Little & Lion (Review)

A romance wrapped in great discussions of mental health and sexuality, with notes of addressing racism amongst friends, religion, chronic illness, teen pregnancy and abortion, allyship in multiple forms, and other amazing subject matter, Little and Lion lives up to its notoriety as an award-winning YA novel. 

Suzette is home from boarding school for the summer and isn’t sure if she’ll go back. After all, there’s great food in LA, and her friends (although she hasn’t seen them in a while), and her brother Lionel, who she used to understand better than anyone and vice versa…that is, until he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder not long before she left. LA is familiar and accepting, and (if she’s being honest) has some pretty cute residents that she can’t help crushing on. While back at boarding school…there’s only Iris, and although Suz may still be crushing on her too…she’s not sure if Iris will ever speak to her again after everything that happened…

“Bravery doesn’t always look like you think it will. And it’s never too late to stand up for the right thing.”

Little and Lion has it all; lots of diverse on-page rep, sex positivity, great discussions of deeper topics, and some of the best characters I’ve come upon in YA who have equally incredible dynamics. Unpredictable in the way it takes on what appears to be absolutely no overused tropes (or makes them at least unrecognizable) and blazes its own path through themes of love, friendship, and family, Little and Lion succeeds most in the way it realistically depicts life as complex. Not everything in life can be solved within 300 pages, and life, love, and (especially) feelings about those things are definitely not always straightforward. 

 “…many of the same people who are quick to empathize with physical disabilities don’t understand why someone with depression can’t just get up and get on with their day like the rest of the world. It’s like they need a receipt that proves someone is actually going through some shit before they care about them.”

For someone who prefers hard-hitting contemporaries over romance novels, I would have liked the other topics to take precedence over the romance elements that kept stealing the show, but I know many other readers will probably feel the opposite. However, considering just how many topics this book takes on, some felt like they could have stood to have a little more page time. With how easy it is to follow Suzette and the great characters through the story, I don’t think readers would have minded if the book became a longer one. 

Although the plot and characters flew far beyond my expectations for a YA contemporary novel, the writing remains somewhat subpar and is honestly nothing special. This provides a fine enough vessel and backdrop for the discussions and story taking place but doesn’t do anything to wow me like it had the potential to. 

I rated Little and Lion 4 out of 5 stars.