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A review by bisexualwentworth
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
4.0
Glad I picked this one back up when I did!
Bitter is a strange, somewhat biblical, beautiful little book about revolution and the power of art. Unsurprisingly, it was right up my alley. I knew I would enjoy it because I loved Pet and because everything Akwaeke Emezi writes has a little bit of magic in it, but this one really came through. I loved the characters and their relationships and all of the conversations about what it means to be an activist and the different roles that different people play in revolution. All of that was stunning.
The actual depictions of activism were definitely kind of lacking. Why were all of the organizers teenagers? Why weren’t they more informed? My activist organizer friend was very annoyed by this, and now I am also annoyed.
The pacing was also kind of off, especially at the end.
Honestly I enjoyed this book a lot when I first read it, but in retrospect, I want a lot more. Of course the story is focused on Bitter and her personal growth, but after reading Pet, I definitely expected the prequel to show how society actually got to that more utopian state. Instead, all of the changes happen at the very end, very quickly, off-page. And of course change is still a process, but generally I’m not convinced that this book did an amazing job of either portraying activism or setting up the book it’s a prequel for.
I still enjoyed the story and loved the characters, though. I’m especially glad that Bitter had Blessing and Aloe in her life.
Bitter is a strange, somewhat biblical, beautiful little book about revolution and the power of art. Unsurprisingly, it was right up my alley. I knew I would enjoy it because I loved Pet and because everything Akwaeke Emezi writes has a little bit of magic in it, but this one really came through. I loved the characters and their relationships and all of the conversations about what it means to be an activist and the different roles that different people play in revolution. All of that was stunning.
The actual depictions of activism were definitely kind of lacking. Why were all of the organizers teenagers? Why weren’t they more informed? My activist organizer friend was very annoyed by this, and now I am also annoyed.
The pacing was also kind of off, especially at the end.
Honestly I enjoyed this book a lot when I first read it, but in retrospect, I want a lot more. Of course the story is focused on Bitter and her personal growth, but after reading Pet, I definitely expected the prequel to show how society actually got to that more utopian state. Instead, all of the changes happen at the very end, very quickly, off-page. And of course change is still a process, but generally I’m not convinced that this book did an amazing job of either portraying activism or setting up the book it’s a prequel for.
I still enjoyed the story and loved the characters, though. I’m especially glad that Bitter had Blessing and Aloe in her life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Child abuse