Reviews

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

sauriaiel's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective fast-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

4.0

thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced

3.25

A coming-of-age YA novel about a girl finding her voice and her wings to fly.
šŸŖ½ 
Meet Dove ā€œBirdieā€ Randolph. Sheā€™s always been the good girl her parents want her to be: dating the boy they approved of, quitting soccer to focus on academic and taking tutoring courses in the summer to graduate at the top of her class. When Birdie starts dating someone new, Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past, she starts to push the boundaries of what her parents will allow. At the same time her aunt who she hasnā€™t ever really spent time with is now living with them, trying to stay clean from her alcohol addiction. Through talks with her cool aunt, Birdie starts to challenge what sheā€™s always known and fights for more.
šŸŖ½
Normally I love Brandy Colbertā€™s books but this one was a bit underwhelming. I still believe it to be such an important novel with themes of family, sex positivity, asexual and queer representation. However even with the twist at the end, I still never fully connected with Birdie or her story. I wasnā€™t a fan of her mom and how strict she was with Birdie, who was pretty perfect. 3.25ā­ļø

CW: child abandonment, alcoholism, alcohol, drug use, racism, racial profiling, family estrangement, bullying, death of a parent (cancer), physical assault (recounted)

mnvivian's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

ekhrtly's review

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

3.75

Solid contemporary. Easily recommend for 8-high schoolers. 

nklosty's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

4.0

I loved Birdieā€™s strong voice that had doubts and worries and struggled with breaking her momā€™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 momā€™s strict rules for her and her high achieving self. Break the rules she does and thatā€™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

Go to review page

I realized that YA writing is no longer for me! 

kayladbruns's review

Go to review page

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 Birdieā€™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 naĆÆve, but still an average teenager.

I canā€™t say that I connected with any character here sadly. I didnā€™t grow up the same as Birdie so when I say I that I didnā€™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 didnā€™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 didnā€™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 didnā€™t feel forced and was thrown into even regular conversation between characters.

To wrap up my review, while I wasnā€™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

āœØI received an ARC via The Novl for an honest review.

Blog | Instagram | Twitter

sydneyamber's review against another edition

Go to review page

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