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brittanica_bold's review
4.0
A cute, thought-provoking story about young love, finding your “group”, and being the change you want to see. 3.5 stars!
What I liked about the book:
1. I liked watching Olivia grow as a person. Starting out, she was a cynical, isolationist who was trying to stay out of the way so as to not draw attention to herself given previous bullying she had endured at other schools. By doing this, she not only allowed the bullying to continue, but she also mentally segregated everyone into groups of who she had to hurry by, who was safe to stand with, who was best to have lunch with, etc., which was really just another form of judgment. I liked seeing her interactions with Peter force her to realize that she was doing the same “groupings” and perpetuating the problem by ignoring it instead of resisting it.
2. I liked the misfit group of the Nerd Net, of course. We had Peter the poet with both a high IQ and a high EQ, Will the intense looking guy who turned out to be a real clown, Heidi the computer hacker who looked like a model, and Griff the de-facto leader who used to be one of the populars until he witnessed the bullying of his cousin. I loved that each of them had a true role in the story and served their group well. At first I thought Peter and Will would be interchangeable, but they quickly showed their individualities and what they contributed to the group!
3. I liked all the Nerd Net’s operations and the references to wars and the strategies historically employed. With Olivia learning a lot about wars from her Grandfather, she was able to be the “advisor” on all tactics the group took. I loved the references to various historical uprisings and how they were applied to the high school setting. It made it extra fun for this history lover.
4. I enjoyed the 3 romantic relationships within the Nerd Net (and they were all interracial!). We had:
Peter and his girlfriend Carlie: the couple known for being legends in the slam poetry community.
Will and Heidi: the ultimate “will-they-won’t-they” couple that everyone seems to know have feelings for each other but them.
Olivia and Griff: the main couple with the meet cute, inside jokes, and sizzling chemistry we got to feed off of for the entire story!
All of them were fun and cute, but I must say, Will and Heidi were my favorite!
What could have been better:
1. I understood the ending and why resistance was better than retaliation, but I still wanted to see more happen to Mitzi after all the bullying and racism she spewed. I guess the point here is that she was always going to blame others for the things wrong in her life, so she would never actually get the point. The author did well with this, and it makes sense, but I didn’t like it!
2. While I loved the strategy behind all of their operations, I did feel that some of them were repetitive. I found myself saying, “How is this different from what they already did?”
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Quill Tree Books, and Kara H.L. Chen for the opportunity to read this book. The review expressed above is honest and my own.
What I liked about the book:
1. I liked watching Olivia grow as a person. Starting out, she was a cynical, isolationist who was trying to stay out of the way so as to not draw attention to herself given previous bullying she had endured at other schools. By doing this, she not only allowed the bullying to continue, but she also mentally segregated everyone into groups of who she had to hurry by, who was safe to stand with, who was best to have lunch with, etc., which was really just another form of judgment. I liked seeing her interactions with Peter force her to realize that she was doing the same “groupings” and perpetuating the problem by ignoring it instead of resisting it.
2. I liked the misfit group of the Nerd Net, of course. We had Peter the poet with both a high IQ and a high EQ, Will the intense looking guy who turned out to be a real clown, Heidi the computer hacker who looked like a model, and Griff the de-facto leader who used to be one of the populars until he witnessed the bullying of his cousin. I loved that each of them had a true role in the story and served their group well. At first I thought Peter and Will would be interchangeable, but they quickly showed their individualities and what they contributed to the group!
3. I liked all the Nerd Net’s operations and the references to wars and the strategies historically employed. With Olivia learning a lot about wars from her Grandfather, she was able to be the “advisor” on all tactics the group took. I loved the references to various historical uprisings and how they were applied to the high school setting. It made it extra fun for this history lover.
4. I enjoyed the 3 romantic relationships within the Nerd Net (and they were all interracial!). We had:
Peter and his girlfriend Carlie: the couple known for being legends in the slam poetry community.
Will and Heidi: the ultimate “will-they-won’t-they” couple that everyone seems to know have feelings for each other but them.
Olivia and Griff: the main couple with the meet cute, inside jokes, and sizzling chemistry we got to feed off of for the entire story!
All of them were fun and cute, but I must say, Will and Heidi were my favorite!
What could have been better:
1. I understood the ending and why resistance was better than retaliation, but I still wanted to see more happen to Mitzi after all the bullying and racism she spewed. I guess the point here is that she was always going to blame others for the things wrong in her life, so she would never actually get the point. The author did well with this, and it makes sense, but I didn’t like it!
