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pastryqueen) wrote2017-08-24 09:01 pm
pastryqueen) wrote2017-08-24 09:01 pm
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Book Review Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert.
Brandy Colbert's Little & Lion was one of my picks for Book of the Month, and I just finished it today.
The book is about a girl named Suzette and her stepbrother Lionel. Suzette was sent away to boarding school for a year while her family dealt with her brother's recent diagnosis for bipolar disorder and getting him started on the right medication. Not only does she have to contend with her brother's illness and a secret that he's keeping from their parents, she's also in the midst of figuring out her sexuality, which inevitably ends with her caught in a (sort of) love triangle between a boy and Lionel's new girlfriend.
I really enjoyed it overall. Without spoiling anything major, I was a little concerned how the book was going to handle the topics of bisexuality and exploration, mental illness, and the romantic subplots, but everything was wonderfully woven together. Colbert handled the nature of Lionel's diagnosis sensitively. Suzette's bisexuality was also an interesting asset of her identity to explore, given that she's also black and Jewish, none of which she could've been comfortably open about at boarding school; her struggle to understand herself, while also dealing with a prejudiced environment and the ramifications of remaining in the closet, was something that hit very close to home for me.
I think the only complaint I have about the book was the ending. I can't go into the exact details about it, given that it's heavy spoilers, but I finished the book feeling that Lionel and Suzette's relationship should've received more focus in the very last few chapters. Their issues wrapped up a little too neatly, which made the ending feel completely rushed when the pace throughout the story felt fine otherwise.
The book is about a girl named Suzette and her stepbrother Lionel. Suzette was sent away to boarding school for a year while her family dealt with her brother's recent diagnosis for bipolar disorder and getting him started on the right medication. Not only does she have to contend with her brother's illness and a secret that he's keeping from their parents, she's also in the midst of figuring out her sexuality, which inevitably ends with her caught in a (sort of) love triangle between a boy and Lionel's new girlfriend.
I really enjoyed it overall. Without spoiling anything major, I was a little concerned how the book was going to handle the topics of bisexuality and exploration, mental illness, and the romantic subplots, but everything was wonderfully woven together. Colbert handled the nature of Lionel's diagnosis sensitively. Suzette's bisexuality was also an interesting asset of her identity to explore, given that she's also black and Jewish, none of which she could've been comfortably open about at boarding school; her struggle to understand herself, while also dealing with a prejudiced environment and the ramifications of remaining in the closet, was something that hit very close to home for me.
I think the only complaint I have about the book was the ending. I can't go into the exact details about it, given that it's heavy spoilers, but I finished the book feeling that Lionel and Suzette's relationship should've received more focus in the very last few chapters. Their issues wrapped up a little too neatly, which made the ending feel completely rushed when the pace throughout the story felt fine otherwise.