lovely f/f contemporary about love, friendship and the magic of live music,
Although I didn't adore this quite as much as Leah Johnson's debut, I'm still so excited about her writing and story telling, She writes in a way that makes you instantly care about what she has to say and fly through her books with comfort and ease,
TW: gun violence ,stars
Wow, . . this book was such a waste of time
Expect a long freaking rant review!! edit :stars
They are crazy in love after talking three
times Im sorry but no
I'm really disappointed because I really liked the first book of the author and I expected to like this one too, but the romance was not realistic at all and too "insta love", and even if there are important topics, it didn't do it with me Trigger warnings for .
sitelink Blog sitelinkTrigger Warning Database sitelinkTwitter sitelinkInstagram Thank you to Edelweiss and Scholastic for providing a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.
“Love is messy and awkward and ugly, but at least it's honest, ”
Oh man, What a plot twist. sitelinkYou Should See Me in a Crown is, really and truly, one of my favorite books of all time, But wow, I hated this,
This feels like a book written by an entirely different author, Pure melodrama, no nuance, and a hyperannoying character to the nth degree, I am so disappointed. I wish I could pull out something I liked about this one, like I usually do, But I can't think of anything, Everything about this book failed, on every level, in my opinion,
Starting this was a really strange experience, because I feel like I was just shoved into a pool with no floaties and, friends, I'm really fucking bad at swimming.
The book begins at the music festival in question with no lead up whatsoever, We don't get to learn anything about the four central players Johnson just decides to hit the gas and we are going, okay, Right off a cliff. The two main characters, Olivia and Toni, meet immediately, and we're crashing against every rock on the way down, They're complete strangers who suddenly decide to team up for the entire weekend Toni to win a music competition, despite the fact that she has no idea if Olivia can sing, and Olivia to win a car from an apple collecting contest, which has absolutely nothing to do with any other plot going on in this novel.
The love story, one of the areas where Johnson most excelled in her debut novel, is awful, It is the worst case of instalove I have ever encountered though, I should preface this by saying I have not read most of the YA fantasy that was popular a decade ago.
The entire book occurs over the course of three days, and on day two one of the characters is considering uttering an I love you, At this point they've kissed once, maybe twice, They've had a deep conversation or two, That's it. Pain. I feel pain.
Back to the pure melodrama, The love story is certainly the biggest part of that the conflicts gave me more whiplash than the contrived third act conflicts I've read in many a romance, Blink, and you'll miss the "you can't love anyone because they'll hurt you, so I must break up with this girl I'm not actually dating!!!!!" turn, On top of that, the inclusion of discussion about mass shootings feels really distasteful here, It feels very "issue of the week" preachy about how awful they are, haphazardly tied to the tragic background of one of the characters, I'm finding this to be an issue in YA a lot you can say, maybe, that YA is required to touch on these difficult topics, but its primary audience certainly deserves something less surface level than this.
Most importantly, Olivia is one of the most irritating characters I've had the displeasure of reading about, I completely understand her trauma and thought that was at least a little more successfully handled than the topic of mass shootings, but it's as if the book gives her a free pass to be as awful as she pleases because she's experienced terrible things.
She is horribly selfish, beyond impulsive, and to be frank, does not need a girlfriend, She needs therapy, and stat, It particularly infuriates me that she treats her best friend like garbage and gets forgiven for it, The only satisfying part of this book were the pages in which Imani rightfully calls out her ridiculous behavior and mistreatment of her, And that is promptly ruined when she suffers no consequences, I wanted to like Olivia so much, especially because she is such a great contrast to the prudish YA characters who have overtaken the YA contemporary genre as if they are the only brand of teenager that exists out there.
But Johnson really does her no favors,
Gotta say, I've read some really bad books this year, but this one is the leading contender for my least favorite book of the year, My judgment is clouded by how much I was anticipating this one, sure but it's also just really, really bad, .rounded up!
Leah Johnson never fails to write incredible characters, Im just going to start with that, After absolutely loving You Should See Me in a Crown, I was a bit apprehensive about Rise to the Sun because of my own expectations, Completely unwarranted because Johnson absolutely delivered,
So I will preface this by saying that I am not someone who appreciates music nor live music events, but the magic that Johnson created in this story had me yearning to be alongside Olivia and Toni at the Farmland Music Festival in GA.
As far as characters go, Olivia is our bisexual disaster, She lives life hard and fast and isnt afraid to give her heart away, On the other hand, theres Toni, Shes a musical prodigy thanks to her dads training, but shes terrified to fall in love after losing the person she loved the most,
Also, I love that both Olivia and Toni were from Indiana because there were so many references to places I knew such as the fun night life in Broad Ripple and all that is Indiana University in Bloomington where I got my PhD.
Dont go into this story thinking that its a straightforward romance with a clear cut path, This story is mess. These girls are messy and so are their feelings, They feel deeply and learn the consequences of their feelings and actions, and thats something that more people need to be given the grace to doespecially Black women,
Thank you to Scholastic Press for providing a review copy, This did not influence my review, All opinions are my own, "If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it, " Zora Neale Hurston
Leah Johnson has this way with words that makes you easily fall in love with her characters, You don't love them in spite of their flaws but because of them,
They're fully fleshed out people that even if you don't relate to them, you could imagine them being in your life or running into them at a party,
Leah also weaves resilience into her stories so flawlessly, While certain events in this story are important in themselves, the book puts its focus on the after effects, How people come together. How Black girls handle grief and betrayal, The ending really was the culmination of that and leaves you hopeful and content,
Olivia was beautifully messy, While reading I was like 'wow is this what my friends think about me', Like if you told me Leah took a trip inside my mind and then wrote this book, I wouldn't doubt you for a second, The first line of this book alone encompasses my entire personality, Also selfsabotaging because they're must be something wrong with you that makes you unworthy of love HA HA HA wipes brow Olivia deserved way more than she thought she did.
