Piecing Me Together is still Watson's strongest work in my view, but I enjoyed this book nonetheless. It gets across well how alienating activism can be if you're not that involved in it and someone you're close to is 1000% dedicated to the point of shaming you for having plastic straws. Sometimes, we can really trip over ourselves trying to make the world better.

What a love letter to NYC and teens. I am sorry I waited so long to read this book. Ms. Watson's Piecing me Together was a very special book for me and my students. Now I will be passing this one along as well.

This book was so cute. I really vibed with the premise. I was there for the romance and stayed for the character development. I think this book had some really great lessons that would strike a chord with the YA audience like self love. It was really sweet and witty. I enjoyed my time reading it. Really have nothing bad to say about it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

My Review:

I received an ARC of this book from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review – thanks!

At the heart of Love is a Revolution is a story about self love, and the importance of taking a step back to focus on cultivating that love. It is also a story about family, which I wasn’t expecting but sincerely enjoyed reading. I find there isn’t enough YA books that really go into the MC’s family relationships and it was fun to see how Nala’s character growth was influenced by them – especially her grandmother.

I did really enjoy this book, it was a short read but filled with a lot of impactful messages and well written characters and growth. This was my first book by Watson, and I can’t believe I haven’t had the chance to pick up her work before. I will definitely be doing so after reading and loving this one. Her writing style is easily to follow, it flows so nicely. Its the type of writing I often look for when getting out of reading slumps. I also enjoyed the incorporations of not only song lyrics, but Nala’s own lists. The lists (despite how nonsensical they could be sometimes, especially ones about Nathan), help to build and flesh out her character outside of the plot we are given.

That being said, I wish that we had gotten more of Nala’s own backstory. It is tiptoed around throughout the story, but Watson never addresses Nala’s estrangement with her mother. It’s something that we are made well aware of, yet we don’t really ever get to know what happens. We learn more about Nathan’s relationship to his estranged father than we do of our protagonist’s with her mother — who she seems to see frequently enough. I think this really would have added to the story, and perhaps added another dimension to Nala’s journey toward loving herself.

One of the main reasons this book doesn’t get the full four stars for me is based in the trope this story is built on: the “lying about myself to get the boy to like me.” I really wish this trope would just be banished, it always irks me, especially when Nala is conscious and addresses that it is wrong and she could say something but just decides against it. This and the pitting the girls against each other, I didn’t like how the conflict with Imani was used to drive Nala’s growth and make Imani the ‘bad guy.’ Both of the girls made mistakes, but pinning the blame did nothing for the story.

All in all, this was a really good story. I think its an easy to read YA contemporary that would be enjoyed by even younger YA readers.

Love is a Revolution released February 2nd

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

Covid was a very hard time for reading for me - trying to finally catch up with my books. The self love aspect that she was trying to get across is a great message but the story felt very young to me. But liked th family aspect and plus size rep.

Though a little preachy at times this book is one that so many young adults (and adult adults also) need. It’s about finding yourself and learning to love and be comfortable with who you are. The angel of activism is nice as well as it shows young people doing something to make a difference in their community. Though the activism stems from and around issues of being Black the story does not fall into the trap of reinforcing the status quo and identity trauma.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

I loved Renee Watson's book Piecing Me Together so I was thrilled to pick up and read more of her work. Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me I'm all about the concept of self-love and prioritizing oneself and that theme is something that I think this book touched well on. The theme of self-love is seen in very few YA or adult books so it was refreshing to see that in this book. However, Nala as the main character was just not someone I really liked all that much. She lied a lot and maybe due to my own trauma that's something that bothers me a lot so reading about it in this book was uncomfortable for me. I also lean towards books in which I root for the main character and that's not something I did while reading this book. I think the concept of this book had a strong base, but it fell a little flat on execution.

