Little & Lion

by Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself - or worse.

• ISBN10: 0316349003
• ISBN13: 9780316349000
• Publish Date: 26 October 2017 (first published 8 August 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 February 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

I know how easy it is to believe you’re doing the right thing if you say it to yourself often enough.

I guess its strongest point is the diversity, but I didn’t find anything special about this to warrant more stars. This felt very flat. Little character development and plot development, and then poof! it was already the last page. This could’ve been great though.

[Sam@WLABB]

After a year away, Suzette returned home, happy to be reunited with her friends and family, but slightly nervous about her brother's mental health. She also had many big things to work through, such as school issues, her sexuality, and herself.

• Pro: The thing that stood out to me the most was how many issues Colbert tackled, and how she deftly handled them all. This book took on mental illness, intersectional identity, and sexual orientation, and they were explored so well, with many misconceptions being addressed head-on.

• Pro: The characters in this book were fantastic! There was so much depth to each of them. They were complex and complicated, and Colbert did a magnificent job helping me get to know the many parts of them.

• Pro: Diversity in books is so important, and not only was there a plethora of diversity in this book, but there was intersectional representation. Suzette was Black, Jewish, and questioning her sexuality. She couldn't hide being Black, but she could, and did, hide her faith and sexuality, because she believed she had to do so. It was heartbreaking, that she felt the need to hide parts of herself, and that people felt the need to attack those pieces of her identity.

• Pro: The relationship between Suzette and Lionel became more complicated, when he became ill. She always regarded him as her closest friend and confidant, but now she felt a huge sense of responsibility for him. She loved him dearly, and grappled with the secrets he asked her to keep. Watching her struggle between loyalty and betrayal was not easy, as I didn't necessarily agree with her reasons, but I understood them.

• Pro/Con: The ending felt like the beginning of so many things. The direction for each character was established, but I never got to see what happened. I called this a Pro/Con, because I think it's a pro that I cared so much, and wanted to know how everything turned out for Lionel and Suzette.

• Pro: I will never not love seeing non-traditional families. Suzette's and Lionel's parents never married, but they had all lived together for many years. Suzette and her mother even converted to Judaism, and Suzette referred to Lionel as her brother. It didn't matter that they didn't share a last name (or race), they were family. They loved and supported each other. They stood by each other, through thick or thin, and they accepted one another with no exceptions.

Overall: I found this to be a beautiful and touching story of family, friendship, and self identity, which addressed many tough issues honestly and with sensitivity.

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[layawaydragon]

Little & Lion is interesting. The time jumps in the first part of the book aren't noted in the audiobook, which caused some confusion.

I absolutely loved it at first (besides said time jump mix up) and most of the way through, but the way things went down at the end? Eh....




Suzette got really annoying towards the end, and IMHO she needed help with her anxiety and therapy. The Bi rep was great, but the mental health aspect made me want to SCREAM at Suzette occasionally. It really drove home how most people do not get suicidal ideation and thinking through your death.

https://after-crisis.tumblr.com/post/136817125147/lumos-vs-nox-the-problem-with-suicidal-thoughts

And I'm not happy that the Iris and school thread is left hanging.

Everything else though was really great. Interesting, emotional, down to earth and realistic, handles so many different things superbly.

