Review: Sunny Side Up: A Novel

Sunny Side Up: A Novel by Katie Sturino
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This wasn't a horrible book (it was well-written grammatically, but unbelievable), and it may help women with body acceptance, but the main story was beyond plausible. This book held my attention, but I found myself rolling my eyes throughout.

This is a 35-year-old woman who has a breakdown after trying on swimsuits in a high-end store. Mind you, this woman is 35 (I think) so she has had years to come to accept her body, and she has the maturity to understand that you should give a poop about what anyone else thinks.

Sunny thinks she has to bring a date to her brother's wedding, so she starts dating using various means. To me, her "dating" two men at the same time while writing about it on her blog was the tackiest thing I've ever seen, and advertising it, although she did use code names, was the most immature thing I've ever heard of.

Now, while all of this is going on, she is running her own very successful company, although I can't for the life of me remember what the company did since she basically ignored it while opening up another company. One that created top-of-the-line luxury swimsuits for those who don't fit the sizes typically shown in high-end stores. Which I find challenging to believe still happens.

Everything has been pretty much handed to Sunny on a silver platter - not literally, but in the book, she really doesn't work too hard for what she gets. She has mindblowing sex with two or three hunky men and one idiot and she didn't have to work too hard to get any of them.

I don't know; I really can't explain why this book irritated me so much. But it did!

*ARC: Supplied by the publisher Celadon Books, the author, and NetGalley.


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DESCRIPTION: "From body-acceptance advocate and MEGABABE founder Katie Sturino comes a heartwarming and hilarious debut.

Sunny Greene is thirty-five, recently divorced, facing the looming prospect of going solo to her little brother’s wedding, and currently trying to find anything plus-sized in the Bergdorf Goodman swimsuit department that doesn’t make her want to cry. It’s not going well. But isn’t rock bottom the perfect place to start a climb?

She decides it’s now or never. Sunny has her PR empire, her gorgeous Chelsea apartment, her two dogs, and her loyal best friends. Maybe it's time to just love her body and accept herself for who she is. With a new commitment to confidence, her journey begins. Who says a plus-sized divorcee can’t put herself first, feel beautiful, and date up a storm?

Of course things are never straightforward in the dating world. Is fate knocking at her door with Dennis, the charming and down-to-earth mailman, or should she be with Ted, the business tycoon who seems ready to make her size-inclusive swimsuit brand a reality? And what should she do about her ex, who shows up unexpectedly, eager to reconnect?

With the same candor and confidence her followers love, Sturino brings us Sunny Greene, a Carrie Bradshaw for the next generation, and her journey through the trials and triumphs of dating, friendship, and finding yourself.