Either decision she made about the hearing I would have supported her in, but I loved how powerful the moment she decided was, I saw myself in Imani too though so this book was just big "Wow that's me, That's so me. " I think this is a great read for anyone who feels they may be in an unbalanced friendship,
And the love story was just chef's kiss, The kind that can only happen at a festival because where else do you find people you can trust so quickly, I like how Toni and Olivia's relationship didn't solve their problems, but their relationship led them to the realizations they'd had been looking for or needed,
And there was a whole plot twist that shook me, Like maybe other people would catch on to it, but I sat there like the white guy blinking meme, And speaking of memes, the pop culture references in this were just perfect and welltimed,
Rise to the Sun shows how universal music is through the lens of two Black girls, It's everything I wanted and didn't know I needed, I will probably think of more things to say about it as I sit with it longer, but just go ahead and add it to your TBR if you haven't already.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC, All opinions are my own the serotonin u get from leah johnson's books, . . unmatched
sitelinkread my review on reads rainbow!
Rep: Black bi mc, Black lesbian mc, Black sapphic side character, biracial Indian American side character
CWs: shooting, revenge porn.
stars
Leah Johnson's newest YA novel, Rise to the Sun, is a poignant yet hopeful look at finding and healing yourself, as well as friendship, love, and musics power.
Olivia needs an escape, Junior year of high school ended disastrously with her involved in a scandal, and a major decision awaits her, So she convinces her best friend Imani to accompany her to a threeday music festival, Imani agrees but makes Olivia swear that the weekend will be just about themthat Olivia wont fall in love and then fall apart, needing to be rescued as always,
Toni has been coming to the festival since she was little, always accompanying her musician father, But since his death shes been adrift, trying to figure out whats next for her, Her mother wants her to pursue a more stable path, but is that whats best for her Or is music what will give her life, well, lifelt
When Olivia and Toni meet cute, Toni immediately throws up walls around her but Olivia immediately feels a connection.
Can a relationship sustain given the flux in both of their livesand if so, is it the right thing to do
“What if one person can only lose so much before they fall apart completely” I ask.
“I dont know, man,” he says, “But Ive gotta believe the people I have left will love me enough to try and put me back together again, ”
Instalove doesnt always work for me but these characters both needed someone to truly believe in them, All four of the main characters definitely have their quirks,
Rise to the Sun is an emotional story and there are some heavy issues, but its ultimately hopeful, If you've not already read Johnson's first book, You Should See Me in a Crown, definitely pick that up!
Check out my list of the best books I read inat sitelink blogspot. com/thebestbooksireadin. html.
See all of my reviews at sitelinkitseithersadnessoreuphoria, blogspot. com.
Follow me on Instagram at sitelink instagram. com/the. bookishworld. of. yrralh/. Three days. Two girls. One lifechanging music festival.
Olivia is an expert at falling in love, . . and at being dumped. But after the fallout from her last breakup has left her an outcast at school and at home, shes determined to turn over a new leaf, A crushfree weekend at Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend is just what she needs to get her mind off the senior year that awaits her,
Toni is one week away from starting college, and its the last place she wants to be, Unsure about who she wants to become and still reeling in the wake of the loss of her musicianturnedroadie father, shes heading back to the music festival that changed his life in hopes that following in his footsteps will help her find her own way forward.
When the two arrive at Farmland, the last thing they expect is to realize that theyll need to join forces in order to get what theyre searching for out of the weekend.
As they work together, the festival becomes so much more complicated than they bargained for, and Olivia and Toni will find that they need each other, and music, more than they ever could have imagined.
Packed with irresistible romance and irrepressible heart, bestselling author Leah Johnson delivers a stunning and cinematic story about grief, love, and the remarkable power of music to heal and connect us all.
TW for a gun violence, revenge porn, and death of a parent
I absolutely loved You Should See Me in a Crown, so I was really excited to read Leah Johnson's sophomore novel.
I was intrigued that this took place at a music festival, but I don't think I ended up loving the timeline of this novel, The book take place over a weekend and I didn't think that was enough time for me to believe these characters had fallen for each other, I was really enjoying the beginning of this book and how Olivia was someone who loved being in love and was constantly in a relationship, I don't see a lot of main characters like that, so it was interesting seeing her perspective of always wanting to be with someone and molding herself to be with that person.
Toni, on the other hand, had never been in a relationship and was still trying to deal with her father's death, They meet and click right away and enter a singing competition at the festival together, Their initial connection was great, but I really didn't like the direction the story took with something that happens at the festival and then Olivia's conflict with her friend, I didn't think Olivia's past was fleshed out that well and then she had a huge blow up with her friend and I felt like she was really selfish and kind of brushed that away sorry, trying not to spoil anything!.
I get that Olivia is supposed to be a selfish character and grow by the end of the book, but it made it hard to feel sympathetic for her and believe she just got over that part of her personality.
In the end, it felt like there was just too much going on and not enough time dealing with each thing for both of our main characters, So while this book sounded great and started off strong, the execution missed the mark for me, .