Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Lark & ​​Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender

10 reviews

verovivaldi9's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

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emikateb's review against another edition

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

5.0

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violetends's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

3.5

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mavemarie's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative reflective 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

A bright and uniquely frustrating exploration of intersectionality in a contemporary young adult setting. 

The initial characterizations left me wondering if I was hopelessly out of touch, or if the author was, with today's teens. Every line felt just close enough to believable that it teetered on stereotypical, clearly through the lens of social media. But with a nd sibling who was caught in the throes of pandemic academic life, I think those characterizations might be more accurate than I might have thought to begin with, beyond also being a part of a community I am not steeped in. 

The meta of a story about a writer learning about writing and exploring that journey for themselves (and why a story shouldn't do that) was enough to tickle me silly, but compounding that with the narrative voice of a truely neurodivergent mind was a beautiful ride that leaves me craving more. The ride of Lark's trailing mind felt so close to home that being done with this book feels like loosing it's companionship. Where else will I get Hamilton lyrics spliced with intense emotional dialogs?

The exploration of diversity within a single racial community was charming and eye opening on a number of levels, and the social issues addressed and explored by so many different views leaves a lot to dwell on, particularly as a white reader. Sometimes it was a challenging read listening to an echo chamber that mirrors the hatred these characters, (and black society as a whole) were raised in, but undoubtedly worth it. Algorithms keep us in our own corners, and being exposed to the harsher sides of another's is a quick one-two (three, four, five-six) to the gut, which is a reoccurring experience throughout this narrative. But listening and putting defensiveness to the side is necessary for growth, love, and change. 

The challenges these characters face are ones we can all learn from regardless of class or creed. From race, age, sexuality, or any other identity we hold, this story is important for you. 

Would have rated higher for personal taste in pace and wants for the exploration of character growth, as well as lasting taste in my mouth. Much of this, I think, is attributed to it being for teens. Would have rated it lower if not for how enjoyable a read it was. 

For a book that explores accountability,  much of it was extreamly surface level, and left me wanting for the main love interest to have found more meaningful progress, specifically in his hand in causing 90% of the harm in this book. He literally begged Lark to keep his secret, and it never gets adressed later, after eveything snowballs. Lots of "sorry"s go around, but Lark is so idyllic that real accountability is rarely given to them. (This can be said for many of the characters.) The snowball of negativity surrounding bullying through social media never really gets addressed as well, except in broad terms that, while realistic given the plot, leave me feeling less than hopeful for it's impact on young readers, and if I didn't enjoy the book as much as I did, I would have rated it lower for it.
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writingcaia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really like the thematic of Kacen’s books I’ve read so far. Family, romance, race, and most of all self-acceptance, self-love, finding one self.
On this one we have a very eager to please, 17-year-old, Black, neurodivergent, non-binary Lark, who seems to be very confused about who they are and what is really important, which seems to have happened along with their distancing from their best friend, the Black and trans Kasim. 
When their Twitter blows up with a recent unrequited love declaration tweet that they realise Kasim wrote on their account by accident instead of coming clean, afraid of the blow back, they perpetuate the lie. Inevitably their lies and the confrontation with their self comes crashing, but not before starting dating with Eli, their crush, and making new friends they might lose if the lie is discovered.
It’s a very interior book, with a lot of inner dialogue, not surprising with a character in the spectrum who wants to be a writer, but there’re external debates too that expand on their thoughts, about truth, race, love, forgiveness, acceptance and accountability.
It has YA tone more than Felix Ever After, just so you know, but it wasn’t juvenile or lame, I actually loved the little quips Kacen added about being a YA vs an adult, and the criticism of one and a the other as readers and people. 
Having said that, it did become a bit repetitive towards the middle and I was getting a bit bored with Lark and the constant similar thoughts and actions, but I guess it was the objective to showcase their personality, issues and difficulties, as it then shifts some and the pacing accelerates according to the events that start to occur in and outside Lark’s mind. Still, it did put me off for a bit, luckily I persevered, because the story is worth it.
Last, although we don’t have Kasim’s POV he is very much a present character, and his issues of abandonment, race and depression, plus his own reckoning were some of my favourite parts. In truth, the cast is excellent, and you get a real feel for all of them and their own struggles. 
A beautiful story that I’d definitely recommend to teens, and adults who are not afraid to learn and reckon their own selves— bias, prejudices, superiority with seniority will not be tolerated, so buckle up.
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dominiq_ec's review

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

3.5

As a non-binary, Black, neurodivergent adult, I think that I had high hopes for this book because the main cast of characters shared a lot of identities with me. Despite this, I didn't feel like I could identify with this book much, and I'm glad I was able to finish it in two days. If it took me any longer, I was sure that I would have DNF'd it.

