I’m a bit torn on this book. Was excited for #ownvoices story and LOVED the cover. Fantastic body positivity but the racial “jokes” dialog were problematic.

I was really excited for this #ownvoices novel. Unfortunately, due to problematic content this was a DNF for me and I won't be purchasing for my high school library collection.

I was unable to find the time to read this book properly, and thus cannot review it to it's full potential. The premise and summary seem great and it shows a great potential to pack a punch and be a very good book to read for YA.

What a fun read. I absolutely loved Olivia!! All of her relationships both young and old and both male and female were phenomenal. I loved how she took chances, made mistakes and owned up to them when necessary. I loved all the drama too. Oh and a sex positive book? Yes, please! This book had everything I needed for a fun relatable read. Loved it!

I really love the representation in this book! Many of my students would totally relate to Olivia, and I am always looking out for books that will pull them in. It's an encouraging tale of self-confidence, and I'll definitely be recommending it.

"Smash It!" is a wonderful book detailing the FUCK IT journey of Olivia (also known as O, Liv, and Livia) as she tries to change her life. Liv has never stood out, never done something that scared her - why should she? She is perfectly alright with her two best friends and her band practices. But after a Halloween where she is bored, she decides to fuck it - she WILL audition for that musical, she WILL kiss a boy, and she WILL go out of her comfort zone.
I heartily enjoyed reading "Smash It!" It was delightfully encouraging, and made me want to do my own Year of Fuck It.

This book is raw and messy and all of the characters felt really real with all their glorious faults in their decisions as they work through the situations they get into during this novel.

Olivia has two best friends Eli and Dre who have become pretty well known for their cover band in the area. While Eli and Dre seem fearless with their passions, Olivia is always a little too afraid to be who she wants to be. Afraid to be in the spotlight. Afraid to be too noticed. Olivia decides to make a Fuck It list and do what she wants. And so we begin with an audition for the school musical.

A wonderful sex positive story with conversations between Olivia and her girl friends Lennox and Jack, I found myself laughing as well as feeling like my heart was so full reading these girls talk through all the bull shit that we as women especially in high school often have to navigate without so much straight to the point conversations about it.

I have seen and read a lot of reviews in regards to some of the racial comments made throughout this novel and I do think they weren't necessary. And if they were, I wish we'd had a bit more clear "that's inappropriate" type of conversation.

I also didn't really love our main character Olivia. I found her decision making really frustrating. That's not to say she doesn't deserve to be a main character, but I would have liked to see a bit more from the people around her to help her recognize her mistakes. I think in contemporary stories like this, I wish we had a bit more adult interaction where they really help. One of my favorite scenes is something similar that I don't want to give away, but I wish we had at least one more adult that any of our characters could talk to about all the situations they're going through here.

Messy and imperfect, but this was such a fun story and definitely something I wish I'd been able to read when I was trying to figure out how and when to have sex for the first time.

Great book with phenomenal representation. I found it very authentic and positive. I had a fun time reading this.

Smash It!
4.5/5⭐️ to Smash It! by Francina Simone

Thank you so much to Inkyard Press, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for early access to the egalley! This is an #ownvoices contemporary, so although I appreciate people reading this review, please check out other reviews from BIPOC readers.

This was such a fun read from page one, and it had so many elements that I love like friendship, body positivity, musical theatre, and a message about taking the most out of life. Smash It! follows our MC, Liv, in her junior year of high school, as she decides to stop “sleepwalking” through life after attending a Halloween party. She decides to create a F-it list of things she has avoided but really wants to do, starting by joining her school’s theatre production. Liv makes new friends who further help her break out of her shell, and she gets to experience the joy and importance of close female friendship. I so enjoyed their friendship, how they were able to talk about anything with each other, and how the author was able to weave in real, important topics as such as body positivity and sexuality. I also thought her relationship with her two guy friends was written well and that it provided some attachment for me to this book and characters, as well as important commentary about boundaries, secrets, and loyalty. Finally, I found the backdrop of a Shakespeare production worked so well and was so fun!

Overall, this book was a delight, and so real and true to the teenage experience! And most of all, I thought the message of making the most out of your life and grabbing exciting but scary opportunities was so important! I’m excited to see what Francina Simone writes next!

WOW!! Absolutely loved this one and I wish I would have gotten to it sooner! I loved everything about the book, The message behind it. The characters, The story. The way they talked about certain topics. I could not put the book down. I look forward to other work by this author

Such a fun, powerful and memorable YA novel! You want to rot for the main character and champion her the entire way through!

I was really interested in reading this book. I was excited for a book by a Black woman and with a fat woman on the cover! The story is compelling and the character growth is relatable for students..

