A cute YA novel about a young black girl who tries to find love and a way to belong but learns that she doesn’t really know who she is along the way. It was fun, and a little bit cheesy, a perfect book to binge in a couple of days. I didn’t like how the main character spends the majority of the books lying and pretending to be a totally different person to her a boy to like her, that could have showed more development for the character. Overall, I enjoyed it, and a happy ending, what more could I ask for.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Overall, a good read. Interesting topics and conversations but I did struggle to connect with Nala our main character. I'm not sure I'm the target audience for this one

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I will say that I read this a while ago but my review seemed to never go through so I am having to give this review trying to remember a lot of what happened but I do remember how I felt about the book.

I DNF'd this book because I just couldn't stand how often the main character lied to be interesting to someone.

Thank you for my earc of this book!
I did enjoy this and loved the coming of self aspect, it the formatting issues slowed me down!
The writing is a little slow at times but this is an unedited copy so that may be resolved in the finished book!

This was such a cute book, and so important to read! I loved the writing style and how much it developed each character. I love Renee and her writing so much.

What a fascinating read! I struggled to connect to the protagonist but thought the novel as a whole was well-written with an interesting plot.

Great inspiring YA read for teens. As an adult I thoroughly enjoyed this too!


Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

This was an interesting read! I enjoyed the political aspects of the story, but couldn't entirely connect with the main character. Other than that personal preference, the writing was lovely and the story was hugely impacting.

I loved the characters of this novel. However, I felt a little lost by the plot. I enjoyed reading the book when I wasn't helplessly lost in figuring out what was going on. Not my usual choice of book but I still enjoyed the writing style for character building.

Unfortunately I did not gel at all with this one. I found the writing style stilted and I just didnt get on with any of the characters which was dissapointing as this was a 5 star prediction for me.

First off, thanks to NetGalley for gifting me a ARC of this book for my honest review.

However, I actually ended up reading this in the paperback when it arrived on preorder, as I was really struggling to read this on my eReader, due to issues with formatting.

This story feels very similar to Some Places More Than Others (more a middle school style book imo), but the themes of identity, family, and Harlem, are strong here too.

The story follows two cousins, who happen to live together, as they navigate a long hot Harlem summer. One is an activist with a local Harlem youth group, and another just wants to binge Netflix and hang out. Nothing wrong with either of these aims, but the tension between them heats up just like the stiffling heat of the summer - all until the storm breaks.

Can these two sister/cousins make peace?

This book was a breath of fresh air for me, I’ve not read anything by Renee Watson before, but I’ll be going through her back catalogue now, I loved this so much, the writing, the characters, the plot , just everything, yeah I struggled to like some of the main characters but I think that’s the point too, you won’t like everyone in life why do I think I’m going to like everyone in a book ! I loved the emphasis on self love and acceptance, this needs to be drilled into everyone, I wish it had been for me., especially with the emphasis on body positivity too. Overall, just a stunning read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I hadn't heard of Watson prior to reading Love Is a Revolution but I absolutely loved her writing style; I flew through this book! One of my favourite aspects of this book was how the characters, particularly the teenagers, were written. As I grow older and slowly start becoming less of a technically-still-teenager and more of a fully-fledged (ahh!) adult, I've noticed how young some teenage characters can read as being, but Watson's representation was refreshing, and allowed her characters to be their own people while still being young. I enjoyed the format, with the lists being interweaved with the story, as it helped to reinforce the main plot points. I really liked Nala as the main character, but the lying did stress me out while I waited for the inevitable fallout, so I was glad to see some proper growth in her by the end. All in all, I really enjoyed this and I will be looking forward to whatever Watson comes out with next!

On the whole, I enjoyed this.
I feel conflicted though, because I struggled to like Nala and Imani. To be honest I think each character was flawed (apart from Grandma and JT, they were perfect, and Aunt Ebony and Uncle Randy). I know it’s realistic that characters are flawed, but I found it infuriating that characters couldn’t see what was right in front of them.
Every time Nala had the opportunity to be honest and didn’t I just felt like screaming. Imani was also really nasty at times.
I’m conflicted because the story arc was great and I was happy with the ending but the characters were so oblivious or intentionally deceiving at times and it didn’t sit right with me.
The overall lesson of the book was empowering and it’s definitely a lesson young people need.

The perfect summer read. Evocative of summer in the city and a wonderful read to empower and inspire everyone.

HIGHLIGHTS
Responsible and Inspiring Young Characters
Cute Family & Friendship Scenes
Self Love and Acceptance
Randoms Lists & Summer Vibes
Really Cute Date
Ideas to Steal & Some Gift Giving Lessons to take away too. 😛
REP/DIVERSITY
Plus Size Girl
{Main Character}
POC Characters
{Black Main & Side Character}
Written by A Black Author
{Newbery Medal Award Winning Author}

This book has enough cute moments to make me mushy and such well written character arcs to be inspired by. It’s about a girl that is trying so hard to fit, is learning to love herself and accept herself as she is. Personally, that’s such an important theme for teenagers and I find this book quite a good pick for teens and adults alike.

This book was sweet, but I didn't adore it. The character of Nala was fabulous and I loved how much depth they gave to her character. Unfortunately, it was the story I didn't gel with. It felt very middle-grade rather than a book for teenagers. It didn't delve enough into the deeper issues as I anticipated it would. However, I'd certainly still recommend it to a young person in my life, especially as a story about the risks of lying.

This was a very enjoyable book, that I would recommend to any young readers. It had great representation throughout and touched on many issues facing not just young people.but society today.
I loved the aspects of the book relating to loving yourself and feel it would be great for young readers to read and take on board
Thanks to netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of the book in return for an honest review.

Having read "Watch Us Rise" I was very excited to read this latest book from Renee Watson and I was not disappointed!

This was a book about loving yourself as much as you love other people, liking problematic things even though you know they're problematic, worrying about being judged by people too "woke" to be real. It's the book that will speak to the Tik Tok generation and help them feel less alone when everyone else is trying to save the world but they need to save themselves first.

This book had heart, and the family Dynamics it presented were the perfect example of a found family, and aunt, uncle and cousin taking the place of a mother. And Nala's relationship with her grandmother made me wish I had the same relationship with my own.

This was a lovely read.to while away winter, and another triumph from Renee Watson.