Book Review: The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

Shelly's Book Corner received a review copy from Amazon Vine and voluntarily provided an honest review. This does not affect the opinion of the book or the content of the review.

Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past...whom she knows her parents will never approve of.

When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded--she's also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she's known to be true is turned upside down

Review

This is my first time reading a full length novel by Brandy Colbert and I am truly impressed with her writing. I have read short stories in anthologies by this author which I enjoyed but this book was next level. We are introduced to Dove aka Birdie who is struggling with being the perfect daughter but also wants to enjoy being a teen. While reading I would think back on my teenage days. How you want to please your parents and do as they say but you also want to do things your own way and make mistakes along the way.

Throughout this story there are some twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting and it made my jaw drop. At the end of the day we all make mistakes and no one is perfect. This was a well written coming of age story about discovering yourself, carving your own path, redemption and forgiveness. I loved the diversity of the characters as well. I wish I had books like these when I was growing up. I will be making it my business to read Colbert’s backlog and see what I have been missing all these years!