A review by starswereenough
Ramona Blue, by Julie Murphy
3.0
Wow, okay. I have kind of mixed feelings about this one.
Pros:
- Saul and Ruthie were pretty great.
- BLUE HAIR
- lots of rep. There were some POC, several lgbtq characters/couples (which I was not really expecting), and it had characters from lots of different family backgrounds.
- I quite liked the prom scene and the ending.
- All the threads were wrapped up nicely at the end.
- #ownvoices
- I liked the idea of the book that it was okay to still be figuring things out. At the beginning, she felt like she knew who she was and what she liked, but by the end she was still exploring and I think that’s a really valuable lesson.
Cons:
- It was kind of slow moving. It was so long and I felt like there were several scenes that were repetitive and/or not really needed.
- I felt like Freddie was actually slightly creepy at times? Like, “hey, I know you said you’re gay, but I’m going to kiss you anyway without your consent because I feel like it” creepy. Um, what now???
- Lots of angst. That’s definitely not uncommon for YA, but for whatever reason I struggled with it in this particular book.
- I had trouble connecting with Ramona and the storyline. I’m not completely sure why. Usually I read books much more quickly (this one took me almost a month as opposed to a few days) and so I’m unsure if that partly took me out of the story, or if I didn’t read it as quickly because I had trouble connecting.
If you liked Ramona Blue, I suggest:
Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
Pros:
- Saul and Ruthie were pretty great.
- BLUE HAIR
- lots of rep. There were some POC, several lgbtq characters/couples (which I was not really expecting), and it had characters from lots of different family backgrounds.
- I quite liked the prom scene and the ending.
- All the threads were wrapped up nicely at the end.
- #ownvoices
- I liked the idea of the book that it was okay to still be figuring things out. At the beginning, she felt like she knew who she was and what she liked, but by the end she was still exploring and I think that’s a really valuable lesson.
Cons:
- It was kind of slow moving. It was so long and I felt like there were several scenes that were repetitive and/or not really needed.
- I felt like Freddie was actually slightly creepy at times? Like, “hey, I know you said you’re gay, but I’m going to kiss you anyway without your consent because I feel like it” creepy. Um, what now???
- Lots of angst. That’s definitely not uncommon for YA, but for whatever reason I struggled with it in this particular book.
- I had trouble connecting with Ramona and the storyline. I’m not completely sure why. Usually I read books much more quickly (this one took me almost a month as opposed to a few days) and so I’m unsure if that partly took me out of the story, or if I didn’t read it as quickly because I had trouble connecting.
If you liked Ramona Blue, I suggest:
Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert