Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann - Book Review [Blog Tour] ⋆ Wonderfully Bookish

I am restless, my feet need to fly.

Amber is trapped – by her father’s rules, by his expectations, by her own fears.

Now she’s ready to fight – for her mother, for her sister, for herself.

Freedom always comes at a price.

Run, Rebel is a trailblazing verse novel that thunders with rhythm, heart and soul – perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Elizabeth Acevedo and Rupi Kaur.

Title: Run, Rebel
Author: Manjeet Mann
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Date: March 5th, 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary, Verse Fiction

Note: I was sent a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review as part of the blog tour.

If you know anything about my reading tastes, you’ll know that I really love novels written in verse. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ve written a whole post about verse fiction here.)

So when I was asked by Penguin to join the blog tour for Run, Rebel, a novel in verse by Manjeet Mann, I couldn’t have been more excited. I love getting new verse fiction in my life, and I usually love them – and this book was no exception.

The Story

Run, Rebel is the story of Amber Rai, a girl who has grown up in a traditional Indian family in Britain. Neither of her parents can speak English very well, and they can’t read or write. So for Amber, her whole life has been spent as their translator: helping them with shopping, bills, important letters, and anything else that might be written in English.

Amber’s father is extremely traditional: women should work in the home, and there is no need for them to have an education or a worthwhile job, because those are the roles for the men. This means that Amber’s mum lives a life with no independence. She’s desperate to learn and to fit in, but her husband always stands in her way. This is the same for Amber too; she dreams of being a runner and she’s often told she’s gifted, but she’s not allowed a life of her own. Because what happened to women who did try to live an independent life isn’t something that anybody wants to repeat…

When Amber is given a book in school to study called The Art of Revolution, her mindset is changed for good: she needs to get out, and it needs to happen soon. Run, Rebel is written in eight sections, following each stage of the Anatomy of a Revolution: Restlessness, Dissatisfaction, Control, Momentum, Honeymoon, Terror, Overthrow, and Peace. Each stage goes with a particular moment in Amber’s life as she navigates her way through her school and family life, edging closer and closer towards her own revolution.

However, it’s not a straightforward journey; it’s not as simple as just getting out and starting fresh. There are consequences. There are terrible stories of those who have attempted to start a new life before her. And there’s Amber’s dad, who is falling farther into alcoholism every day, regularly beating Amber’s mother in the process.

The Themes

Run, Rebel does an incredible job of making you realise just how dangerous and claustrophobic this sort of life can be. For a teenager like Amber, and the thousands of teenagers like her who live in abusive environments, it can feel like there’s no escape. There’s a fine line between the urge to leave and create a new life of independence and freedom, and the desperate hope that things will change, that people will change, and that everything will magically get better.

Run, Rebel deals with so many important themes, including religion, family, bullying, alcoholism and more. There are definite trigger warnings for alcohol abuse, domestic abuse and bullying, so approach with caution if you’re affected by any of these themes. But as well as these things, there’s also teenage friendship, a strong love between Amber and her mother, and a bright glimmer of hope that things do get better and they will change… if you’re willing to make them happen.

But, in times like this, when things get too unbearable to manage and freedom seems unattainable, there can only be one solution: to rebel. To get out and not look back. To start a revolution and invite others along with you.

The Writing

Mann’s writing is beautifully powerful. Verse fiction can have a tendency to skim over a lot of the emotion of a scene, stripping the story back to its bare bones; but Run, Rebel doesn’t do this. Every bit of emotion comes across in the writing, from anger and fear to longing and hope: anger of what is happening, fear of what might happen, longing for independence, and hope that the future will be brighter.

On some of the pages, there are letters highlighted throughout the page that spell out a hidden word that relates to an underlying emotion or something that Amber is experiencing in that moment. There are also sections written in the perspective of Amber’s mother and her sister Ruby, and it helps us to learn about their history and why the family are where they are today.

The dialogue is written in an interesting way: rather then being written with the traditional speech marks and line breaks, it’s written in different fonts and typefaces like bold and italic for each of the different characters. If you only like traditional prose, this won’t be the book for you. But if you love books that are written in a creative, unique way, definitely give this a go.

Read This Book If…

If you’re feeling trapped in a life that you feel you can’t control, this book might give you the urge you need to make a change. It shows that if you’re willing and able, you can make a difference, and things can get better. It shows that good people deserve to live a good life, and sometimes, all you need is the courage to rebel.

My Favourite Verse Novels

As part of this tour, I also wanted to share some of my favourite verse novels. If you’ve read any of these already, you’ll love Run, Rebel!

I started writing out a list and then realised I’ve already mentioned all of these in my blog post all about verse novels for newbies, and also in a video I made on my YouTube channel. I’ll embed that below if you’re interested in watching it 🙂

Have you read Run, Rebel or any of the books I mentioned above? Let me know and let’s chat about them!

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