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Review: Bitter

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Title: Bitter

Author: Akwaeke Emezi

Publisher: Random House Children’s

Publication date: February 15, 2022

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BitterSummary

Bitter feels lucky to have been chosen for the Eucalyptus school. A school specifically for creative teens and a place where she can focus on her painting. What she hasn’t told anyone is that she has the power to bring her paintings to life. And the more she tries to keep this secret, the closer it gets to being revealed.

Outside of Eucalyptus, the world is in chaos. Bitter’s friends are fighting for equality and freedom. While Bitter is okay with staying safe inside the walls, her friends aren’t okay with settling for “just the way things are.” As Bitter tries to figure out a way to support the revolution safely, the creatures from her paintings might be able to help. Just not the way she might want.

Review: Bitter

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this to review! Pet is such a gorgeously crafted novel, I was excited to see more from this world. I might need to re-read Pet now that I have this background information!

Before reading this, I felt like there was so much potential for this prequel. Emezi is truly a master at writing stories that parallel our own. There are so many conversations in this book about fighting back that are applicable to current society. One of the strongest messages in this book was that you don’t have to be on the frontlines to help with a revolution. Bitter struggles with this concept throughout the entire book, and I appreciated this in the context of a young adult novel. Not all teens can afford to be on the frontlines of protests and such. But there are still ways they can contribute.

While you don’t have read Pet before reading Bitter, I do think this book builds on the world from the first book. Or rather, it helps make the world easier to understand. Emezi could actually give us background on a number of other characters and I would read them all. I’m sure some of the main characters here have interesting backgrounds as well.

All in all, even though this is a short read, it packs a punch. Definitely one that should be on your TBR when it comes out in Feburary!

5/5 stars

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