Notes Made While Listening:
Emil doesn't seem like her crush...
OH! Flashbacks, that explains the timeline problems. Wish they were marked better in the audiobook.
Okay, crush is active.
Damn, that friends part sucks! Poor Lionel.
That's fucked up sending her away.
Black Jewish MC, bi or pan? Blended family.
Emil has hearing aides.
She has dreadlocks
Katie called her ungrateful? The jerk.
Alicia & Deedee dating. DD=BFF
Katie again with the BS. "he's schizo"
Cuz you like tattoo girl, duh!
Obvs what happened with Iris
Again, those freaking unclear time jumps!!
OMFG Lion & the necklace!
Love the bi rant! YAASSSS
Fuck Lionel about the bi thing.
Okay you're forgiven
Nooooooooooooooooooo!
Fuck Grace for that shit & all the silent bistandards
Good convo with DD about Grace.
Orange kitty!
Oh Lionel...
Omg Emil...awkward. Blushing.
"back then" FINALLY! an indication of time jumping
Oh Iris! Poor baby.
Polyam?
Ugh that biphobic shit from DD.
He's gone manic, duh!
She doesn't get it.
Manic isn't all brilliance and fun pixie shit.
Now you're pissing me off Little. Suze.
Should've educated everyone in the fam, man. Ignorant shits.
Chpt 12 and starting to piss off and frustrate me.
Good abortion talk.
Bi people are still bi in a m/w relationship.
Pan rep!
So Dodgers incident was in the past...
Man, other people don't get suicidal ideation at all....I getchu Lion.
Eww creep flower guy.
He means the GF...
People aren't meds!! People aren't their meds!!
Ableist tells, "like he's the same as everyone else"
Doesn't seem honest? Ooooh, girl. you jealous and being stupid
Peeing the same room? Gross...
God, Suzette is so pissy some times.
He could fight for a real good reason. Like The Creep!
TOLD YOU.
Guys suck.
Put Suzette on anxiety meds and in therapy too!
Cyclothymia? Interesting. Never heard of it before.
Stop being an ass to Emil & playing dumb!
Still like an hour left.
Don't use being Bi as a shield you LIAR!
Gods, stop whinying you baby.
Call them & tell them!!
What happened last year, just the one outburst? That's it? FFS. Flipping out people. So typical.
Uhhh, yeah they have parents too...
Finally girl!!! Well, except the anxiety and guilt BS.
But what about IRIS!?!? And the school...?

[Berls]

I absolutely LOVED this book. Little and Lion hit all the big issues of my childhood - racial diversity, LGTBQA, religion, and mental illness. I swear, had I picked up a book like this when I was 17 years old it would have meant so much to me because it would have spoken to EVERYTHING I was going through.

Racial Diversity - Suzanne (aka Little) is an African American teenager growing up in a biracial home. Her step-father (although not technically because her mom never married him) is white, as is his son - her stepbrother Lionel (aka Lion). The majority of her friends are white, it seems. Race isn't this dominant issue - she's not around a bunch of racist people. But I loved how it made White Privilege so apparent - a situation comes up where something inappropriate is said and while it makes everyone uncomfortable, it's not handled like it should be. I loved this, because it's happened so many times in my life where someone white and not racist says something inappropriate and it's like because "they're not racist" they don't have to deal with what they did. So real life!

LGTBQA - Suzanne is trying to figure out her sexual identity... she went away to boarding school this past year and roomed with a lesbian and things happened. And those moments meant a lot to her, but now she's back home and she's really feeling things for a guy... and a girl, who her brother also happens to be feeling things for. Complicated! Especially because of how challenging it is to be Bi - no one quite understands on either side of the gay/straight divide. When I was 17 I remember going through this exact dilemma, finally realizing and accepting that I was Bi took some time and I'm still not that "out" about it. I loved the complexity of her inner turmoil.

Religion - Suzanne is a black, converted Jew. She loves this part of her identity, but it's complicated because she always has to explain it and while at boarding school she hides that part of her identity. This was a small part of the book, but I loved seeing this struggle as well - that religion is part of the "growing up" and "knowing yourself" struggle.

Mental Illness - despite how much the other themes of this book spoke to me, the mental illness was by far the best and most real. Suzanne's brother is struggling with bipolar disorder and hating his medication because of how it makes him feel. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say the volatility of the emotions, the worry and stress, not to mention uncertainty, that come from loving someone with bipolar disorder is beautifully written.

Anyway, I clearly loved this book and was really impressed by it. I read it in two days - but 80% was in 1 sitting. I would not hesitate to pick up another book by Brandy Colbert.

[pagingserenity]

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Little and Lion is an incredibly diverse book full of well-developed characters. Seriously, it's like diversity on steroids! I loved how it explored a lot of important issues, as well as Suzette’s relationship with Lion. That being said, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the love triangle though I can see how it is a necessary evil.

My full review can be found at Paging Serenity.