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A review by hayleyslibrarycard
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really really enjoyed this, it had so much to say and it said it well. Even from that first paragraph and opening lines you knew this book had things to say and it wasn't gonna let you look away which I loved. It almost gave the intensity of The Hunger Games?? (In terms of the revolution and the MC not really wanting to get involved but being thrust into that world) I think I would've liked for it to be longer and slightly more fleshed out, it felt like it really galloped along and I would have liked to linger somewhat.
I read PET first (quite a while ago) and would love to reread them both again in order with the ideas from both fresh in my mind. This definitely felt like the older and wiser sister of PET and was definitely a bit more mature.
I spent quite a lot of time writing down quotes as I was reading!
It's definitely on the older side of YA and I appreciated that it didn't "dumb itself down" for it's audience. Pretty much all the characters are teenagers so sometimes they act really silly but then also sometimes they were almost too adult like? But overall I really enjoyed engaging with their thoughts on the revolution, peoples roles in it, capitalism and oppression. Teenagers in today's world NEED work like this to helo them feel less alone and overwhelmed and also show the impact of always feeling like their the ones that have to "save the world" I'm glad it also talked abut the trauma of being involved in protests etc, and I'm so happy to have an MC in Bitter that was actually scared, anxious and hesitant. I feel like a lot of the dystopia/war/revolution books have an MC that is all gung ho and ready to rumble so it was so nice to see Bitter's peers saying she can absolutely make a difference without being in the front lines and it's okay to be scared. Another theme I really connected with was art having a role in revolutions, activism and protest. It's so important to remember that these things are important too, and the poets and artists and writers help us process much of our emotions about how the world is. It also had a LOT to say about the self care side of activism too which I think a lot of YA revolution-y type books miss.
I really like Awaeke Emezi's writing style, it's vivid and real and they writes teenagers so well. I love the communities they formed and the fact that they weren't perfect communities with an absolute understanding of one another but they loved each other enough to work through it. It was truly diverse as well which is excellent to see in a YA novel and I really hope YA readers pick this up.
I read PET first (quite a while ago) and would love to reread them both again in order with the ideas from both fresh in my mind. This definitely felt like the older and wiser sister of PET and was definitely a bit more mature.
I spent quite a lot of time writing down quotes as I was reading!
It's definitely on the older side of YA and I appreciated that it didn't "dumb itself down" for it's audience. Pretty much all the characters are teenagers so sometimes they act really silly but then also sometimes they were almost too adult like? But overall I really enjoyed engaging with their thoughts on the revolution, peoples roles in it, capitalism and oppression. Teenagers in today's world NEED work like this to helo them feel less alone and overwhelmed and also show the impact of always feeling like their the ones that have to "save the world" I'm glad it also talked abut the trauma of being involved in protests etc, and I'm so happy to have an MC in Bitter that was actually scared, anxious and hesitant. I feel like a lot of the dystopia/war/revolution books have an MC that is all gung ho and ready to rumble so it was so nice to see Bitter's peers saying she can absolutely make a difference without being in the front lines and it's okay to be scared. Another theme I really connected with was art having a role in revolutions, activism and protest. It's so important to remember that these things are important too, and the poets and artists and writers help us process much of our emotions about how the world is. It also had a LOT to say about the self care side of activism too which I think a lot of YA revolution-y type books miss.
I really like Awaeke Emezi's writing style, it's vivid and real and they writes teenagers so well. I love the communities they formed and the fact that they weren't perfect communities with an absolute understanding of one another but they loved each other enough to work through it. It was truly diverse as well which is excellent to see in a YA novel and I really hope YA readers pick this up.