*I was sent an ARC of Run Like a Girl in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to HarperCollins and Amaka Egbe for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Dera Edwards knows her life is over when she’s shipped off to live with her estranged father in the middle of White Suburbia. To make matters worse, Dera learns that her new school doesn’t have a girls’ track team, shattering her dreams of getting a track scholarship and, one day, competing in the Olympics.
Not one to give up easily, Dera joins the boys’ team instead. But while she has the school administration’s blessing, her new teammates and classmates are less than welcoming. Between that and her frustratingly distant father, Dera is positive her junior year is ruined.
Just as she starts to accept her status as an outsider, Dera’s approached by her classmate Rosalyn, who wants to feature Dera’s story in her blog. Eager to change the narrative and spend more time with Rosalyn’s gorgeous cousin Gael—also known as one of the few teammates who will talk to her—Dera agrees.
But when she goes viral and gains attention across the state, Dera’s new notoriety opens the door for trolls both online and at school. Paired with her deteriorating relationship with her father, she soon finds everything to be too much. Will Dera be able to keep outrunning her problems, or will her dream be the very thing that derails her?
Review:
Run Like a Girl is a wonderful book about ambition, perseverance and friendship. Some people may not agree with me about the friendship part, but I believe the outcome of this book would be completely different if Dera didn’t make friends with such understanding and forgiving people. She was genuinely horrific to Rosalyn near end but thankfully, Rosalyn was a mature (and potentially the best) character.
What surprised me most about Rosalyn’s character is that it’s never mentioned how having her aunt and uncle deported made her feel. We hear how it affects Gael as they are his parents, but it’s her family too but that doesn’t get mentioned. Sorry, that’s a slight spoiler but also not really as it doesn’t directly impact the story.
It was actually a little refreshing to read a book about someone not feeling guilt for not being connected or even interested in their heritage. So often these types of books include some sort of cultural guilt, but Dera was set on not being interested in her Nigerian heritage. I’m not saying it’s a good thing to feel this way, but not having this be a point of contention in the plot was refreshing.
It was heavily implied that Dera’s new school is extremely white compared to her old one, but what confused me was how this wasn’t really represented in the characters. Dera’s close circle, and the track team, were actually really diverse. I don’t think you find out Liam’s ethnicity beyond ‘asian’, at least not that I can remember. But his family were very much the stereotype of being doctors, something that is pointed out by Liam when he says his dad is ‘the caricature of every Strict Asian Parent stereotype’. This is a stereotype I wish we could move past for asian characters but as cultural differences weren’t a huge part of this book, beyond Dera’s hair, I suppose I can let it slide.
The whole situation with Dera’s hair was horrific. As someone that has also had someone cut their hair at school, it’s horrible. My situation was nowhere near as bad as Dera’s as hers felt like a racial attack but I can understand how traumatising it can be.
One part of Run Like a Girl that I really loved was Dera liking her dad’s girlfriend. She never has a negative thought against her even though she ‘replaced’ her mom. This is another part of this book that felt super refreshing. I’ve read books about adults that hold a grudge against their parent’s new partner, so having a teenager not feel this way shows a great level of maturity. Plus Jocelyn was great. She was always on Dera’s side and helped her understand her father more.
It seems like I have a lot to complain about for Run Like a Girl but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. What’s actually happened is it took me a long time to get through and I was reading such short segments at a time that I didn’t really give myself the chance to form thoughts or opinions on what’s going on. I found the book to be entertaining and when I did get a chance to read a huge chunk of it at the end, I loved what I was reading. The characters felt so real and you really root for everything to go well for Dera once she gets her act together.
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