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A review by frinsreads
Love Is a Revolution by Renée Watson
3.0
This was such a fun, YA contemporary about self discovery, self acceptance, and also wanting to chill and watch films all summer
Nala is off school for the summer and all she wants to do is hang out with her friends, sleep late, and work through the list of movies she wants to watch with her cousin, Imani. Everyone around her, including Imani, is more focussed on fighting injustices, environmental issues, and raising funds for their community. When Nala meets dreamy Tye at one of Imani's meetings she's caught between pretending to be someone she's not to entice Tye and being herself
I really enjoyed this book, and I felt Nala's was a unique experience that I haven't read from before. She obviously cares about the social issues that her friends are speaking out about, but she also thinks that should just be one element of their lives, rather than taking all their time and energy. She wants them to have a fun afternoon skating without seeing it as an opportunity to distribute flyers
I also loved the message of self acceptance, and embracing natural Black beauty and hair, in this book. Nala goes on a real journey. She begins the book as a confident Black girl, but she ends it having truly begun to accept and know herself. At first, she alters her appearance for the wrong reasons, comparing herself to others and what she thinks she should be, rather than for herself and her happiness
It did bother me that Nala is quite immature and acts quite young (she's about to become a senior, I'm not sure what age that is), and that she feels the need to lie about pretty fundamental things to get a boy to like her. I get that this contributes to her journey of growth, but I'm always frustrated by miscommunication and outright lies in books
This book reminded me a lot of With the Fire on High and I think if you liked that one you'd really enjoy this one too
~An earc of this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
Nala is off school for the summer and all she wants to do is hang out with her friends, sleep late, and work through the list of movies she wants to watch with her cousin, Imani. Everyone around her, including Imani, is more focussed on fighting injustices, environmental issues, and raising funds for their community. When Nala meets dreamy Tye at one of Imani's meetings she's caught between pretending to be someone she's not to entice Tye and being herself
I really enjoyed this book, and I felt Nala's was a unique experience that I haven't read from before. She obviously cares about the social issues that her friends are speaking out about, but she also thinks that should just be one element of their lives, rather than taking all their time and energy. She wants them to have a fun afternoon skating without seeing it as an opportunity to distribute flyers
I also loved the message of self acceptance, and embracing natural Black beauty and hair, in this book. Nala goes on a real journey. She begins the book as a confident Black girl, but she ends it having truly begun to accept and know herself. At first, she alters her appearance for the wrong reasons, comparing herself to others and what she thinks she should be, rather than for herself and her happiness
It did bother me that Nala is quite immature and acts quite young (she's about to become a senior, I'm not sure what age that is), and that she feels the need to lie about pretty fundamental things to get a boy to like her. I get that this contributes to her journey of growth, but I'm always frustrated by miscommunication and outright lies in books
This book reminded me a lot of With the Fire on High and I think if you liked that one you'd really enjoy this one too
~An earc of this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~