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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I wanted to love this book as much as You Should See Me In A Crown but I didn't. I loved a lot about it: the music, the festival setting, Peter, Toni. I liked Olivia okay but she was honestly a mess. Girl needs some therapy before she gets into another relationship. The main thing/person I really didn't like was Imani. It felt like she had no character growth, no personality. She wasn't supportive to her "bff". And the worst thing, when it's revealed
Spoiler
that she's been in love with Olivia since they met. It just felt like such an unnecessary plot twist.
Can’t decide if this is a 3 or 3 1/2. Overall I enjoyed listening to this book and I love the author’s writing. I felt connected to Toni in a lot of ways since she also had a father in the music industry who passed away (though in a very different way than mine), so I found her discussion of grief kind of comforting. Overall, I enjoyed Toni’s chapters a lot more than Olivia’s. I kept getting really annoyed at the way Olivia was treating her friend and it made it sometimes hard to enjoy the chapters from her POV. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a summery, music festival kind of book but unfortunately this won’t be making it onto my list of new favorite YA contemporaries.
I used to go to all day outdoor concerts, much like the one mentioned in this book. I would have loved to have been able to spend the night and make it a whole weekend thing. Those concerts are fewer and farther between these days with all of the security issues that arise in the book too. Felt like a deep dive into all the teen social issues at once type of story with a fun setting that was easy to imagine.
Leah Johnson, what can I say! Rarely have I ever read work from an author that captures so much sincerity and heart within its pages; Rise to the Sun, Johnson's second novel, continues this trend in a gorgeous exploration of the Black, queer experience at a three-day weekend music festival. Olivia, perpetually-in-love and recently heartbroken due to strenuous circumstances, decides to attend Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend, Imani, in an attempt to get her mind off of things. Toni, a Farmland regular whose father recently passed away, tries to navigate what she ultimately wants to do with her life as she goes into her last summer of freedom before college. When Olivia and Toni's paths cross, chaos ensues, as well as a whirlwind love affair that leads both of them to resounding revelations about themselves and their dreams.
REP: Black bisexual MC, Black lesbian MC, Black sapphic SC, half-Indian SC.
TW's: brief descriptions of experiences with shooting and revenge porn.
PROS:
- The writing style and narration. I happened to listen to the audiobook for this novel, and I was not disappointed! The beautiful prose combined with the distinct sincerity of each narrator made for a wonderful listening experience. Johnson has a way with words that heals, and she's incredible at writing from teens' perspectives, especially in a way that's distinct for each character. Olivia's voice was vibrant, adventurous, and whimsical, but it also touched upon an underlying anxiety that pervaded her perspective for the entire narrative. Simultaneously, Toni presented a more subdued character, but her less verbal exterior was complemented by a thoughtful, earnest, and nervous interior, and I loved being inside of her head.
- A balance of romantic and platonic relationships. It can be easy to let the importance of friendships fall to the wayside in pursuit of a romance, so I'm always pleased to find authors who know how to emphasize on the fact that friendships are sometimes just as important as our love lives are! I really appreciate that Johnson is able to explore the highs and lows of both types of relationships, especially the former, in a novel about a coming-of-age experience. It feels holistic and real, and while I wish some of the girls' familial relationships had been touched on a little more as well, I do understand the constraints of the novel taking place within just the three days covering the festival, and I was definitely happy with what I got, regardless.
- As an extension, the exploration of teenage messiness. This may venture a little into spoilers,but I spent a long time waiting for the ball to drop on Olivia and Imani's friendship considering how often Olivia continued to blindside the latter, so when I finally got to their confrontation, I was overjoyed! It was probably my favorite conversation in the entire book, and I love that Olivia's selfishness was touched on without needing to fall into stereotypes about bisexual people; the fact that the stereotypes were addressed and distinguished from Olivia's carelessness within her relationship with Imani was fantastic. It overall felt like a very honest, holistic depiction of a friendship and the problems that can arise when we mistake our friends for being our emotional crutches.
- Toni's relationship with her father. I know I keep mentioning the word "holistic", but I really do think this word captures what makes Johnson's work stand out! She's masterful at exploring the negatives alongside the positives within a relationship, without necessarily demeaning either party involved and ultimately acknowledging them as human. I appreciate that a lot, and I think it's something that came across not just in the relationship mentioned in the previous bullet point, but also in Toni's relationship with her father. It was very relatable to see her have to contend with trying to reconcile the father she adored and missed with the father who was sometimes too restless to fully commit to her or her mother, especially since this emotional reconciliation was so crucial to her making a decision about her own future.
CONS:
- Insta-love. Admittedly, I have read and adored a few insta-love books. Laura Florand of Amour et Chocolat has somehow managed to catch me hook, line, and sinker with this trope despite how unbelievable it feels. However, that being said, there was a wee bit more time allowed for her characters to fall in love than the whole sum of. . . a day. I could definitely understand Olivia and Toni being enraptured by each other, especially since there is a novelty in meeting someone who can instantly understand things about you no one else does because there's a context to you and your previous experiences they're not in possession of. I only wish it had been kept to just that rather than an attempt made to imply they truly loved each other by the end of the weekend; I think the significance of the things they realized about themselves as a result of meeting each other could have been emphasized on without necessarily needing to have a concrete romantic relationship established between them by the end. It just felt like the kind of narrative that would have suited an open ending more than a closed one.
