When I read YA, particularly contemporary YA and most especially sapphic contemporary YA, I always approach it from the perspective of my sixteen-year-old self. If this book had existed when I was a teenager, what would I have thought of it? Zakiya N. Jamal’s If We Were a Movie would have caught my attention right from the Hannah Montana song lyric title, but once I saw what it was about, I would have had no choice but to read it, and by the time I was done, I would have been glad I did.
It’s the summer before senior year, and Rochelle needs a summer job to impress her dream college, Wharton, where her parents met. The only place willing to hire her is Horizon Cinema, the historic Black-owned theater, where, unfortunately for Rochelle, her ex-friend and rival, Amira, is the assistant manager. When they learn the theater is at risk of shutting down by the end of the summer, Rochelle and Amira agree to put their animosity aside to try to keep the theater and all of its history alive.
Between the themes of community and history and the expectations we set for itself, this book gave me pretty much everything I could have hoped for from such a premise. As is often the case for me, though, the characters were absolutely the biggest highlight. I found Rochelle particularly relatable, in that way I often do with YA protagonists who take things So Seriously. I loved her prickliness and her determination to succeed, and I loved that that determination came from a place of love. I loved her growth.
Her dynamic with Amira was lovely as well. While I expected a long rivals-to-lovers arc (not my favorite, honestly), I was very pleasantly surprised by the way they were able to work together and let a friendship form, or rather re-form. Before they were rivals, after all, they were friends, and I thought this book did a fantastic job of weaving in those memories between them, the little details they still know about each other. While the transition from dislike to dating happened quickly, their history made it feel natural in a way that I really liked.
I also had a lot of fun with the writing style. I know a lot of people dislike the presence of references/memes in books, but I don’t mind it, and I didn’t find it distracting here. While I am no expert on teenagers today, I know I spoke almost entirely in references when I was one, so I liked seeing them in books and feeling clever when I recognized them. Outside of those occasional memes, I thought the first-person narration had a strong voice, both funny and vulnerable in her own head.
If I had one criticism, I did feel like the resolution came on a little fast/easy in a way that I thought would probably have been better suited to a movie. Another twenty pages would not have hurt to allow for a little more buildup, but again, I didn’t mind it terribly because I had been having so much fun with everything else.
Overall, I thought this was a really fun debut, and I look forward to more from Zakiya N. Jamal. If you want a sweet YA romance with delightful characters and honest arcs, I highly recommend If We Were a Movie.
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