Queen B’s Decree: If We Were a Movie was a pretty cute read.
Rochelle is a very dedicated student, who wants a summer job to make her college applications look better and gets a surprise job at the local black-owned movie theater. And let me tell you, this girl doesn’t even watch movies! But surprise, her arch enemy from school is the assistant manager (you’re not the boss of me…jk you are).
Rochelle had such a one-track mind; she was so focused on academics and oblivious to life going on around her. I liked seeing her make friends and start to realize that her rivalry with Amira was actually not a big deal. And Rochelle’s bffs explaining to her that she’s basically had a crush this whole time? Priceless.
I did feel like the romance between Rochelle and Amira moved quickly, I was hoping for more of a progression between them. But as this is all from Rochelle’s point of view, it’s likely that it was happening the whole time and she just didn’t recognize it was occurring.
Overall, If We Were a Movie was an adorable debut and I’d happily read more from this author.
Book: If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal
Series: standalone
Genre: Young Adult
Plot Devices/Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, sapphic