I have included a Trigger warning for the racist "jokes" with a page reference (especially the whole "I'd let him holy war in me" - ugh) and links to criticisms for students in my class.

*The review below is being done on a Netgalley Advanced Reader's Copy of Smash It! This review is my own, and I have written it in my honest opinion.

Olivia "Liv" James has been a fly on the wall for most social events in her high school career. She begins to tire of sitting on the sidelines, so she decides to follow Shandra Rhymes' "Year of Yes" motto. This leads her to decide to participate in a school musical as well as give dating a try. Her two best friends, Dre and Eli, are outgoing musicians who also add to Liv's love drama.

As much as this book is supposed to empower the "Liv's" of the world, it does have some downfalls. When I was reading this book, I did abandon it for a while because I felt that Liv was a difficult character to love. I wanted to support her and her cause, because we have all been like Liv and wanted to make a change in our lives, but at times she seemed childish and self-destructive. I did continue reading the book though, because there were so many characters in Liv's life that she had issues with, and I wanted to see how it ended.

Some of the things that I found encouraging in this novel were the topics of embracing change, living your authentic life. being honest with those you love and trust, and seeking out help from others when you need it. There is a great range of characters and personalities that added to Liv's life, so those bright spots helped brighten up some of the plot.

Unfortunately, another topic that has come up in a lot of other discussions is the borderline racist comments included in the book. As I was reading, there were times that I felt uncomfortable because I felt the comments were unnecessary. Even though this book is set in a high school, I felt the book already had enough bullying issues without having to create more as a side note.

I had a few issues with the way certain races and cultures were spoken about in this book but did enjoy the plot.

This was overall a fun story. Unfortunately, I'm a part of the minority who has not read Othello, so any connections or foreshadow was lost on me. Howeve, i did really love all the characters. I love how body and sex positive the whole story was as well.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO SMASH IT! BY FRANCINA SIMONE?
Smash It! by Francina Simone appealed to me because I like her Youtube videos! I know! I know! Granted, I don’t normally watch booktube at all, but every once and a while I would watch one of Francina Simone’s. She has a take on different things that pop up in the book community that I frequently agree with. Of course, it takes more than being a internet celebrity for a book to appeal to me. Smash It! has a premise that made it seem like it would be a fun read.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Francina Simone’s debut features Oliva “Liv” James, a high schooler who has let her insecurities get the best of her. When she goes to Halloween party wearing khaki shorts, LOL, she decides that she’s done being so insecure. So, she makes a Fuck It list, the fun version of a bucket list and I love that for her. Liv decides she’s going to go for it and stand out. She starts off by working up her courage and auditioning for the school musical. Liv gets a good part and she gets to know some new people. She also gets asked out. Oh, and Liv is trying to decide between three guys that she’s interested in.

HOW DID I LIKE SMASH IT!?
Smash It! was a fun read. It was a good break from the more serious stuff I sometimes consume. I felt like Liv was realistic and such a normal teenager. She didn’t feel holier than thou or too perfect. I hate when characters are too perfect and paragons of virtue with no imperfections. This book is sex positive and explores some of Liv’s first experiences in a way that comes off as funny but also poignant. And also! It is body positive too. Liv is fat. At first, that makes her insecure, but she comes to really love herself and to stop letting those insecurities get in her way. I did see in some reviews that some of the phrasing regarding a Hawaiian character and a character of Middle Eastern descent was problematic. However, with the second character Liv did call them out on that phrase. I will admit that listening to the audiobook a little bit sped up, it was blink and you miss it. However, I can also see how it would be hurtful.


HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook was a delight to listen to. Smash It! is narrated by Zakiya Young. Yet another narrator who is new to me. Young’s narration style comes across as youthful and perfect for Liv and her story. I did not find myself bored or wandering in attention while listening. The audiobook is 9 hours and 16 minutes long. Listening to it sped up to about 1.75x still made it easy to follow and understand what was going on.

Funny and heartwarming, Francina Simone writes a great story about what happens when you decide to throw your hands up in the air and say, "F**k it" and it's fantastic.

These are some of the most well-rounded characters I have read in YA in a while. The book also feels more real than the usual Hollywood-y fare.

I was really looking forward to this book since being a fan of the authors youtube channel. While this book had some interesting points nothing really happened. Like it felt like we were reading a mundane life story with not plot or point to it. I was waiting for something but nothing really happened. 3/5 stars.

This book has a lot going for it theory. It is very sex positive, something not seen in YA fiction often, tons of diversity within the main cast of characters, and it was an easy read. However, this book has a lot of jokes and comments made about a variety of topics that came off as offensive and were not checked at all in the text (ex. A joke about the Israel/Palestine war, offensive descriptions/jokes of Pacific Islanders etc).