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A review by nerp
The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith
5.0
Note: NetGalley provided an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Friends, this book is an utter delight that made me laugh and cry throughout.
I understand the critiques in the other reviews, that there wasn't a lot of character development/growth, that the villain was two dimensional. None of that bothered me. This book gives me fuzzy feelings of pure joy.
I'm not adopted, but I'm planning on adopting, so reading a tale of an adopted kids and her feelings around that—the what-ifs of her biological parents, learning to adjust to the security of another family, the emotional (and physical) violence of the foster system—were so deeply important for me, a non-adoptee, to read. I can't imagine how much that would mean to someone who is in the system, someone who experiences those feelings on a daily basis. If nothing else, this book is worth reading for that.
But I appreciate so much about the representation in this book, and what I especially liked was that this wasn't an "issues" book. This wasn't a book about a Black teen being adopted by a Black woman and her white husband; this wasn't a book about a teen with SAD coping with it. This was an adventure story—more magical realism than straight fantasy—about a girl adjusting to her family in the backdrop of saving something she loves. (I also am really glad that there was a flavoring of romance instead of the book being focused on romance—I'm not one for YA contemporaries in general, but YA contemporary romances make me shrug.) We need more stories where marginalized people are doing things that privileged characters get to do all the time without the focus being on their identities. This book is an example of that.
The characters are an utter delight. Leila is a badass, level-headed protagonist, and Sarika is the best friend everyone wants, full of charm and snark and wit. I love their little bits of characterization coming across via text or message boards or tweets. I love how frank Leila is about the conversations she does and doesn't want to have. This isn't some sort of inspiration porn story; it's feel-good while being authentic to itself.
I devoured this book in one sitting. It's an easy, fast read. I'm not kidding when I said that I both laughed and cried throughout. I cannot recommend this enough!!
Friends, this book is an utter delight that made me laugh and cry throughout.
I understand the critiques in the other reviews, that there wasn't a lot of character development/growth, that the villain was two dimensional. None of that bothered me. This book gives me fuzzy feelings of pure joy.
I'm not adopted, but I'm planning on adopting, so reading a tale of an adopted kids and her feelings around that—the what-ifs of her biological parents, learning to adjust to the security of another family, the emotional (and physical) violence of the foster system—were so deeply important for me, a non-adoptee, to read. I can't imagine how much that would mean to someone who is in the system, someone who experiences those feelings on a daily basis. If nothing else, this book is worth reading for that.
But I appreciate so much about the representation in this book, and what I especially liked was that this wasn't an "issues" book. This wasn't a book about a Black teen being adopted by a Black woman and her white husband; this wasn't a book about a teen with SAD coping with it. This was an adventure story—more magical realism than straight fantasy—about a girl adjusting to her family in the backdrop of saving something she loves. (I also am really glad that there was a flavoring of romance instead of the book being focused on romance—I'm not one for YA contemporaries in general, but YA contemporary romances make me shrug.) We need more stories where marginalized people are doing things that privileged characters get to do all the time without the focus being on their identities. This book is an example of that.
The characters are an utter delight. Leila is a badass, level-headed protagonist, and Sarika is the best friend everyone wants, full of charm and snark and wit. I love their little bits of characterization coming across via text or message boards or tweets. I love how frank Leila is about the conversations she does and doesn't want to have. This isn't some sort of inspiration porn story; it's feel-good while being authentic to itself.
I devoured this book in one sitting. It's an easy, fast read. I'm not kidding when I said that I both laughed and cried throughout. I cannot recommend this enough!!