Run Rebel is a story written in verse for the women that chose to live their lives on their own terms, in a patriarchal society that call them rebels. There are so many underlying themes this book covers but the one that touched me the most was the emphasis on having a healthy household, education, freedom to choose and so called “societal judgement”. Amber is not perfect she is a bully herself. But, she has her struggles and you end up empathizing with her. You try and understand why does she feel the need to bully when she has been bullied by her father every day? She comes from an Indian background where as much as talking to a guy will get her in trouble. Her parents aren’t educated. Her sister was married to a man at a very young age even though she wanted to get a degree. Her father is an alcoholic and is abusive. Even so, she chose to rise up and rebel and fight for what she wants. I love how much hope this book gives even though how dark the themes get. This book is the kind of feminism least discussed in society. I am so glad I picked this up in March as the women in this book are exceptionally inspiring. Especially Amber & her Mother. And, we have a bit of romance and it’s cute and fluffy and everything and has the high school love vibe. I honestly, wasn’t into it much as I was more interested in Amber’s Family more. My heart went out to her and her mother and Ruby and Beena and Harpreet and all the women that had to give up their dreams or be looked down upon all because they were born in a patriarchal society

Straight off the bat this story will most likely become a favourite in 2020! An amazing feminist story written in verse following Amber Rai through her struggles, fears and rebellion. This book delves into such hard and scary topics amazingly. This story was so brilliant and flowed so beautifully. The emotions was portrayed so strongly throughout this book, I felt like I was there with Amber, which was scary but also empowering. I can't wait to see more of this type of empowrig literature emerge in the oncoming years. [I received a copy on NetGalley for an honest review]

From the first page, Mann’s writing had utterly hooked me into Amber’s story. The verse almost pulses with such emotion and seethes with scarcely contained anger from the first line. The way she explores family, friendships, class and identity was brilliant, particularly the discussion around abuse and the feeling of constantly walking on eggshells. There’s an underlying uneasiness to Amber’s voice that resonated with me, giving me an atmosphere of paranoia whilst I was reading. The formatting and the way that Mann plays with language & form within her verse was so unique and captivating to see. I flew through the pages in just one sitting, unable to extract myself from Amber’s voice. She was a brilliantly complicated narrator, authentic and flawed but you could understand her motivations even if her actions were completely wrong. There was so much rich character development for several of the characters and I enjoyed being able to see their perspectives through the verse, handily signposted by different styles. For me, the form Mann chose to tell this story was perfect. It allowed room for the intense emotion and subject matter of the story to shine through precisely selected, often sparse language, reflecting their controlled lives that gradually widen. This is a dark and fierce book, but Mann ultimately allows for there to be hope and dreams to be explored past the final page. Some of the most beautiful moments in the book centre around friendship, love and light amongst the choking, dark atmosphere. There are no simple answers in this powerful dissection of patriarchy, female empowerment and trauma, but nor should there be. Run, Rebel is a brilliant verse novel that will completely captivate you.

There are not enough words to describe how much this book impacted me. I had my heart in my mouth for all the 480 pages the book lasted. Every single verse, every single feeling and emotion Amber put out there to share with us readers, every time she felt like giving up everything, like nothing was worth fighting for... I fell in love with it more and more. Run, Rebel is a raw, hard, painful but very, very powerful story. Definitely a 5 star from me!

I don't even know where to start in explaining how brilliant 'Run, Rebel' is. I sat down yesterday to start it and just sped through it in a couple of hours as it is in verse and quite easy to read. However, the topics were anything but easy. It is amazing how something so quick could hold so much emotion and power. We are only in February and I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favourite books of 2020 - everyone needs to read it!