Love Is A Revolution

By: Renee Watson

Bloomsbury USA /children’s Books

Bloomsbury YA

Teens and YA

Publish Date 02 February 2021

#LoveIsaRevolution#NetGalley

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both Bloomsbury and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Rene Watson comes a new YA–a love story about not only a romantic relationship but how a girl finds herself and falls in love with who she really is.

When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except . . . Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up. As Nala falls deeper into keeping up her lies and into love, she’ll learn all the ways love is hard, and how self-love is revolutionary.

In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful and get the attention of the hot guys, the popular girl clique is not shallow but has strong convictions and substance, and the ultimate love story is not only about romance but about how to show radical love to the people in your life, including to yourself.

Book Review:

I gave this book 4 stars. I wasn’t sure about this book because at first I thought I might DNF it. I really didn’t like how it started but loved how it ended.

This book is about a teenage girl during the summer before her senior year in high school. This summer she wasn’t sure what she going to do. Her only plan was to write an essay for colleges which she really didn’t want to do but felt she had to.

One night she goes to a talent show and meets a guy there. This guy is a friend of her cousin/sister. She really likes this guys and spends time to get to know him but isn’t honest with him from the beginning.

She does have moments when she feels she needs to tell him the truth. Well we all know how things happen when aren’t honest.

What I really liked about this book was that the girl is finally able to tell the truth and she discovers herself in the process. This was an insightful summer for her. She also learns how to love herself for who she is and not what she is.

Watson is back with another wonderful story about body positivity and being yourself. Nala Watson lives with her cousin-sister-friend Imani. Imani and Nala are starting to go their separate ways due to being teenagers. However, Nala accompanies Imani to one of her activist meetings. There Nala meets Tye. Nala pretends to be something she's not to get Tye's attention. In the end, is it worth compromising her beliefs to impress someone she has a crush on? Can relationships be built on lies?

Sometimes YA knocks it out of the park, and sometimes YA feels very young.

This felt very young

I do think there’s a solid message in this about being true to yourself and how “self love is the most radical love of all”, but it got lost with the lies and naïveté that the MC kept getting swept up in.

Disclaimer: I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute coming-to-age YA romance that features activism, a plus sized heroine and family.

I loved this coming-of-age YA romance! It was so fun watching Nala find herself and her voice. Watson is a fantastic author that all young audiences should be reading!

I will absolutely be adding this book to my freshman supplemental reading list and recommending that students read it. There is so much here: positivity about body image, the need to be plugged in and conscious about your life choices, the need for honesty. None of it reads like a polemic or preachy, but there is a lesson there, and it's a lesson being taught with real and diverse characters. 100% will use, must read. Love it!

Nala no longer lives with her mom, who is often MIA and instead lives with her cousin, Imani, her aunt, and uncle. These difficulties are part of the reason why she’s never really learned to love herself. This summer she wants to get her first boyfriend and when she falls head over heels for one of her cousin’s activist friends, she tries to portray herself in a way that may not be too accurate. As she falls deeper and misleads him more she realizes she wants to be more like the person she’s convinced Tye she already is. But that might be harder than it sounds and maybe it is best to discover who you are and love yourself before you fall in love so you don’t lose yourself loving someone else. Plenty of good quotes and characters, and a realistic story of young summer love. I really enjoyed this one and wish life hadn’t gotten so in the way of me reading this months ago.

Love love love Renee Watson and love this book. The plus size main character was a refreshing change from typical YA, especially that her plus size was not an issue and didn't become a plotline. Loved the focus on Nala's family dynamic and the setting for the story. Nala's story arc is beautiful and this really is an excellent book.

I love books by Renee Watson, and Love Is a Revolution did not disappoint. This book is a great addition to the new YA canon that focuses on themes of body positivity, body acceptance, and self love. It's also a book that highlights activism, which is a powerful statement.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

If I taught a higher grade this book would be required reading. Watson has a beautiful way of telling a story and I can’t recommend her novels enough. Love is a Revolution is beautiful and life changing.