Little and Lion - Brandy Colbert

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction


Blurb (on back of book): 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.

MY OPINION: ****

I really enjoyed reading every part of this book. I didn't have any idea of what I was getting into when starting this book. However, I really liked how it all came together.

This book features a girl named Suzette who has just returned to LA after being at boarding school in Massachusetts. She hasn't seen her stepbrother, Lionel "Lion" since he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and she's not entirely prepared for going back to her old life. On top of that, she has a ton of relationship problems that I couldn't really relate to but understood enough of.

At her boarding school, she and her roommate Iris had something going on though they never put a real label on it. They did everything behind locked doors but one day they're found out. Instead of doing something about it and standing up for herself and Iris, Suzette decides to ignore everything that happened and let Iris take the fall, something that wasn't the most commendable act but entirely understandable, especially since Suzette had no idea what she was going through.

This book really explored sexual identity and finding yourself. We learn through the book that we don't always need a label and one character says something along the lines "like who you like" which is a great idea. Suzette doesn't know if she likes girls or if it was "just an Iris thing" especially since she's started to see her childhood friend, Emil (what a cute name) in a different way.

On top of all that, Lionel entrusts Suzette with a big secret and Suzette doesn't know whether or not she should keep it because she's fiercely loyal but she also wants Lionel to feel safe and protected.

Lionel stops taking his meds and because of that, he is sent down this spiral that leads him to fighting, acting different, rage, and he even "runs away" at the end of the book to a bookstore three hours away.

Suzette gets a job at this flower shop with this girl that she has already met a party. Rafaela is different, has a gorgeous tattoo, and likes both girls and guys. Suzette finds herself maybe falling for her too along with Emil but Lionel is also taken with Rafaela and asks her out.

Lionel thinks that Rafaela is helping him but in the end, she proves to be almost detrimental to his health, though it isn't entirely her fault.

The title comes from the pet names that Suzette and Lionel have for each other. Suzette calls Lionel "Lion" and Lion calls Suzette "Little" which I thought was endearing and showed a great sense of familial relationship.

Suzette herself wasn't a disliked character of mine but some of her decisions just didn't agree with me. She was at times almost selfish and it felt like she was playing Emil. Her character was sometimes frustrating but I do admire her bravery and strength to do the right thing even though she knows that there are going to be consequences in the end.

Lionel was a sweet character but his disorder made it hard for me to understand who he really was underneath the meds. I'm not entirely sure what bipolar disorder consists of exactly but I have done a little research. Lion didn't really fit in with the crowd after he was diagnosed which I thought was horrible but also accurate to our world.

Emil and Rafaela are going to be lumped together because they were both love interests of Suzette and not the most highly played parts of the story. Emil was everything you could ask for: nice, smart, loyal, (hot!), and honest. I loved his character and who he was and how he didn't let his hearing aids define who he was. Rafaela wasn't my favorite character because I just feel like she was just too much and that everyone made her out to be better than she was. I don't know, she just wasn't my favorite.

I loved the amount of diversity in this book. Suzette is African-American, Jewish (she converted because of her stepdad, Saul), and bisexual (I believe that's what she finally identified herself as). Emil is half-Korean, half-African-American. Several characters are bisexual and gay and lots of them aren't afraid to show who they are (dyed hair, black clothing, piercings, etc). I loved this mixture of people in this book.

I liked how Emil and Suzette stood up to Grace after Grace said a racist "joke" that wasn't entirely funny. This was an example of things that people can say to you just because you're "different" and I think that it was handled very well, although it was never fully resolved.

The writing in this book was beautiful and I would love to read more of Colbert's work!

I would recommend this book to readers looking for a more serious read!

Main Character: Suzette
Sidekick(s): DeeDee, Lion, Emil, Rafaela, etc
Villain(s): Being "different", etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: All of this is real to life.