A review by ghostlydreamer
My Riot by Rick Spears

inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A lot of plot holes in this one, sadly. It moved at a very quick pace, which isn't always a good thing. I think this story would have benefited from slowing down a bit, expanding on some things. An extra 20 pages, even, could have made a huge difference. Although, at the same time, I'm not sure I wanted to read another 20 pages either. Maybe I would hsbe though if it connected ideas better.

I really liked the concept, of a girl coming from a conservative family discovering the beauty of rock music and forming her own Riot Grrrl band. And true to its word, this book does include everything you would expect from such a plot. That means that sometimes it gets a little cliche, but not necessarily in a bad way. It's just that things moved way too fast. I swear one minute Val is grounded, misunderstood, and having problems with her family, and the next, her mom is suddenly very okay with her daughter packing up and playing in a band, singing lyrics that would definitely not resonate with the kind of character her mom is. Don't get me wrong, I liked that Val's mom took on a more supportive role later on. But...it's very rare that a parent transforms her opinion that fast. There could have been a lot more to explore and expand on there, to make things more believable, and to make me, the reader, actually feel something.

It's more like we just caught a glimpse into Val's life and band. We didn't really get a lot of substance, just surface level summary type stuff. We caught all the highlights, but not so much all the struggles that go into making a band work, and the pieces felt like they didn't fit together as well because so much was missing. Their rise to fame happened very quickly, and that almost feels unrealistic, given this takes place well before any social media.

I'll also admit that I didn’t love the art style. I was expecting something more like the cover, and I guess I was misled. My fault, probably. I read this as an ebook, so I couldn't look inside it first. I just had to go with it. This isn't necessarily the fault of the book. It's more preferential, really.

But you know what I did like? This book did manage to touch on some difficult topics. I was surprised to see a bit of emphasis on what it's like to be a ballerina, being told to eat less in order to be "better." That's a topic not a lot of people touch, and we did get a little bit into the topic of disordered eating. I feel like this bit was resolved a bit too neatly, and much too quickly, but I liked how Val ultimately stood up for herself and wouldn't tolerate such a thing anymore. More could have been done with this to make it more meaningful, but I think it did a decent enough job bringing attention to a topic that's not often written about. So props for that.

I kind of just read this on a whim and didn't have huge expectations for it. I'm a little disappointed by it though and won't be picking up a physical copy. Don't let this stop you from reading it though.