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A review by brittanica_bold
Love & Resistance by Kara H.L. Chen
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.