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A review by sidneyellwood
Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley
3.0
In my opinion, Our Own Private Universe is Robin Talley's best since Lies We Tell Ourselves. I'm really glad there's another book in the YA canon that discusses faith and sexuality, and I think Talley did a good job of incorporating modern day political issues into the plot.
I really liked Aki as a character. She was determined and intelligent and well-rounded. Her love of music and subsequent fallout from her quitting music played into the plot a bit less than I would have liked. At times I forgot that she was a musician. Otherwise, she was quite well-written. I'm sure there's criticism about a white woman writing a black character, and since I'm not black I do not feel comfortable going too into it, but it definitely shows when I think of books I've read from black authors. I really loved Aki's family as well - they were probably my favourite characters in the book (and Jake, who was ... a complete badass I love him). They were all so supportive of each other, and I love families that are like that. The family drama was probably the least dramatic in the book. Aki and Drew's dad is like, a really good dad. Wow. I really liked him. I liked the modern-day political climate presented in the book - it didn't go too dramatically conservative or too dramatically liberal, which I found to be pretty accurate.
As a bi person, I found the portrayal of bisexuality to be really accurate - I don't know if this is an ownvoices book, but I really related to a lot of what the bi characters talked about - struggling with identity, wondering how you like different genders. Even though it was a bit pedantic towards the end, I'm really grateful that there's discussion around bisexuality and what it's like to be bisexual, and how bisexuality differs from pansexuality, and how different identity can be for people. (A pan character! This might be the first pan character I've seen!) Our Own Private Universe succeeds in bi representation very well, and I'm pleased.
The romance wasn't the stand-out to me, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like Aki and Christa lacked the chemistry I wanted them to have. But they do have a solid relationship by the end, and I'm happy that we're finally getting some nice f/f romances.
I really liked Aki as a character. She was determined and intelligent and well-rounded. Her love of music and subsequent fallout from her quitting music played into the plot a bit less than I would have liked. At times I forgot that she was a musician. Otherwise, she was quite well-written. I'm sure there's criticism about a white woman writing a black character, and since I'm not black I do not feel comfortable going too into it, but it definitely shows when I think of books I've read from black authors. I really loved Aki's family as well - they were probably my favourite characters in the book (and Jake, who was ... a complete badass I love him). They were all so supportive of each other, and I love families that are like that. The family drama was probably the least dramatic in the book. Aki and Drew's dad is like, a really good dad. Wow. I really liked him. I liked the modern-day political climate presented in the book - it didn't go too dramatically conservative or too dramatically liberal, which I found to be pretty accurate.
As a bi person, I found the portrayal of bisexuality to be really accurate - I don't know if this is an ownvoices book, but I really related to a lot of what the bi characters talked about - struggling with identity, wondering how you like different genders. Even though it was a bit pedantic towards the end, I'm really grateful that there's discussion around bisexuality and what it's like to be bisexual, and how bisexuality differs from pansexuality, and how different identity can be for people. (A pan character! This might be the first pan character I've seen!) Our Own Private Universe succeeds in bi representation very well, and I'm pleased.
The romance wasn't the stand-out to me, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like Aki and Christa lacked the chemistry I wanted them to have.