for her twin’s boyfriend Brad (who she knows could never see her as anything but a friend.)
This was a really heartwarming and enjoyable read that tackles the age old themes of friendship, Social pressure and learning to accept yourself instead of trying to conform to the expectations of others. It’s a message that I think will definitely resonate with a lot of people.
I really liked both Rose and Brad (though Brad took a little longer for me to warm too than Rose) and felt really empathetic towards how they were treated by Carissa (Rose especially.)
Its a bit of a slow burn romance and told through the POVs of both Brad and Rose which I really enjoy and loved the coming of age aspect of them learning to accept themselves for who they are, I also loved the chemistry between them.
Carissa was the perfect antagonist and I definitely disliked her from the first page—she definitely gave Regina George from mean girl vibes but she does redeem herself a little by the end.
I also loved how Dallas Woodburn tackles the toxicity of reality shows and the toll they have on the mental health of not just the contestants but viewers too. Rose’s speech in response to her last weigh in was an absolutely satisfying moment, she handled it superbly!
Overall this was a really enjoyable and uplifting read, I definitely recommend to fans of friends to lovers or YA Contemporary Romances.
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