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A review by lunaballz
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
5.0
Ramona Blue is a sweet, honest story about a girl discovering the fluidity of both sexuality and life. Those who preemptively rated it 1-star out of fear of it being a story where a lesbian is cured by a boy need to actually read it themselves. This is a beautiful coming of age story where Ramona makes it very clear, even after realizing her feelings for Freddie, that she definitely is not straight. In fact, there's a scene
Why I picked this up: the controversy when the summary first came out
What I liked:
The style: just the way it was written was really enjoyable, I never felt like the characters were forced into strange events but it really felt like I was reading a true story about the daily life of a teenager and her friends in Mississippi. The dialogue also felt really natural and was pleasant to read.
I also felt Ramona Blue tackled issues you don't often see in YA books, especially not YA romance.
The main character is gay, but it isn't a coming out story and instead is just a story with a gay protagonist, which is so fantastic. It also is really great because it's about a lesbian who is discovering that she might actually be bisexual, and that is something you almost never see.
Another great thing is that she has gay friends. Gay people in real life have gay friends, but in books it always seems like they only have straight friends, so this is really nice to see.
Plus, the love interest is black and I feel like you never see interracial romance in YA. Freddie is also not just the token black character, but his family are also important characters, and there's also black background characters, like you'd actually see in real life. The author always seems to take care to mention a character's color so that "white" doesn't become the default.
Not only is it great for having an interracial couple, but it touches on some important aspects of Freddie being black. There's a part
The book also shows some of the realities of being poor. Ramona's family barely makes any money, and she herself struggles to live her own life under the crushing responsibility of helping to provide for her family.
What I didn't like:
Only the fact that the blurb can be misconstrued as a book about curing lesbianism. Everything in the book is fantastic.
Would I recommend?
Excuse my french but f**k yes I would recommend. It's an honest, well-written book by an own-voices author that has the representation I think a lot of people need. I will most certainly be recommending this to anyone I can
Spoiler
where she refuses to tell her mother that she's dating him because she doesn't want her mother to think her being a lesbian was just a phase.Why I picked this up: the controversy when the summary first came out
What I liked:
The style: just the way it was written was really enjoyable, I never felt like the characters were forced into strange events but it really felt like I was reading a true story about the daily life of a teenager and her friends in Mississippi. The dialogue also felt really natural and was pleasant to read.
I also felt Ramona Blue tackled issues you don't often see in YA books, especially not YA romance.
The main character is gay, but it isn't a coming out story and instead is just a story with a gay protagonist, which is so fantastic. It also is really great because it's about a lesbian who is discovering that she might actually be bisexual, and that is something you almost never see.
Another great thing is that she has gay friends. Gay people in real life have gay friends, but in books it always seems like they only have straight friends, so this is really nice to see.
Plus, the love interest is black and I feel like you never see interracial romance in YA. Freddie is also not just the token black character, but his family are also important characters, and there's also black background characters, like you'd actually see in real life. The author always seems to take care to mention a character's color so that "white" doesn't become the default.
Not only is it great for having an interracial couple, but it touches on some important aspects of Freddie being black. There's a part
Spoiler
in the book where Ramona, Freddie, and their friends are breaking into someone's property in order to use the pool, but it's left ambiguous to Freddie about whether they're allowed to be there. When the owner comes and chases them out, Freddie tells Ramona that she can't be colorblind and ignore him when he says he can't do that kind of stuff, because as a black boy he's the one who's going to get shot when that happens.The book also shows some of the realities of being poor. Ramona's family barely makes any money, and she herself struggles to live her own life under the crushing responsibility of helping to provide for her family.
What I didn't like:
Only the fact that the blurb can be misconstrued as a book about curing lesbianism. Everything in the book is fantastic.
Would I recommend?
Excuse my french but f**k yes I would recommend. It's an honest, well-written book by an own-voices author that has the representation I think a lot of people need. I will most certainly be recommending this to anyone I can