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A review by literaryprincess
Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
I kept waiting for this book to get better and it never did.
The concept of two talented young black girls falling for each other over a whirlwind weekend during a music festival seemed like exactly the kind of story I'd want to devour, but the combination of instalove, incredibly easy-to-hate characters, and the shoehorning in of triggering backstories for our main characters for the sake of social commentary was just too much for me to even pretend to like.
(The book does include very straightforward trigger warnings from the author at the start, which I do appreciate. I more so felt like the inclusion of these topics in the book were handled poorly.)
I went into this story knowing that the romance would take place over a single weekend, and typically short and sweet romances like this are tolerable if they aren't overdramatic. Olivia and Toni are the definition of "I would die for this stranger" after practically one conversation and it's so jarring and frustrating.
Olivia is hands down one of the worst protagonists I've ever had to read. She garners zero sympathy from me the way she consistently mistreats her best friend and faces zero repercussions aside from a slap on the wrist in a single argument. Had the narrative painted her in a negative light for even a moment it would have felt justified, but she plays the victim in every possible instance. Her entire storyline is that she jumps from relationship to relationship in an attempt to fill a hole in her life, and she's meant to realize that she doesn't need romance to feel complete, yet this is a romance book where she ends up with the girl she met two days ago and is meant to be Her Person(tm) which negates the whole point.
Toni's trauma would have been better to explore in a different book. The very real history of black men being victims of gun violence could have been well written about without the constant mention of real-life mass shootings at music venues sporadically dropped between outdated references and petty teenage drama.
Over all this book was just annoying and frustrating, which is so sad as someone who wants to see more black wlw stories.
The concept of two talented young black girls falling for each other over a whirlwind weekend during a music festival seemed like exactly the kind of story I'd want to devour, but the combination of instalove, incredibly easy-to-hate characters, and the shoehorning in of triggering backstories for our main characters for the sake of social commentary was just too much for me to even pretend to like.
(The book does include very straightforward trigger warnings from the author at the start, which I do appreciate. I more so felt like the inclusion of these topics in the book were handled poorly.)
I went into this story knowing that the romance would take place over a single weekend, and typically short and sweet romances like this are tolerable if they aren't overdramatic. Olivia and Toni are the definition of "I would die for this stranger" after practically one conversation and it's so jarring and frustrating.
Olivia is hands down one of the worst protagonists I've ever had to read. She garners zero sympathy from me the way she consistently mistreats her best friend and faces zero repercussions aside from a slap on the wrist in a single argument. Had the narrative painted her in a negative light for even a moment it would have felt justified, but she plays the victim in every possible instance. Her entire storyline is that she jumps from relationship to relationship in an attempt to fill a hole in her life, and she's meant to realize that she doesn't need romance to feel complete, yet this is a romance book where she ends up with the girl she met two days ago and is meant to be Her Person(tm) which negates the whole point.
Toni's trauma would have been better to explore in a different book. The very real history of black men being victims of gun violence could have been well written about without the constant mention of real-life mass shootings at music venues sporadically dropped between outdated references and petty teenage drama.
Over all this book was just annoying and frustrating, which is so sad as someone who wants to see more black wlw stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual harassment