I'm at a loss as to how to review this. I read it in about a day which, right now for me, is really good. YA is still a fairly new genre for me even though I'm reading more than ever before.
When I read the description for this on a friends blog I was curious but wasn't sure I'd like it. To be honest I don't like the title at all. I "get" the title. But I still don't like it.
As for the characters, I have to disagree with the reviewers who hated Asha because of how she acted. I know a lot of people who read their books and want the perfect happy ending, characters they love, etc. That's not me. I would find that boring. If I can hate a character - and be passionate about it - that's great for me. That's not to say I hated Asha, I think if anything she represented a plethora of young people in America and around the world today.
Can anyone out there say they haven't said something negative about someone before? I can't. I'm very race aware and have been since I entered my teens. Super aware. And I've still stereotyped certain people at different times in my life. Something I like to admit? No. But it is honest. If there's anyone who can honestly say they have never done the same then maybe they should consider sainthood.
Asha isn't "perfect" - I say that makes her relatable more so than any other "perfect" character.
The story definitely flows. I thought I knew where it was going towards the end when she sees a certain someone in the hall during the board meeting. (I'm trying to be vague on purpose.) I was wrong. I was also scared the ending would be the perfect happily-ever-after type of ending I hate and it wasn't. I think I'd have liked it to be a little more "not happy" to be honest. Maybe a little more real world if you will. But it certainly wasn't like I expected it to be.
I have a bit of a problem with a Asha's thinking on page 295 (ARC edition) when she's thinking about her father and thinks "That my dad is brown on the outside and white on the inside. An insult." Did I misunderstand this? How is being white an insult? I'm white and I'm not an insult. Neither is any other race. I have a problem with the author implying what's implied here. I have a problem with it in any book, anywhere for that matter, about any race or ethnicity. It was particularly sad for it to be here, with Asha. Am I to think that because of the way the world has been up to now that brown people are better than white people? That can go somewhere else because it's not staying around me.
Nearing the very end there is a part where Asha is talking to someone and they "find out" that she was playing a certain key role in the Rebellion all along. I found it *kind of* hard to believe she hadn't been recognized by others, mainly schoolmates, but that this person didn't know doesn't make sense being that a little prior she actually speaks to said person on the phone about it all. Or, that was implied at the very least. It was a hiccup in an otherwise smooth-flowing story.
The author can write, there's no doubt about that. Writing can seem easy but as anyone who is even remotely connected to writing knows, it isn't. The author is talented and I'd be open to reading something else by her. I'd be careful of the content for myself and my own reasons and because of my being so race sensitive. I wouldn't want to stumble upon a book of hers or anyone else's filled with the likes of what I mentioned above about the "insult". Barring that I think I'd like to read another of the authors works.
A few reviewers mention the way the story flips between the past and present. A lot of times that bothers me as well. Here, it didn't. It's obvious what the author is doing, it's not confusing, and it works with the story IMO. My two cents.
When I read the description for this on a friends blog I was curious but wasn't sure I'd like it. To be honest I don't like the title at all. I "get" the title. But I still don't like it.
As for the characters, I have to disagree with the reviewers who hated Asha because of how she acted. I know a lot of people who read their books and want the perfect happy ending, characters they love, etc. That's not me. I would find that boring. If I can hate a character - and be passionate about it - that's great for me. That's not to say I hated Asha, I think if anything she represented a plethora of young people in America and around the world today.
Can anyone out there say they haven't said something negative about someone before? I can't. I'm very race aware and have been since I entered my teens. Super aware. And I've still stereotyped certain people at different times in my life. Something I like to admit? No. But it is honest. If there's anyone who can honestly say they have never done the same then maybe they should consider sainthood.
Asha isn't "perfect" - I say that makes her relatable more so than any other "perfect" character.
The story definitely flows. I thought I knew where it was going towards the end when she sees a certain someone in the hall during the board meeting. (I'm trying to be vague on purpose.) I was wrong. I was also scared the ending would be the perfect happily-ever-after type of ending I hate and it wasn't. I think I'd have liked it to be a little more "not happy" to be honest. Maybe a little more real world if you will. But it certainly wasn't like I expected it to be.
I have a bit of a problem with a Asha's thinking on page 295 (ARC edition) when she's thinking about her father and thinks "That my dad is brown on the outside and white on the inside. An insult." Did I misunderstand this? How is being white an insult? I'm white and I'm not an insult. Neither is any other race. I have a problem with the author implying what's implied here. I have a problem with it in any book, anywhere for that matter, about any race or ethnicity. It was particularly sad for it to be here, with Asha. Am I to think that because of the way the world has been up to now that brown people are better than white people? That can go somewhere else because it's not staying around me.
Nearing the very end there is a part where Asha is talking to someone and they "find out" that she was playing a certain key role in the Rebellion all along. I found it *kind of* hard to believe she hadn't been recognized by others, mainly schoolmates, but that this person didn't know doesn't make sense being that a little prior she actually speaks to said person on the phone about it all. Or, that was implied at the very least. It was a hiccup in an otherwise smooth-flowing story.
The author can write, there's no doubt about that. Writing can seem easy but as anyone who is even remotely connected to writing knows, it isn't. The author is talented and I'd be open to reading something else by her. I'd be careful of the content for myself and my own reasons and because of my being so race sensitive. I wouldn't want to stumble upon a book of hers or anyone else's filled with the likes of what I mentioned above about the "insult". Barring that I think I'd like to read another of the authors works.
A few reviewers mention the way the story flips between the past and present. A lot of times that bothers me as well. Here, it didn't. It's obvious what the author is doing, it's not confusing, and it works with the story IMO. My two cents.
The Latte Rebellion was a wonderful read that had me staying up late into the night. I enjoyed the characters, the plot and conflict, and the message of the story. The way the book was written, telling readers right off how it all began and that Asha was on trial and might be expelled, then alternating between a couple chapters of how the Latte Rebellion played out and then a chapter of the board meeting and pictures or 'exibits' of posters and letters that were being held as evidence, was just perfect. I don't think the story would have been the same otherwise, despite my attitude towards the end of 'just tell me what HAPPENS!' I think that was the suspense talking. I recommend this book.