Unfortunately Lark's take on leftist ideology was very frustrating, and it didn't really develop alongside their personality development. Yes, they learned to love themselves and value themselves,. but they never really apologized about their cop tweet (which was entirely separate from
how they lied about the unrequited love Twitter thread
, and at the end of the book, when they finally delete their Twitter account, still claims that they're being torn apart. That's not to say that some of those tweeters weren't being unreasonably mean, but some of them were telling Lark that they were being very hurtful, and they still had to take accountability for it, which they never did. 

Kasim ... was just kind of an ass, which I was disappointed to read. Aside from him
liking / loving Lark
, he's just a kid with a complicated family situation, a complicated friend situation, and sat by while his friends bullied Lark for waaaay too long, in my opinion. 

I felt that Sable and Jamal were a bit ignored. Perhaps I'm biased because they are my favorite characters, along with Birdie, but Jamal isn't really addressed outside of Lark causing and then resolving conflict. Sable
becomes a love interest
in the last 60ish pages of the book, and I think that considering Lark's frustrating aspects/conflicts takes up almost half of the book, I don't think that Sable and Lark's relationship had proper development when it should have.

The Big Red Rally seemed unnecessary. Sure, its an opportunity for Lark to understand how they can put their politics into action, but it just kinda ... hovers. It disrupts the queer Black utopia the setting has. And now that I've mentioned it ...

The entire community center being tolerant of queer / polyam folks never read as realistic to me. Now, I don't live in West Philadelphia (I just realized that's where Fresh Prince takes place), but I can assume that it's probably like the rest of the country in that there's diversity in ideology. Queer insular friend groups makes sense. Queer Black insular friend groups makes sense! A queer...community center...that I assume is open to the public? Less believable. Of course, the community center could have a no-tolerance policy, but considering the amount of public and one-on-one bullying that Lark experienced, the students obviously don't care too much about it.

I'm not even marginally obsessed with social media, nor do I have issues with how others perceive me. I'm very Kasim in that way, so the majority of Lark's issues I didn't relate to. The entire time, I kept thinking "delete your Twitter account," or "Why the hell do you care?" I definitely understand why Lark thought and acted the way that they did, and how their identities fed into their thoughts and actions, but it just...didn't resonate. Like Jamal, I like streamlining my time doing things I like to do, and if social media was that much of a trouble from me, I'd delete it and move on. 

Now, to what I loved.

The writing style was magnificent! I feel a certain type of way about modern slang being forced into young adult books, but it felt really natural in this novel! I also think that the long sentences and random topic changes accurately reflect how my own anxiety and hyperverbal autism works. It was wonderful to feel seen in that way. 

Jamal and Sable. My favorite characters, hands down. Enough said. 

Despite becoming increasingly disinterested in Lark's perspective (I'd quite prefer it had been in Kasim's perspective), I do think that their process in changing and adjusting their behaviors into being less harmful and more assertive was wonderful to read. I think that this was what made me want to finish the book, and I'm so glad it ended this way (it could've been quicker though, but I'm generally impatient). 