- The romance superseding the individual character arcs. This is kind of in line with the previous bullet point, but I think in an attempt to have Olivia and Toni completely reconcile and be back on the same page by the end of the weekend, their own character arcs got a little obscured. It felt like the emotional problems they had been battling for the entire weekend were suddenly conveniently solved so we could move on to the part where their romance got re-established. I think I already said I understand the constraints of the novel taking place exclusively within the music festival, but I actually think it might have helped a lot if the plot expanded a little beyond that so we could have properly marinated in their individual lives and the impact of the festival on them.
FINAL RATING: 3.75
REP: Black bisexual MC, Black lesbian MC, Black sapphic SC, half-Indian SC.
TW's: brief descriptions of experiences with shooting and revenge porn.
PROS:
- The writing style and narration. I happened to listen to the audiobook for this novel, and I was not disappointed! The beautiful prose combined with the distinct sincerity of each narrator made for a wonderful listening experience. Johnson has a way with words that heals, and she's incredible at writing from teens' perspectives, especially in a way that's distinct for each character. Olivia's voice was vibrant, adventurous, and whimsical, but it also touched upon an underlying anxiety that pervaded her perspective for the entire narrative. Simultaneously, Toni presented a more subdued character, but her less verbal exterior was complemented by a thoughtful, earnest, and nervous interior, and I loved being inside of her head.
- A balance of romantic and platonic relationships. It can be easy to let the importance of friendships fall to the wayside in pursuit of a romance, so I'm always pleased to find authors who know how to emphasize on the fact that friendships are sometimes just as important as our love lives are! I really appreciate that Johnson is able to explore the highs and lows of both types of relationships, especially the former, in a novel about a coming-of-age experience. It feels holistic and real, and while I wish some of the girls' familial relationships had been touched on a little more as well, I do understand the constraints of the novel taking place within just the three days covering the festival, and I was definitely happy with what I got, regardless.
- As an extension, the exploration of teenage messiness. This may venture a little into spoilers,
- Toni's relationship with her father. I know I keep mentioning the word "holistic", but I really do think this word captures what makes Johnson's work stand out! She's masterful at exploring the negatives alongside the positives within a relationship, without necessarily demeaning either party involved and ultimately acknowledging them as human. I appreciate that a lot, and I think it's something that came across not just in the relationship mentioned in the previous bullet point, but also in Toni's relationship with her father. It was very relatable to see her have to contend with trying to reconcile the father she adored and missed with the father who was sometimes too restless to fully commit to her or her mother, especially since this emotional reconciliation was so crucial to her making a decision about her own future.
CONS:
- Insta-love. Admittedly, I have read and adored a few insta-love books. Laura Florand of Amour et Chocolat has somehow managed to catch me hook, line, and sinker with this trope despite how unbelievable it feels. However, that being said, there was a wee bit more time allowed for her characters to fall in love than the whole sum of. . . a day. I could definitely understand Olivia and Toni being enraptured by each other, especially since there is a novelty in meeting someone who can instantly understand things about you no one else does because there's a context to you and your previous experiences they're not in possession of. I only wish it had been kept to just that rather than an attempt made to imply they truly loved each other by the end of the weekend; I think the significance of the things they realized about themselves as a result of meeting each other could have been emphasized on without necessarily needing to have a concrete romantic relationship established between them by the end. It just felt like the kind of narrative that would have suited an open ending more than a closed one.
- The romance superseding the individual character arcs. This is kind of in line with the previous bullet point, but I think in an attempt to have Olivia and Toni completely reconcile and be back on the same page by the end of the weekend, their own character arcs got a little obscured. It felt like the emotional problems they had been battling for the entire weekend were suddenly conveniently solved so we could move on to the part where their romance got re-established. I think I already said I understand the constraints of the novel taking place exclusively within the music festival, but I actually think it might have helped a lot if the plot expanded a little beyond that so we could have properly marinated in their individual lives and the impact of the festival on them.
FINAL RATING: 3.75
*sigh* I was really looking forward to this after enjoying You Should See Me in a Crown last year. A music festival, black girl magic, queer - sounded like the recipe for the perfect summer read. Sadly, this just wasn’t it for me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters (I’m fairly certain I found them all annoying), there was no proper lead up to anything that happened; we just got thrown into the story and hoped for the best. And don’t get me started on the insta love. Call me a cynic (and a hypocrite because I love The Sun is Also a Star), but how can you just fall so madly in love 2.5 seconds after meeting someone? I just found it to be a bit ridiculous. So many eye rolls as the book went on. Just a lot of weird side “plot twists” that didn’t add anything to the story. I’m so sad I didn’t love this but it just didn’t work for me
A very cute but still very important YA read, about two black girls both at a turning point in their life, looking for healing and true love.
Thanks Leah Johnson !! More, please !
Thanks Leah Johnson !! More, please !
While Olivia had revelations in this book, she is the worst friend I've read. Most of my experience was frustration with how she treats her friend, Imani.