Title: Sweet
Author: Emmy Laybourne
Pub. Date: June 2nd, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 288
Pub. Date: June 2nd, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 288
Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads
Rate: 2/5 stars
Synopsis :
People would kill to be thin.
Solu’s luxurious celebrity-filled “Cruise to Lose” is billed as “the biggest cruise since the Titanic,” and if the new diet sweetener works as promised—dropping five percent of a person’s body weight in just days—it really could be the answer to the world’s obesity problem. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She’s already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host, Tom Forelli (otherwise known as the hottest guy ever!) and she’s too seasick to even try the sweetener. And that’s before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.
But will they die for it, too?
Tom Forelli knows that he should be grateful for this job and the opportunity to shed his childhood “Baby Tom-Tom” image. His publicists have even set up a ‘romance’ with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get a bit wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when his celebrity hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it’s Laurel that he’s determined to save.
Solu’s luxurious celebrity-filled “Cruise to Lose” is billed as “the biggest cruise since the Titanic,” and if the new diet sweetener works as promised—dropping five percent of a person’s body weight in just days—it really could be the answer to the world’s obesity problem. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She’s already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host, Tom Forelli (otherwise known as the hottest guy ever!) and she’s too seasick to even try the sweetener. And that’s before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.
But will they die for it, too?
Tom Forelli knows that he should be grateful for this job and the opportunity to shed his childhood “Baby Tom-Tom” image. His publicists have even set up a ‘romance’ with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get a bit wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when his celebrity hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it’s Laurel that he’s determined to save.
Review:
I was really interested in this book as soon as it came out. I thought the idea was really creative and the romance seemed super fun! However, I didn't like the book as much as I was hoping I would. The plot fell a little flat and the characters were so boring that I don't know how they drove a plot line for an entire book.
The very beginning of the book was strong. It kept me wanting more and I really liked the two main characters. However, about halfway through I began to become overwhelmingly bored. Nothing was really adding up and certain things happened that I feel like were devices to serve the plot. It almost is so unrealistic, that it became silly. I know that the story said that Solu was marketed as an herbal supplement instead of a drug that is FDA approved, but even then I don't think the entire country is stupid enough to take a drug that isn't FDA approved. For awhile, this book actually seemed very body positive. Laurel was honestly comfortable in her own body and wanted everyone else to be to. I thought it was even more body positive than the recently popular 'Dumplin', that everyone is talking about. However, towards the end it became very body negative. There were very unnecessary derogatory terms toward overweight people. I really want to read a great body positive book, *sigh*, where are they all?
I didn't like Laurel and Tom's relationship. It seems forced and unnatural. I liked Laurel to a degree - I liked that she didn't give into peer pressure and I like that she was always concerned about her friends, but she also was so boring that I almost put the book down a few times. On the other hand, Tom was almost as insufferable as Laurel. He was sick of being known for what he did when he was little, but he's an actor so he should suck it the hell up. Yet, he still did the lamest gigs and complained when doing them.
It seems like this book is more of a cautionary tale, for what, I think it's open to interpretation. Is it don't trust diet supplements, don't get fat because then you won't have any self control, or is it don't follow what other people are doing? I still am not sure what the message of the book is, maybe all of the above. This book wasn't my favorite, but it did conclude nicely. Even though I'm pretty sure this is a standalone novel, the ending seemed like it opened up for the possibility of a sequel. I probably wouldn't read the sequel, though. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book, and I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to. Maybe if you are someone that likes sillier books, this book could be for you. I rated this book 2/5 stars.
- Jocelyn
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