Bitter Review

TW: mentions of trauma from foster care, and of being hurt by law enforcement. 

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi is the prequel to Pet, which I read and reviewed earlier this year. You can read that review here. 

The story is about Jam's mother (from the first book) back when she was a teenager and an art student. She lives in a boarding school called Eucalyptus which is a safe haven from the rest of Lucille--which has recently been having a political uprising. Bitter wants to make Lucille a better place for her and her new social circle (consisting of her friend Blessing, Blessings girlfriend Alex, and Bitter's new boyfriend Aloe), but she finds it hard when she has her own trauma from being in different foster homes. She would rather paint and stay in Eucalyptus than go to protests with Assata. Assata is the movement of people overthrowing the corrupt people in power, which some people Bitter knows are a part of. Bitter eventually learns that she can make her own change through her art! 

Well, she can literally do it because she's always had the ability to make her art come to life. This was hinted at in Pet. And one day she does it in a fit of anger after one of her friends named Eddie gets hurt during a protest by a police officer. That's when she summons an "angel" named Vengeance, whose goal is to get rid of all the monsters in Lucille. They are basically a bigger version of Pet from the first book. Vengeance causes a chain reaction for more monsters to be summoned through people's art, and Bitter and everyone she knows tries to figure out what to do with them all. 

Once again, it is not a very long book (although it is 16 chapters long). I think I loved this book even more than the first one! This one had much higher stakes, and it really expanded upon the commentary the first book had on the lines blurring between good in bad in times of crisis, and people not always being what they seem at first glance.  

I gave it 5 stars. I should warn you just like the first book, the story deals with a lot of heavy stuff than what is mentioned here! So please take care while reading if you choose to do so.