Review: "The Love Report" by BeKa and Maya

 

The Love Report by BeKa and Maya
Published June 2023 via Hippo Park
★★★

The middle school years are tough, but Lola and Grace are determined to figure it out—starting with what it means to be in love and how their fellow students interpret love. (Hint: their fellow students haven't figured it out yet either.)

The illustrations here are gorgeous, reminiscent of art by Yaoyao Ma Van As. Page after page of detailed illustration in rich colors—the cover is what drew me to the book, and the illustrations throughout are consistently on point. Many of the struggles Lola and Grace face will also feel viscerally accurate to the age group in question, from first love to family problems to figuring out how to navigate friendship when suddenly other things are taking your attention.

The description indicates that this is the beginning of a series, and I'm curious about where things will go from here. Here we have the first two volumes of the story (the first, in which the girls collect their theoretical data; the second, in which things start to fall apart). I was very glad to see friendship—both old friendship and burgeoning friendship—as a strong theme, though I wish we were beyond the point of girls slut-shaming others (in this case because of looks/clothing, though I'd like to see both books and real life move beyond slut-shaming altogether). I'd also really like to see future volumes go beyond romance and get a higher grade on the Bechdel test, because the moments of friendship are the ones that kept me invested in the story.

And a possible spoiler (avert your eyes if you don't want to know!): The cover and description had me convinced that we were in for a romance between our two heroines—but alas, it was not to be. Attention is paid to inclusion (main and background characters of various races, a girl in the background in a hijab, Lola and Grace mentioning, in passing and entirely neutrally, the possibility of other characters being in same-sex relationships), but these volumes at least remain focused on boys liking girls and girls liking boys.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.