Ebony LaDelle

Romance-loving teens will long for their own perfect love match a la Prince and Dani. Prince is well-known for his DJ and love advice program on Detroit radio while also attending to his mother who has MS. Dani is focused on her future as a writer and getting college applications done. Prince has crushed on Dani since middle school and puts forth creative efforts to woo her. But a traumatic incident in Dani's past may raise a barrier to his affections. I rolled my eyes that a 17-year-old boy show more could be so sage with love advice, and both youths seemed almost too driven, too perfect, too collected to be real. But I am feeling jaded at this moment in time. In the end, the genre welcomes a black teen romance with ambitious characters. show less

I won this in a giveaway!

This was objectively well-written, but it took me days to read. Anything introduced is resolved, and there are clear character arcs. But the dialogue and some of the male lead's narrative voice weren't my favorite.

Cute and mostly lighthearted, but the dialogue was cringy. Maybe my adult is showing because some of it felt very unrealistic or “too good to be true.” I don't think Raja sounded like the average young adult male. Our leads are well-adjusted and show more knowledgeable, but they sound like Tumblr pamphlets. Are there well-informed young adults, yes? Even young adults who are activists have a more natural way of speaking. While it certainly gave background to the issues present, I think so much of it sounded stilted.

There are also the unspoken complexities of interracial dating as a Black woman when the other person is also a person of color but nonblack. You can tell the author has put some time in doing research for this story throughout out all the history and cultural references.

I enjoyed some of the less noticeable discussions of college freshman life. Raja was a junior tattoo artist who attended his local college while at home before moving into his apartment. While most of this decision stemmed from him not wanting to make the transition too harsh on his immigrant parents, it’s also another version of college life. I went local as well and don’t see this as often in media for young adults.

While the story was good, it wasn’t fun if that makes sense. There are so many social issues at hand. The author gets the exhaustion that can come with cultural barriers and biases and even thought on interracial dating very well. You can FEEL the passive aggression or polite but not welcoming environments. The struggle Raja and Deja endure going against tradition or their parents or others’ remarks. It’s a lot. These sections were well-written and established that atmosphere masterfully, but it was stressful.

I also think she was respectful and nuanced in the conversations here. For example, the topic of arranged marriages. It was absolutely not for Raja and his sibling, but it wasn't demonized either. It's shown as a valid way to find love as well. I’m also glad the story didn’t rely on making Deja have to continually ingratiate herself to people who didn’t accept her; the story was firm on not making excuses.

Overall, I think my favorite part was Deja’s relationship with her grandmother Queenie. Deja has a southern upbringing with a huge family that admired her, and I was happy to see the family interactions. Due to the story being set before the Fall semester, the college setting really plays in the background/was non-existent. The romance was insta-lovey but sweet, but I wanted more time to see their chemistry grow/more lighthearted interactions. So much of this story was going up against a mountain that there wasn't much time to swoon and be at peace.

SN: I know it's hypocritical as someone who has used ride share app services, but Deja was in a random guy's car way TOO EASILY. Girl, he could have done anything to you! show less

*well-written, easy to read
*great character development
*powerful book told with wrenching emotion
*highly recommend

3.75 | Ugh, the absolute chokehold these contemporary romances have had on me this year is ridiculous.

But I am not mad about it.

Love Radio did a lot of things right. The romance was really sweet. I loved the characters—both Dani and Prince had their own desires, hurts, and mountains to climb, and it's always fun to see two fleshed-out characters meet in the middle like that. The vibes were great, and seeing a male lead like Prince (a respectful gentleman who still empowers and supports his show more girl) is always refreshing. The way LaDelle handled Dani's trauma was also done with so much grace—props for that!

My highest praise for this book has to do with the final conflict. I LOVED how LaDelle did not rely on a miscommunication trope, or cheating, or anything else to make the conflict happen. Instead, the characters were open and honest with each other, and their "conflict" arose out of maturity. That was so refreshing, and may be the reason I come back and give this book four stars sometime in the future.

My biggest complaint here is the writing. While this book made an amazing audiobook (seriously, the voice actors for this book were wonderful), there were some parts of the writing that I felt were clunky or amateur on the page (primarily the fact that the author used way too many synonyms for the words "said" and "asked" when tagging dialogue).

All-in-all, Love Radio was a sweet high-school romance with intricate characters, realistic conflict, and a whole lotta fluff. It was so fun to read a black romance as sweet as this one. show less