To Be Honest

Product Information

We meet Savvy as she and her mom are taking her sister Ashley to her dorm in college & there are a lot of feelings from the start. Savvy does struggle with anxiety & having such a tight bond with her older sister made separating all the harder. Besides not having her very best friend around anymore, she also has to deal with a difficult, strained, and just plain toxic relationship with her mother. Savvy’s mom went through a life changing event after her husband/Savvy’s dad cheated on her with her best friend. Her mom won a spot on a weight loss TV show & was flown across the country for intense weight loss training. Upon her return, her whole outlook on weight was toxic and Savvy was unfortunately the person she affected most. We see Savvy miss the relationship she used to have with her mother prior to the drastic weight loss. Savvy is vocal with her thoughts on the unhealthy weight loss these TV shows promote which causes her to butt heads more often with her mom. I grew up around so much dishonesty that it physically pains me to be dishonest. So much so that I've built a reputation for myself as being the person to go to when you want the truth. So when I read the summary of this book, about a man who grew up in an "honesty cult" and how he learned that sometimes, being dishonest is a good thing, this memoir became required reading for me, someone who doesn't usually read memoirs. It took everything within me not to add some extra hashtags, like #LoveYourBody or #AllBodiesAreGoodBodies.

We worked in a scared silence, taking a few moments longer to complete each task than necessary. If we admitted that we were done, we’d have to admit that it was time to leave. I don’t think Mom had good-bye on her epic list of dorm move-in responsibilities. No matter how many blogs she read or careful notes she took, nothing could prepare us for leaving. A refreshing YA contemporary novel that wrestles with self-love, anxiety, and family. ... I would imagine people who loved Leah on the Offbeat, The Upside of Unrequited, or Turtles All the Way Down will also love this novel." — Better Books and Other Things Michael’s friends, many whom were musicians, didn’t exactly experience his criticism as love. Perplexing, a little rude and deviant, were more like it.A refreshing YA contemporary novel that wrestles with self-love, anxiety, and family. ... I would imagine people who loved Leah on the Offbeat, The Upside of Unrequited, or Turtles All the Way Down will also love this novel." -- Better Books and Other Things

To Be Honest was one of the cutest things I’ve read in ages. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer, but I think that’s a pretty good “complaint” to have, since it just means I loved the story so much, I wanted even more of it. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a cute contemporary read, but especially to anyone who’s looking for a little body positivity in their life. Thank you so much, Maggie, for writing this story—it meant so much to me. The only thing I'm disappointed about is George. I am so torn about George. On one hand he was such a great guy for the majority of the book; they had such an adorable friendship and I'm thrilled that they were able to have a sweet high school romance without necessarily defining their relationship and having it overshadow Savannah's excitement for attending university in the fall. If you are a normal person, this book might be very uncomfortable, because it basically accuses you of lying constantly. And, well, it is not entirely wrong. If you actually pay attention to all the ways we evade and avoid, we do an awful lot of lying. It is much more socially acceptable to lie than to be truthful. So perhaps it is grating to read something that calls you out, even if you think you're doing it the better way. I honestly could not tell you. All I can say is that if you are an oversharing honest weirdo who cries whenever you feel strong emotion, then you will like this book. To Be Honest is a fun, breezy and affirming story about how you #LoveYourBody because #AllBodiesAreGoodBodies. From being fat to openly and happily living as gay, the story immensely surrounds itself with an attitude of acceptance and gave readers a strong message on self-love and importance. “There’s no expiration date on acceptance.” Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillian Children’s Publishing Group – Swoon Reads, Xpresso Book Tours and Maggie Ann Martin for providing me an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!To be honest...we loved the latest novel by Maggie Ann Martin! ... With her [Savannah], Martin has created a beautifully rendered portrait of a high school senior. She feels real and interesting, and like someone who you'd definitely want to drive around blasting Eminem with, if only because that's her favorite past time!" -- Hypable Thank you Nelle for making me realize these feelings are valid. This book will live forever in my heart. To be honest...we loved the latest novel by Maggie Ann Martin! ... With her [Savannah], Martin has created a beautifully rendered portrait of a high school senior. She feels real and interesting, and like someone who you’d definitely want to drive around blasting Eminem with, if only because that’s her favorite past time!" — Hypable It had a lot of side plots going on, most if not all of them highly underdeveloped because there was just not enough time spent in each one of them. This made the book lose depth, and it needed it as it was touching a lot of different sensitive subjects.

Savannah also has two other great relationships over the course of this novel - her relationship with her best friend Grace and her love interest George. I loved the sisterhood that existed between Grace and Savannah and the healthy portrayal of a female friendship with absolutely no jealousy or hatred, just pure love and support. I also loved the romance, as it was a subplot that did not take up too much space, but it got enough space that something adorable developed. The contrast between the view on weight & being fat of Savannah and her mom was drastically different, and this is probably one of this novel's themes that I think Martin did the best with. I did want a little more on this, but I think this was one of the themes that was most explored with Savannah's concern for her mother's health and trying to find the happy medium between boundaries and concern. To Be Honest captures the struggle to be proud of who you are and to find the courage to live boldly, no matter your shape or size, an idea that is wonderful to see presented to teen audiences. For fans of To All the Boys I've Loved Before and Dumplin', Maggie Ann Martin's latest is sure to please both teens and adults alike who are in search of a moving and heartwarming story." -- GERM Magazinenot sure if i loved it so much because it resonated with me and the current situation im going through, but this was written in such a beautiful way. I felt like it somehow put into writing all i have been feeling recently. As a young adult, Michael’s honestly was detrimental during job interviews. Some funny scenes, in New York City.

Unapologetically promotes healthy body image and love for oneself. Savvy and her mother provide the reader with diametrically opposed perspectives concerning the psychological impact of body shaming: Savvy possesses a strong, positive image while her mother derives self-worth from a scale. ... Educators and librarians seeking literature that resonates with female readers who struggle with body image will want to add this novel to their shelves." -- VOYA His music videos are very cool. “Summer’s the Worst” is a touching song! His singing at a Bar Mitzvah ( when he was younger), was hysterical. NONE OF THOSE 13 year old boys were listening to Michael sing his love song. Sooo funny! Unapologetically promotes healthy body image and love for oneself. Savvy and her mother provide the reader with diametrically opposed perspectives concerning the psychological impact of body shaming: Savvy possesses a strong, positive image while her mother derives self-worth from a scale. ... Educators and librarians seeking literature that resonates with female readers who struggle with body image will want to add this novel to their shelves." — VOYASecondary to the conversation about weight is anxiety and how it can play in to our fears about who we are and how the world looks at us. Ash, you have some duct tape in the top drawer, right?” I asked, putting everyone out of their awkward misery. Telling the truth isn't always natural for children. They know honesty is the best option, but it may mean disappointing someone. Children may lie to avoid punishment or protect their friends. Teaching children to be truthful in their actions and words helps them develop healthy relationships and be seen as trustworthy. Romance is part of the story, but the story doesn’t rely on it, It mainly moved around relations and hardships of a family. Imagine, when his girlfriend decides to surprise him with a special dinner that she works hard on. Well, she really can’t cook. He would have to tell her the food was awful. A relative gets him a special gift trying to make him happy. He doesn’t like it, yes he has to tell him the gift is awful. His Dad thinks Full Criticism is essential. Even at 5, his Dad could not be Easy on him playing chess and let him win once.