The cover art??? It's why I picked it up at my local library, despite the fact that the summary was ... confusing. Wow, love. Will be buying some of the artist's pieces when I can. 
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robyn_fenix's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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demawenda's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

2.25

Szczerze skusiła mnie piękna okładka. Miało być ciekawie, Miało być przyjemnie a było... Po prostu źle. Książka zostawia mnie z przemyśleniem, że była pisana bardzo długi czas i po skończeniu osoba autorska nie wróciła na początek by go poprawić. Samo wydawnictwo też się nie popisało, kiepskie tłumaczenie, redakcja leży. Jak można w skończonej książce zostawić słowo "miększy"? Jednakże staram się pominąć te błędy w recenzji, w końcu chodzi o książkę, a nie o tłumaczenie. 
 Kontynuując o fabule.... Lark wydaje się postacią do znienawidzenia, podejmuje same błędne decyzje, nie potrafi samo o siebie zadbać. Przez całą książkę nie zostało dobrze wytłumaczone dlaczego głowni bohaterowie nagle zaczęli się nienawidzić.
Tylko tyle że oboje myśleli że ta druga osoba nie chxe ich znać. Skoro się tak przyjaźnili to powinni siebie spytac?
Do tego opis wyglądu postaci też nie był zbyt dobry. Czytałam w wersji e-book i na stronie 126/406 w końcu jest powiedziane, że Kasim jest osobą trans. Nie wiem jak dla innych, dla mnie to ważna informacja, zwłaszcza, że jeszcze później jest mówione iż nie zaczął jeszcze tranzycji.  Został niewykorzystany potencjał z
nieznajomym w parku który złamał czwartą ścianę
Za połową ksiazki robi się lekko lepiej, postacie faktycznie trochę dorastają, stają się bardziej normalni i myślący. Temat pandemii zdecydowanie za czesto powtarzany, chyba wszyscy chcą już zostawić ten etap za sobą. Do tego rasizm w stronę wszystkich białych. Rozumiem, że czarnoskórzy są bardzo uciskani w społeczeństwie, inaczej traktowani, ale to nie usprawiedliwia tego co głoszą postacie. Stwierdzenie, że nawet gdy biały wspiera czarnoskórych i nie traktuje ich inaczej to nadal jest rasistą bo na tym zarabia? Sic! Zajęcia dodatkowe z pisania na które chodzą głowni bohaterowie są ciekawe, ale to, że opiekun nie reaguje na to co mówią uczniowie? Jak się obrażają? Jak uskuteczniają znęcanie się nad jednym z nich? Do tego dochodzą nielogiczne dialogi między postaciami. Wspieranie zdrowia psychocznego tu nawet nie istnieje gdy dowiadujemy się, że
Kasim ma depresję to jednoczenie też mówi, że nie chodzi na terapię chociaż powinien
, druga sprawa z Lark, które myśli, że ma autyzm albo ADHD albo oba ale uważa, że nie potrzebuje diagnozy. Tego chcemy uczyć młodzieży? Samodiagnozy? 
 Podsumowując, książka ma wiele złych stron, ciężko znaleźć jakąś dobrą, poza oczywistą, że książka nie jest długa i szybko można ją skończyć. Zdecydowanie nie podeszła mi ta pozycja, jeśli jesteś wrażliwy na mowę nienawiści i zidiociałe postaci to trzymaj się od tego z daleka.
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daffodildyke's review against another edition

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

3.25

This book has taken so long to read and I don’t really know why. When I started it, I thought I would have devoured it in a short time. I think there were parts that were just too much for everything that was going on in my head at the time.

I really love how diverse and representative this story is, having a variety of non-white characters, having trans and nonbinary characters, main characters using they/them, those same characters being polyam and exploring that openly. 

The way Lark’s story intertwined with reality felt really engaging, and the insight into their thoughts and feelings about writing add a really important depth to their character. 

I think I struggled when Lark fully committed to the lie and shared that with others, I think it felt too uncomfortable for my silly little neurodiverse brain. It all felt sort of low-level amidst the depth of talk about writing, about protests, about accountability… having to sit through the teenage angst that came with the “fake” relationship was just exhausting for me, but i appreciate i am not the target audience. 
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wintah's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

ich fand das buch echt toll, die charaktere waren super interessant und haben im verlaufe des buches verschiedene entwicklungen vollzogen. die verwendung von geschlechtsneutraler sprache war super angenehm und hat überhaupt nicht gestört und zu sehen, dass so viele charaktere neopronomen benutzen war super validierent. allgemein war es total schön, so einen diversen und queeren cast (?) zu sehen. die deutsche übersetzung fand ich auch echt gelungen, besonders da sie wohl noch eine der ersten dieser art ist. <3
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