Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution

I've found that I really enjoy Kacen's writing style and this book was no exception. I was pulled into quickly and the story held my attention. I loved all the different takes on neurodivergence and found several of the characters highly relatable. This book covered a lot of important topics that were fully fleshed out and discussed from multiple perspectives. It did get a bit heavy at time since it dealt with so much, but overall I think it was mostly well balanced. The only thing I didn't really care for was... (Please don't hate me) Birdie. They were more distracting to me than helpful, especially since most of their input was overall redundant.

Overall a great book and a great read!

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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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shutupiamreading's review

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emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I’m so happy that these books exist for today’s young adults. This book was such a thoughtful and deep exploration of so many things that teenagers struggle with, from gender identity to sexuality to consent to racism to social media fame. I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice and their reflections on all of these topics, and I know that this will help so many people out there with reflecting on their own identity.

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mx_sunshine's review

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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

4.5

What a beautiful story! I loved this the more I read it. The characters felt real. I loved how honesty prevailed discomfort, making way for genuine connections. I loved that the novel created space for so many perspectives and voices. It felt authentic to read the conversations from opposing characters with conflicting viewpoints with neither of them being judged. This was really lovely. I loved reading such a supportive book.
I love Lark and Kasim and Sable and Asha and Jamal and Micha and Patcha and Mr S and Eli and Taye and Lark’s Mum…
Every character had such a unique impact and influence on Lark and on each other. It felt really special to experience their growth.
I loved Birdie and all they represented and meant to Lark.
I’m so grateful to live in this world at this time where authors like Kacen Callender can share their stories and hopes.
I feel like there is so much to learn from Kacen and from this novel. It is definitely one I’d love to revisit.

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claracafetot1's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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

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kayladaila's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.75

Lark & Kasim Start A Revolution was good! Lark is a 17 year old non-binary writer. They think that if they hit 50k followers on Twitter, they will get a publishing deal. One night, their friend Kasim accidentally posts a confession of unrequited love onto Lark’s Twitter, and then asks Lark to pretend it’s their own. The tweet changes Lark’s life in unexpected ways.

My expectations were pretty high because of how much I loved Callender’s other books. This one didn’t seem as well paced. Lark is neurodivergent so there were lots of tangents and rambling inner thoughts. The representation in this book was phenomenal and I think many adolescent readers will feel seen in this book.

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Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Lark & ​​Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender

verovivaldi9's review against another edition

emikateb's review against another edition

amberdlewis's review against another edition

dominiq_ec's review

shutupiamreading's review

mx_sunshine's review

claracafetot1's review against another edition

kayladaila's review

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender