Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Little & Lion

That’s a damn good book. I didn’t know what to expect, but the rep is diverse and flawlessly woven in and really good.

It was both informative on bipolar disorder and emotional on many levels. I love the fact that Suzette never gives up on her brother despite everything. It’s not always healthy, but her support and love changes throughout the story without ever questioning whether she has his best interests at heart.

I’m also quite happy with the fact that there’s no cheating. So many bi characters fall into the cheater stereotype, and I’m glad this one doesn’t. There’s no “it just happened” sex either, which was refreshing.

Brandy Colbert writes great stories and I’m looking forward to reading more of her stuff.

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sophieduncan's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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morganperks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sporemiette's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked this book for the most part but there were some things that kept me from giving it 4 stars or higher. First of all, and I'm sorry if this is an unpopular opinion, but I didn't really like Lionel.

We are told throughout the book that Suzette and Lionel always confide in each other and that they're incredibly close, but very little of that is actually shown to the reader.

That in of itself isn't necessarily a problem considering the premise of the book, however considering the author put flashback chapters in as well, I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity to not flesh out Lionel's relationship with Suzette there.

The only time I really liked him was when he bought Suzette a replacement necklace for her bat mitzvah, and not much else.

Furthermore, I felt as if the ending wasn't as satisfying as it could have been. The book's plot really only begins in the halfway mark,

and even when things get going it really felt out of the blue when Lionel goes missing. There isn't any foreshadowing, we are only told afterwards that he and Rafaela had spoken about going to San Luis Obispo. While I did like the resolution to Emil and Suzette's relationship, Lionel and Suzette making up at the end felt incredibly brief and undeserved. While Suzette's struggles with her sexuality and her relationship with Emil were built upon throughout the entire book, Lionel's arc didn't feel very fleshed out and his apology to Suzette felt very hollow when we were never really shown what Lionel was like when he wasn't being a dick to Suzette.

I want to be clear though that I did like this book. When I review books I mostly put what I didn't like about it, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things I enjoy too. The diverse cast of characters was a welcome change, and it was clear that the author had put a lot of thought into respectfully writing each and every character. It's just that the things I mentioned above soured my reading experience.

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ambersbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

LOVED it. Highly recommend.

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