I got this book for free from my local independent bookshop to provide a review for it. As a 28 year old woman, I am definitely not the target demographic for this book. I imagine I would have liked it a lot more back when I wasn’t sure about who I was and hasn’t yet been able to find my own voice. I could appreciate how this book would be motivational as a teen or even a middle schooler, which is why I am giving it four stars. As an adult woman, I think it tried a little bit too hard to be socially conscious. I’m super liberal and a total SJW but it was like everything was a crusade in this book, and people didn’t feel real because I can’t see a school in that location in which social awareness is so lacking. I can see how it might be exhausting for some people, but really helpful for gen Zers that are trying to find themselves.

5 Stars.

Stunning.

I finished this book yesterday and I still don't really know how to put into words how much this book affected me. Told mostly through poems, playlists and blog posts, Watch Us Rise is a story about feminism and women's rights and how women's voices are silenced in today's so called progressive society.

"We should be using our art to say something, do something."

Jasmine and Chelsea have been best friends since middle school and have been taught throughout their lives to use their talents to change the world. Both--along with their two other best friends, Nadine and Isaac; have been dubbed art-ivists, artists who use their talents to speak out against the wrongs of society and make their community in New York a better place. Jasmine an actor, Chelsea a poet, Nadine a designer, and Isaac an artist.

The characters within this story were rich and so raw and real that they honestly kept the story alive for me as we saw the struggles they face within their school. Each character showed a side of the issues female's face on a daily basis, Jasmine with microaggression and being forced to conform to the stereotypes of being a plus size African American and Chelsea with sexual harassment and being seeing but never heard. Sick of speaking into the void, the girls form their own after school club "Write like a Girl" where they post about woman's issues--needless to say their blog becomes an overnight success and they are soon sent on a whirlwind journey of learning: what do you want the world to hear when the whole world is listening?

Throughout my time reading I think I connected with Jasmine the most as we faced the same struggles in life--being plus sized in a world that demands thin, especially within our field of study (theatre/acting), and walking through the hardship of a parent dying of cancer. I cried and cheered for this character throughout as I watched her become more bold and confident with who she was and the voice she was creating.

"She took me for a hot fudge sundae and told me that women have to learn how to stand out with their words, with their fierce minds, and that courage lived in the actions we made, and not in our bra size or the texture of our hair."

The sole focus of this novel is using your voice--that it doesn't matter who you are and what you do, your voice still matters--and that the little sparks and actions can set off a fire that cannot be contained or controlled. This is what this book is--a spark to that flame that opens the discussion and dialogue of treatment of women and their rights around the world. With a diverse cast and a timely plot, Watch Us Rise highlights and references great female women who have empowered and made changes to society throughout time; giving these women's voices another platform to reach the generation of today. I honestly, learned so much from this novel, and it made me think about my own actions and if they were problematic or not. This book gives its readers a chance to reflect and take stock of their own lives so that they can be a better human tomorrow--something to which I tip my hat off too.

Overall, this young adult take on modern intersectional feminism was gripping and thought provoking. I highly recommend this everyone around me--young or old--there is something everyone can learn and take from with Watch Us Rise.

Representation: Diverse Cast, Plus Size MC, Cancer
Content Warning: Death of a Parent, Cancer, Sexual Harassment

ARC provided by Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA in exchange for my honest review. Quotations taken from an uncorrected proof and may change upon final publication.

If you have an ultra feminist wanting to start a movement. Or a kid who loves poetry or writing, this book is for them.

Watch us rise is trying to be so many things. A tale about friendship, love, body positivity, stereotypes, gender equality, death and foremost breaking the literal patriarchy. Unfortunately for me, it fell flat in almost all aspects. This is a problem with a lot of contemporary ya books. They try to cover soooo much, that they end up barely scratching the surface of anything important.

Also, this book is just so over the top. It only covers the very basics of feminism and does so in such a whiny, shallow way that it almost comes off as a parody. And I just couldn't take it seriously.
It somehow managed to be both self-aware (here I'm referring to Ms. Lucas calling out Chelsea on her stupidity) but also having characters, who are stupid from the beginning *hmfph hmfph Chelsea* not go through any character development whatsoever.
PLEASE DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHELSEA. God was she annoying. This book would definitely have benefited if it switched her POV for someone else. Maybe seeing Meg's thoughts and perspectives shift throughout the story could have been interesting? But anyways, Chelsea always, always, ALWAYS had some stupid comment to make. She couldn't just mind her own damn business. Not even once. I'm also a little sour that nothing about her relationship with James was resolved. I have so much more to say about her, but if you truly want to experience the pain of her narrative, the only way is to just go read the book yourself.

Oh and also: For a book that hates stereotypes so much, it enforces quite a bit of them itself. Meg is the mean, pretty, white girl and James is the jock with a sidechick. Please just give these characters some depth (this also goes for Nadine. Her only distinguishing character trait was being good at fashion).

To briefly mention the writing: It was bland and forgettable. The two narratives were distinguishable, but mostly because Chelsea was always whining.

The main reasons why I'm giving this two instead of one stars:
- The art was awesome!! Wish there would have been more.
- It was fastpaced and very easy to read.
- Jasmine had some good things to say every once in a while.

Thanks for reading :) Bye.

I don't like leaving a score without a review, but there's just so much to say and I don't want to say any of it wrong. Overall, I think this book had great ideas, but ineffective execution.

"Your silence is saying something. Loud and clear.
We hear you.
Now hear us."

The fact that it took me almost 2 weeks to read this says it all.

How disappointing and EXHAUSTING. These girls are so shallow. I feel like the whole time they were just throwing buzz words around and finding reasons to be angry at the world. Chelsea actually gets mad at herself for liking a boy because that’s not “feminist.” The only reason I forced myself to finish this book was because it’s for a YA lit class I’m taking about activism and identity. But WOOF was that a miserable read.

Amazing book that talks in detail about the issues that face young women today. It explores some important topics and tells it through the narrative of two women it affects.

Strong! Spirited! I am inspired by the young W-O-M-Y-N in this book.

One word explains the rating: Chelsea. Spoilery review: https://manuscriptmusing.blogspot.com/2020/12/watch-us-rise-by-renee-watson-and-ellen.html