A review by engpunk77
The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson

2.0

I didn't finish this. The narration of this spunky protagonist was amusing and could've kept me interested, but the book wasn't what I expected. Based on the back cover, I thought I'd be able to relate to this passionate high school student who tries to do something idealistic and profound (meet my high school self). Her project gains momentum, goes viral, she can no longer control its impact, and she then gets busted. This sounded like a successful version of me as a teen (whose projects never left the idea stage) and it sounded great.
However, Asha really wasn't very passionate and had only mercenary motivation to start the "Latte Rebellion", and she maintained that for the first 100 pages at least (that's when I quit) while sometimes mildly implying that it may have been something grand, but she couldn't really put her finger on its grander purpose other than to get money. I didn't really care about the Latte Rebellion, because it really wasn't anything admirable for such a significant portion of the book. I can assume that it will become rather meaningful and unifying, I guess, and that she will try to make herself out to be some kind of martyr for a cause at her expulsion hearing, but how is the reader supposed to care when that wasn't the intent?

The flaws of this book are not the writing; it's just that it didn't mesh with what I was looking for.