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mandi_lea's review
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Blood, and Emotional abuse
proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
17-year-old Bitter has grown up in different foster homes and has never felt safe. Now she's got a place at Eucalyptus, a private boarding school for young artists. Here Bitter's gained both friends and safety. But outside school there are riots and demonstrations in the town of Lucille, in protest against the great injustices. While Bitter doesn't want anything to do with the revolution, many of her friends are more active. She soon feels torn between staying within the safe walls of Eucalyptus and her wanting to help her friends. What price is she willing to pay?
A prequel to the wonderful "Pet", and I loved it just as much! It takes place before "Pet" and we get to follow Jam's mother Bitter. Her background and how she met and fell in love with Aloe, Jam's father. We also get the whole revolution that is mentioned in "Pet", and what role Jam's parents played in it. I would say you could read the books in whatever order you like, but "Pet" was written first, if you want to read in publication order.
There's a lot to like about "Bitter": the characters, the language, the diversity. I also like the message that violence isn't the solution in conflicts, and that not everyone needs to stand on the barricade or the frontline, but they still have an important role to play. This is a young adult book that many adults should read.
A prequel to the wonderful "Pet", and I loved it just as much! It takes place before "Pet" and we get to follow Jam's mother Bitter. Her background and how she met and fell in love with Aloe, Jam's father. We also get the whole revolution that is mentioned in "Pet", and what role Jam's parents played in it. I would say you could read the books in whatever order you like, but "Pet" was written first, if you want to read in publication order.
There's a lot to like about "Bitter": the characters, the language, the diversity. I also like the message that violence isn't the solution in conflicts, and that not everyone needs to stand on the barricade or the frontline, but they still have an important role to play. This is a young adult book that many adults should read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Death, and Medical trauma
lisacanteven's review
emotional
tense
fast-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
5.0
This book is so much more than the 258 pages it contains. I have no idea what magic Emezi used, but this book is so developed for its length. Maybe it is because I read Pet first, so I was familiar with what was happening going into it. Since Pet was published first I chose to start with that one, and it was a great reading experience. I am so intrigued in how my experience would have differed had I read Bitter first. I do want to go back and reread Pet already (a week later) just to see what I missed out. I think either way you read this series, you will enjoy it. But you will miss certain things either way, and that's what I love about this series.
Bitter probably had the best ending I've ever read. Those last 50 pages were immaculate. I will be thinking about that ending for months. I found myself getting really emotional because of how beautiful everything was during the last 1/5 of the book. My heart was pounding, and I felt like I was really seeing it play out in my mind like the most exciting movie. I wish I could go to film school, become a world famous producer just to produce this movie like it played out in my mine. Emezi is a genius.
Bitter probably had the best ending I've ever read. Those last 50 pages were immaculate. I will be thinking about that ending for months. I found myself getting really emotional because of how beautiful everything was during the last 1/5 of the book. My heart was pounding, and I felt like I was really seeing it play out in my mind like the most exciting movie. I wish I could go to film school, become a world famous producer just to produce this movie like it played out in my mine. Emezi is a genius.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Racism, Gore, Blood, Classism, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
grem_ler's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, and Homophobia
Moderate: Self harm and Police brutality
flyingryndeer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
re_oanslay's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Body horror, and Panic attacks/disorders
glitterdeww's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
I shouldn't be surprised that this story is just as brilliant as its predecessor. Emezi's writing is as sharp as a knife, as forceful as gravity. I love these books. They are so important. ❤️
Named for its protagonist, and reluctant revolutionary, Bitter takes place in pre-utopian Lucille. In this prequel we see agitators and artists grappling with a city set on devouring itself through corruption. The Lucille of this time feels all too familiar with reality. Bitter and her friends portray everything from the hope of revolution to the fear, numbness, and rage that lurks on the other side of their trauma.
Named for its protagonist, and reluctant revolutionary, Bitter takes place in pre-utopian Lucille. In this prequel we see agitators and artists grappling with a city set on devouring itself through corruption. The Lucille of this time feels all too familiar with reality. Bitter and her friends portray everything from the hope of revolution to the fear, numbness, and rage that lurks on the other side of their trauma.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
blubonby's review
dark
hopeful
fast-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
4.0
Loved seeing the backstory to what goes on in PET and I really appreciated the more in depth focus on Bitter and Aloe. Really really great duology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Self harm
hailstorm3812's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
4.0
After Pet blew me away, I was hoping for more from Bitter. It wasn't bad by any means but they are very different stories. While Pet explores an individual story of failure in an overall good society, this explores how to find your place in a broken society working to get better. I think the use of angels works better in the first, but fill an interesting role here. I do love Bitter herself and seeing how the other characters were as children. I also liked exploring the role of art in revolution and how different people can provide different good works. I liked Miss Virtue but didn't think this aspect was as strong as it could have been. I kind of just want to read Pet again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Death, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
I loved this even more than PET, which I really did like. It’s tricky reading books that relate to revolutionary practices— are the ideas in the book a reflection of the author or the characters? Or both? Just interesting questions that I ask when reading books of this genre. Although, it’s hard to limit this to one singular genre. Like Pet, I was drawn to the blurring of reality and fantasy. I found that this was better paced and detailed than PET.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Gore, Police brutality, Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality