Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Awaeke Emezi’s novel Bitter continues the critical work of their YA novel Pet, for which it serves as a prequel. In Bitter, the reader encounters Lucille, a city amid continued violence, where residents are fighting against systemic abuses of power. Bitter, an art student who is safely ensconced behind the walls of her school struggles to reconcile her need to feel safe with her anger against the brutal and unjust outside world. When a piece of her own artwork forces Bitter into the fray, she has no choice but to decide if and where she will make her stand.

In true Emezi fashion, Bitter draws the reader in with very real characters who act as tour guides for the reader as they navigate the important questions concerning social justice that are raised by the narrative. Bitter is an engaging young adult read, one that isn’t afraid to tackle the uncomfortable while simultaneously teaching the value of grace. Young adults need more authors like Emezi.

This book has so much to unpack and can be used in many different ways, talking about what we owe our communities, the history of revolutions, the concept of "other" and how we have biases against different groups. I'm definitely going to have a copy of this in my classroom as a "free choice" book and will keep it in mind as I build lesson plans.

Aside from the themes, I love how fantasy is dealt with in this book and think it would be a great optional book for a creative writing class to review to see the different ways that fantasy can be introduced and used in a story.

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!

Bitter is the perfect companion novel to Pet that I didn’t even know I needed. The characters are lovable and well written and the story mirrors a world we live in (unfortunately). This book is important and timely covering everything from working on yourself and going out of your comfort zone to needing to burn down broken systems before we can repair them.

This was quick and easy to get through without character development being sacrificed. What a wonderful way to see more about Pet’s parents and the monsters they faced.

While this is a companion novel for Pet, you do not need to read Pet first. Love that! If you love books about protest, solitary, and community amongst marginalized communities this is the book for you.

Bitter serves as a prequel to Pet. It focuses on Jam’s mother, Bitter, when she was the same age Jam is when Pet begins. This book serves as an excellent companion piece to Pet. Bitter shows the reader what the world was like before Pet, expanding on just how violent the fight was to create the world Jam grows up in. It brings so much more into Pet, knowing just how much is sacrificed to get to the point of peace. Bitter’s character is expanded throughout the novel and we learn how Bitter became the person she is in Pet. I was always curious about Bitter when I read Pet. Her abilities are incredibly unique and it makes so much sense to expand the history of Lucille through Bitter’s eyes. There were so many points of this book I highlighted because they hit so close to the world we currently live in. Going from Pet to Bitter gives the reader hope that change can be made, while also highlighting just how much can be lost in the process. I loved this book and Akwaeke Emezi has such a talent for creating rich characters that you genuinely come to care about. GO READ IT. (When it’s released.)

This searing prequel to PET is another great title from Emezi. Fans of PET will see similar themes, but this is a very different Lucille. The social commentary is on point, and the characters are incredible--I LOVED getting to know Bitter and Aloe. I hope we'll see more titles in this world.

Akwaeke is a masterfully talented author whose writing offers a stellar representation of the possibilities for justice and safety. They share several insights, including the notion that safety can be created with the right people.

This novel offers a rich description of the world of Lucille before Pet. We get insight into Bitter and Aloe’s origin stories and how Lucille ended up being a place free of monsters.

While I appreciated the novel overall, I found myself wanting more insight. For instance, where do they the angels when they are not being summoned? How did Miss Virtue end up being the collector of gatekeepers? Was killing Theron really enough to convince the mayor to institutionalize change?

Overall, this book is a wonderful companion to Pet. I highly recommend it to folks who enjoy feeding their imagination, fantasy, and intentionally-just stories.

Like several other people have said here, I am a fan of Akwaeke Emezi and could not wait to read BITTER. I love PET and have recommended it widely to students, fellow teachers, writers, family, and friends. It''s been a while since I read PET, so some of the characters in BITTER felt familiar but more like (much) older family members rather than those I interact with every day. That said, the character Bitter was very well written and I appreciated the complexity of a young person who's been through so much trauma and finally found a safe place and family. Bitter came across as somewhat reserved and serious, but she also had a sense of humor and delivered some great lines without changing the tone of the book. I also appreciated her fluid sexuality and the story's approach of it being no big deal. I will recommend people read this book as there is so much to love and the social issues are so relevant to today that this book could have been set in 2020 or 2021.

Somewhere around the middle of the story, something fell a bit flat. I haven't been able to identify exactly what it was, but initially I couldn't get enough of the book and then it weirdly felt like it was too long. I love character-driven stories, so it wasn't pacing. Some of the secondary characters started to feel a little flat and underdeveloped, and some of the issues felt a bit too either/or. (Some of the issues in this book absolutely have one side or the other bent, such as either you respect humanity or you don't and those worked.) A few of the thornier, more complex issues were a bit too simplistic in their portrayal here.

I really enjoyed BITTER and appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC. Thank you.

This was an awesome prequal to Pet! It had all the same creepy vibes as Pet, with more power and social justice. Loved it!

WOW this was FANTASTIC. LOVED the added context for Pet but also loved this as its own thing, one that feels like it could take place, like, tomorrow compared to the more utopian* world of Pet.

*I know

Absolutely fantastic—Akwaeke Emezi is asking the hard questions and giving nuanced, three-dimensional answers. As good as Pet, though different in the questions it tries to tackle.

Pet is by far one of my favorite reads of the last year and I expected that this would be in line with how good that was. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t. While you already knew some of the characters because their Jam’s parents, it wasn’t nearly as compelling. I found myself putting it aside more often than the voraciously devoured Pet. I did like the set up for the destruction of the monsters and how it sets up the world of Pet, but it just wasn’t as good. Still a worthwhile read, mind you, but don’t expect the same read-in-one-sitting beauty of the first book. One cool thing: this is a standalone. It’s truly a companion. If anything, I wish I’d read this first bc it sets up the world of Pet.

5 stars

Is there anything Akwaeke Emezi cannot do? This novel is yet another piece of evidence that the answer to this question remains "NO!"

In _Bitter_, the titular character is filled with secrets and trauma, and though she faces obstacles at every turn, she is also fantastically filled with a kind of power that makes her a compelling main character for whom readers cannot help but root. Bitter's surroundings - in the town of Lucille - shape her experience. She's connected to this area and the folks who reliably sell pies and watermelons and make the place what it is, but she is also devastated by what has happened to and in this space. The volatile environment mirrors the inner turmoil and uncertainty that Bitter experiences, and there is a solid juxtaposition between character and setting throughout.

This sense of place is so much more complicated for Bitter because of how much shifting has happened in her home life and because of how much she has been able to shape her space through her art. Bitter's greatest surprise power - like many artists - comes from her creations, but the results are unexpected to say the least. The conversations around what and how Bitter creates - and the implications of these creations - are endlessly intriguing. When the adults fail - and they always do - the young adults are the ones who have to come through. Bitter learns and teaches this lesson in especially profound ways.

Emezi is hands down one of my favorite writers across genres, so I can't come into this piece with any kind of reasonable fairness. Instead, I'll just say that this novel evidences the kind of depth, innovation, and layered trauma that I love across their works. This is another winner from one of the greatest writers of our time, and I will recommend this one to students for years to come because it is an incredible exploration, and they will not find anything quite like it.

In this prequel to Pet, Bitter (Jam's mother) is an artist at the Eucalyptus school, in a place she finally feels safe after years in horrific foster homes. The city of Lucille is on the brink of revolution, but Bitter feels safest away from the nightly protests that often turn violent. But after a friend is hurt in a protest against police brutality and the systemic injustices of their city, Bitter takes action with her art and changes her city's history and future.

As expected, the prose is wonderful and story is compelling and real. Bitter is a wonderful character. I loved seeing her working on healing herself and letting people in and her past actions when she wasn't able to let people in. She has deep friendships, and all those characters had their own motivations and backstories.

The theme of protests and Bitter's guilt about not being in the streets and how her friends did not guilt her for that was a great nuance. The Assata group (the protestors in the streets) had their own disagreements near the end about the best course of action to take to further the revolution and continued to struggle with their choices after the climax.

Of course, there are obvious parallels to our world, especially in the wake of the BLM protests in 2020 and the current discourse about wealth redistribution and eat the rich. I'm not going to try to say which fiction group and characters are based on a specific group or person in real life as that's not the point of the book.

Bitter is about finding your place, figuring out what you want to fight for, and how you want to fight for it.

Fans of Pet won't be disappointed.

Writing: 4.5/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 5/5
Bitter is a quiet, wary, girl who has found a haven in Eucalyptus — a school for artists that is safe from the violence that pervades the town of Lucille. After a harrowing childhood spent in horrific foster homes, Bitter needs this feeling of safety to be able to function. Many of her friends are part of Assata, a group that is willing to use violent means to finally bring justice to Lucille. She is afraid to join, but also feels guilty that she cannot. After one of her close friends is intentionally maimed during a protest, her anger rises and she intentionally uses her blood to call forth a creature she has painted with the intent of Vengeance.

This is a prequel to her last book, Pet, telling the story of Bitter’s first discovery that she can call forth “Angels” from her paintings to help combat the “Monsters” that live in the town of Lucille. In the last book, it is Bitter’s daughter, Jam, who bring the picture to life. You can see my review of that book here: https://bibliobloggityboo.com/2019/08/19/pet-by-akwaeke-emezi-ya/.

Emezi’s writing is always hypnotic — her characters, surroundings, and passion are completely gripping. This book is more political than her last book, and I have a small problem with some of it. She includes the requisite LGBQT characters and does a good job of blending everyone together into a “no big deal” community; she also has a character in a wheelchair who turns down an offer of healing because he already knows he is “whole.” However, I’m not thrilled at her overly simplistic portrayal of all “rich” people being the “monsters,” and Assata feels like a thinly disguised Antifa to me (I am not a fan). Given that the book is geared towards young people who don’t yet have a lot of experience in the world, I would prefer a more balanced depiction of the world with a set of more specific injustices against which they are fighting.