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ekhrtly's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
juliamariereads's review against another edition
3.75
Solid contemporary. Easily recommend for 8-high schoolers.
nklosty's review against another edition
5.0
This well-written book kept me interested the entire time. I particularly liked the relationships within Birdie's family. The dynamics felt real as did the interactions. The struggle of honesty and teenagers is a topic that has numerous tales, all of which could be true. 95*
jwinchell's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Birdie’s strong voice that had doubts and worries and struggled with breaking her mom’s rules. Sweet Booker with a troubled past and her Aubt Carlene fresh out of rehab again have Birdie thinking about the whys of her mom’s strict rules for her and her high achieving self. Break the rules she does and that’s when this book crosses over into high school material. Steamy!! When a family secret is finally out in the open, Birdie is free to be her complex self and to say to her mom that she wants to play soccer again. Recommended.
emmapennpls's review against another edition
I realized that YA writing is no longer for me!
kayladbruns's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first book by Brandy Colbert and I was excited to start it. This covers some serious topics and also has quite a bit of diversity. However, what kept me from really loving this book were the characters and the lack of plot.
This book just follows along with Birdie’s everyday life while she manages love, family, and finding out about herself. For the most part, I did like Birdie. She came off as an average teenager. Really naïve, but still an average teenager.
I can’t say that I connected with any character here sadly. I didn’t grow up the same as Birdie so when I say I that I didn’t really like her family, you have to take that from a different point of view. My parents were never strict and never forced me to do things that I didn’t love. Also, I think the worst to me was her mother. She super judgmental and pushed her beliefs onto Birdie. I think that teenagers should get to form their own opinions about the world, not just what their parents want them to. The best character to me was her aunt Carlene. While she was NOWHERE near perfect, she didn’t let the bad days win and she really pushed herself to finally be on the recovery road that she wanted to be.
We did get a bit of a romance here and I really enjoyed our love interest, Booker. He was sweet and someone that Birdie really paired well with. I would have loved to see more about the two of them.
I think the best part of this novel was how much diversity we received. There were so many discussions of race, sexual orientation, and also dealing with alcoholism. It didn’t feel forced and was thrown into even regular conversation between characters.
To wrap up my review, while I wasn’t wowed by my first Brandy Colbert read; I can see why her work is well loved in the book community. The characters and lack of plot are what held me back but I think that so many readers will enjoy this one.
TW: Alcoholism; talk of drug use
✨I received an ARC via The Novl for an honest review.
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This book just follows along with Birdie’s everyday life while she manages love, family, and finding out about herself. For the most part, I did like Birdie. She came off as an average teenager. Really naïve, but still an average teenager.
I can’t say that I connected with any character here sadly. I didn’t grow up the same as Birdie so when I say I that I didn’t really like her family, you have to take that from a different point of view. My parents were never strict and never forced me to do things that I didn’t love. Also, I think the worst to me was her mother. She super judgmental and pushed her beliefs onto Birdie. I think that teenagers should get to form their own opinions about the world, not just what their parents want them to. The best character to me was her aunt Carlene. While she was NOWHERE near perfect, she didn’t let the bad days win and she really pushed herself to finally be on the recovery road that she wanted to be.
We did get a bit of a romance here and I really enjoyed our love interest, Booker. He was sweet and someone that Birdie really paired well with. I would have loved to see more about the two of them.
I think the best part of this novel was how much diversity we received. There were so many discussions of race, sexual orientation, and also dealing with alcoholism. It didn’t feel forced and was thrown into even regular conversation between characters.
To wrap up my review, while I wasn’t wowed by my first Brandy Colbert read; I can see why her work is well loved in the book community. The characters and lack of plot are what held me back but I think that so many readers will enjoy this one.
TW: Alcoholism; talk of drug use
✨I received an ARC via The Novl for an honest review.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
sydneyamber's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hkangasm's review against another edition
5.0
I would say 4.5. I really enjoyed this story. One of the twists at the end I didn't like but I enjoyed this book. It is about 2nd chances and trying not to judge others for past mistakes and realizing people can change.
mjbirdy's review against another edition
4.0
The opening of this book captivated my attention immediately and I was IN for the ride. I read the whole book in one sitting it was that good!
Again I’m not really a YA person, and one of my gripes is that the teens in media tend to be weirdly constructed and not like any teen I ever knew. Brandy Colbert crafted expert and realistically teens which I loved!
If you want a pretty quick read and a moving story with low key more intense plot twists than I would’ve imagined... I’d go for it!
My only critique is that I wished the author had committed to weather she wanted to say something about race or not, it felt like she touched on racism but in a very fleeting way that made me feel it was unnecessary to highlight the difference in treatment of Greg, Laz and Bookers experience of the police for instance if she wasn’t going to interrogate it.
Again I’m not really a YA person, and one of my gripes is that the teens in media tend to be weirdly constructed and not like any teen I ever knew. Brandy Colbert crafted expert and realistically teens which I loved!
If you want a pretty quick read and a moving story with low key more intense plot twists than I would’ve imagined... I’d go for it!
My only critique is that I wished the author had committed to weather she wanted to say something about race or not, it felt like she touched on racism but in a very fleeting way that made me feel it was unnecessary to highlight the difference in treatment of Greg, Laz and Bookers experience of the police for instance if she wasn’t going to interrogate it.
chocodippedlibrarian's review against another edition
I think this a cute, quick book. I only hate that it climaxed so late in the book. Although I would like a sequel because I would love to know how Carlene and Dove navigate their relationship.