2. While I loved the strategy behind all of their operations, I did feel that some of them were repetitive. I found myself saying, “How is this different from what they already did?”
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Quill Tree Books, and Kara H.L. Chen for the opportunity to read this book. The review expressed above is honest and my own.
aduchene's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed this story. There were harder pieces to read like the active bullying, cyber bullying, and trauma heavy parts. But, I thought it was really tastefully done and explored all the sides of everything without painting things as simple. I appreciated the humanization of everyone and the addition of complexities that others don’t consider. Harm vs change. Such an important lesson about intention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
cynsworkshop's review
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
Relatable and angsty, Love & Resistance pulls readers into high school drama, dealing with mean girls, racism, and what it means to be the new girl in town.
Fun and quirky, I thoroughly enjoyed Love & Resistance and the voice behind Livvy’s characterization that drives the story forward.
Relatable Storytelling
I instantly knew this book would be enjoyable when I saw that the first chapter was “Welcome to Painstown.” Here, we are given a little insight into Livvy and her background. Constantly on the move due to her mother being in the military, Livvy decided to make herself some rules to keep her head down and mostly unnoticed.
If she doesn’t make connections, it hurts less when she has to move. And being Asian doesn’t make her life any easier.
Livvy has such a significant voice in the story. How she challenges the racial stereotypes and racism led by the titular mean girl, Mitzi, makes her a formidable character.
But what also makes the story so good is how relatable it is.
Livvy was put into a box, but she doesn’t realize that she has also put people into boxes, generalizing them and stripping them of their identities to fit her narrative.
I love how the story challenges the idea of a mean girl just being a mean girl, a theatre kid just being a nerd, and a pretty girl being more than just pretty. Chen challenges and addresses all the stereotypes that go into high school and how people are categorized and put into boxes. Livvy may think she’s above this, but what she learns is that everyone is more complex than that.
Final Thoughts
Love & Resistance is a quick, relatable read following four young kids battling bullying, racism, and stereotypes while dealing with teenage hormones and angst.
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lisbethwhite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bandrh's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.75
drtx_bwt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Racism
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs
buhdumbitch's review
i wanted to finish it i just got bored at a point and couldn't continue. had a decent start, it just felt like it was dragging a little and i was getting impatient 😭
gggina13's review
4.0
I love delusional main characters who liken their lives to abnormal situations just to survive
Olivia is really into military strategy, and she specifically applies "isolationist politics" to her own life. She moves around a lot with her mom, changing schools, and she just blends in and stays quiet in order to stay out of drama. Things at her most recent school aren't different, until she gets into it (accidentally, of course) with a racist bully, and is thrust into her sights.
An underground group of misfits seeks her out - they call themselves the NerdNet, and they want to take popular Mitzi down.
So not only do we see Olivia and her group take steps to dismantle the hierarchy at their school, we also see Olivia make close friends and even find a crush in Griff, who was one of the first people to acknowledge her at school.
I think there were some really special conversations about racism. There was also some humanizing of the bully, which Olivia was initially (and validly) not very open to, but to eventually realize that they can deserve compassion for what they're going through at home even while not deserving it for how they treat others is a really poignant message!!!
The romance was super cute, the little pranks and plans the NerdNet had were a little silly, sort of like when Janice Ian tried to take down the Plastics, but yeah I think this is a super fun read for high schoolers and it has some important stuff to say too!
Olivia is really into military strategy, and she specifically applies "isolationist politics" to her own life. She moves around a lot with her mom, changing schools, and she just blends in and stays quiet in order to stay out of drama. Things at her most recent school aren't different, until she gets into it (accidentally, of course) with a racist bully, and is thrust into her sights.
An underground group of misfits seeks her out - they call themselves the NerdNet, and they want to take popular Mitzi down.
So not only do we see Olivia and her group take steps to dismantle the hierarchy at their school, we also see Olivia make close friends and even find a crush in Griff, who was one of the first people to acknowledge her at school.
I think there were some really special conversations about racism. There was also some humanizing of the bully, which Olivia was initially (and validly) not very open to, but to eventually realize that they can deserve compassion for what they're going through at home even while not deserving it for how they treat others is a really poignant message!!!
The romance was super cute, the little pranks and plans the NerdNet had were a little silly, sort of like when Janice Ian tried to take down the Plastics, but yeah I think this is a super fun read for high schoolers and it has some important stuff to say too!