This post is an acknowledgement and an apology. It has come to my attention that last year, I wrote an offensive review.
Offensive reviews have been a big topic in the YA book community recently, with the events surrounding VOYA magazine's review of Run by Kody Keplinger. Because of this, Malinda Lo, YA author and co-founder of Diverstiy in YA, tweeted a link to an article she wrote from last year on DiYA, Perceptions of Diversity in Book Reviews. The article discusses reviews in trade magazines and some of the problems with how they write about diverse books. Despite being about trade magazines, I thought people who write reviews on book blogs could learn from the article, too, so I read it. And I was right.
The third issue in reviews on diverse book Lo covers is about reviews that complain about terminology or phrases from non-white/non-Western cultures that aren't explained or defined, and why this is offensive. I immediately remembered the review I wrote last year for This Is Not a Love Story by Keren David. In my review, I mentioned being jarred by the Jewish terminology used by Kitty and Theo and that I felt lost, and had to look things up - exactly what the article is talking about
Continue reading An Apology to Keren David and the Jewish Community For My Offensive Review
Offensive reviews have been a big topic in the YA book community recently, with the events surrounding VOYA magazine's review of Run by Kody Keplinger. Because of this, Malinda Lo, YA author and co-founder of Diverstiy in YA, tweeted a link to an article she wrote from last year on DiYA, Perceptions of Diversity in Book Reviews. The article discusses reviews in trade magazines and some of the problems with how they write about diverse books. Despite being about trade magazines, I thought people who write reviews on book blogs could learn from the article, too, so I read it. And I was right.
The third issue in reviews on diverse book Lo covers is about reviews that complain about terminology or phrases from non-white/non-Western cultures that aren't explained or defined, and why this is offensive. I immediately remembered the review I wrote last year for This Is Not a Love Story by Keren David. In my review, I mentioned being jarred by the Jewish terminology used by Kitty and Theo and that I felt lost, and had to look things up - exactly what the article is talking about
This Is Not a Love Story by Keren David (review copy) - Kitty dreams of a beautiful life, but that's impossible in suburban London where her family is haunted by her father's unexpected death. So when her mum suggests moving to Amsterdam to try a new life, Kitty doesn't take much persuading. Will this be her opportunity to make her life picture perfect? 
