I can hardly even put into words how wonderful, necessary, and heartbreakingly excellent this book is. It’s halfway through March and I’m gonna call this the best new release of 2020.

Smash It! Is a brutally and beautifully honest coming of age story about being a seventeen year old girl who is fed up with letting fear control her life.

Olivia (Liv, Livia, and O) is in her junior year of high school and utterly disappointed with how little she ventures outside her comfort zone. She’s been in love with one of her best friends almost longer than she can remember, but never has the courage to say anything. So she decides to make a “fuck it” list and make this the year she learns to be true to herself and be brave. First up on her list is trying our for her school’s rap musical of Othello.

I want to start (or I guess this is the middle, but anyway) by saying that mine is not the voice needed in talking about this book. I’m looking forward to this being published so that I can do my small part in elevating own voices in talking about (and hopefully praising) this excellent story, but until then I’ll add my two cents fully recognizing and reminder YOU that my review is not the one that matters.

I have both read this story before, and never before. The plot points Simone touches are those similar to many other late teen coming of ages stories centered on personal identity and sexuality. I can probably think of three other versions of this. What’s important is that every other example I can think of was about me, a cis white woman of lower middle class. This story is so wonderful and important and GOOD because it’s FINALLY about someone else. This is an own voices story of black excellence that is truly an expression of a black voice. I wish so much that I could have read this when I was a teenager, instead of reading other, more Wonder Bread versions.

I am thrilled for Simone and am looking forward to purchasing this when it comes out and recommending to to absolutely EVERYONE I encounter.

High school is never easy and when O realizes she isn’t taking any risks she decides to follow some advice from her elderly friend Al and Shondra Rimes and make this her year of F*ck It! This year she is going to step out of her comfort zone, push herself to try new and uncomfortable things, and this lands her in auditions for the schools musical version of Ornella. As O navigates her new self and new friendships we are reminded that we all need really good friends, the ones who will understand us, and forgive us and love us no matter what. These friendships aren’t static things, they grow and change and evolve, sometimes into
❤️!

The author tried to parallel the school musical Othello with the growing tension between Liv, Eli and Dré in Smash It! Othello deals with racism, jealousy and suspicion, Smash It! was messy and full of teen angst. It felt forced, stereotypical and fell flat. There were too many things going on. Had the book simply focused on the F*ck It List, what Liv learned and the final outcome without so many unneeded details, it would've been a much better read.

Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy! This story appealed to me because my daughter recently joined the drama club at school. She spends every afternoon with these kids and can’t wait to call them when she gets home. They hang out together as a large group, and sometimes smaller groups on weekends. That’s the same sense of theater family i got when Olivia, ‘O’, ‘Liv’, found her people at Othello. The friendship she formed with Jackie and Lennox reminds me so much of my daughters experience! I enjoyed reading about how her confidence builds throughout the book, from a wallflower to a social butterfly with the boyfriend of her dreams. I would recommend this story as a coming of age book to the high school students i work with.

Smash It! is a fun romp through high school set in Orlando, FL. Olivia "O" is 17, black, and curvy. She also keeps her head down and lacks self confidence. Until now. She decides to get out of her comfort zone and creates the Fuck It List. Her two best friends, Eli and Dre, have been her sidekicks for years, but are the holding her back? They try out for the school musical, Othello, and meet new friends. The drama motto "Smash It" has more than one meaning with lots of focus on teenage hormones and obsessing about sex. This book is about friendship, being, body positive, and being true to yourself. The story has a satisfying ending.

I loved this book. I loved all of the characters and how all of the stories were intertwined on multiple levels. It felt so good to be thrown into this book and I really enjoyed diving into this book. It kept me interested the whole time and aside from a few spelling errors, it was very well written. I would definitely read more books from her!

I thought the book was well done. The summary of it left a bit more to be desired, but it did lead me to believe that this would be a more relaxing and fun read. I don't think I was particularly in the right mood for this book, and thus I did not enjoy it as much. If you want a bit of a lighter read, this is a good choice!