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bookishmillennial's review
I think Natasha presented Nevaeh’s story in such a raw, bold & nuanced way. Since Nevaeh’s experiences are based off of Natasha’s heritage of being multiracial (Liberian, Brazilian & Jewish), this story felt layered and authentic. No one is perfect in Nevaeh’s circle, including herself — they all have room for growth & that’s what I love so damn much about young adult/teen fiction 😭
I got emotional and honestly really angry reading this, because almost everyone in this book either says or does something problematic OR they confront someone else, which stresses me (a recovering conflict avoidant personality) out. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed Nevaeh’s story & I think I chose this based on a storygraph challenge option so I’m really grateful for that 🥰
If you have a teen who wants more diverse coming of age stories (or you know adults who enjoy YA/teen fiction like meeeee), I highly recommend this one. It tackles all the important stuff — identity, stepping up, stepping back, uplifting others, accountability, getting back up after you fall, community & hope.
Also, there are a few Harry Potter references in here so just FYI in case that triggers you since JKR is the fucking worstttttt🖕🏽 (this was published in 2019)
I got emotional and honestly really angry reading this, because almost everyone in this book either says or does something problematic OR they confront someone else, which stresses me (a recovering conflict avoidant personality) out. Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed Nevaeh’s story & I think I chose this based on a storygraph challenge option so I’m really grateful for that 🥰
If you have a teen who wants more diverse coming of age stories (or you know adults who enjoy YA/teen fiction like meeeee), I highly recommend this one. It tackles all the important stuff — identity, stepping up, stepping back, uplifting others, accountability, getting back up after you fall, community & hope.
Also, there are a few Harry Potter references in here so just FYI in case that triggers you since JKR is the fucking worstttttt🖕🏽 (this was published in 2019)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Bullying, and Rape
amandalorianxo's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
You can definitely tell this is someone’s first book aka the author’s because despite the premise being strong, a lot of our characters don’t have a lot of personality traits / veers into the stereotypical. Plus- how in the world did Jesus & Nevaeh jump from him calling her Lightskin to a whole flipping relationship ? It confused me. I’m not entirely sure how a lot of the storylines could have played out in real time because some of this also didn’t seem to make sense to me despite this being pulled from the author’s own life. I can’t think of any Rabbi willing to spend gas to take a student to Hebrew school.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
ivannna_u's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Police brutality
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Racism, Rape, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexual assault
jadejade's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Bullying, Alcohol, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cultural appropriation
jackelz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Natasha Díaz has a Jewish father and a Liberian and Brazilian mom, and this book is a fictionalization of her childhood. Navaeh is a Black (Jamaican and Liberian) Jewish teenager whose father forces her to have a belated bat mitzvah at age 16. Navaeh’s parents are in the midst of a divorce, and the bat mitzvah is her father’s way of having her stay connected to his family. Meanwhile, Navaeh is struggling to figure out her identity, her relationship to her blackness, her privilege, a blossoming relationship, and her family.
There are a lot of side characters in this book, and they all had their own story, but each influenced Navaeh in some way.
Navaeh’s best friend Stevie was probably my favorite character. I loved their platonic love. He was also grappling with his own identity and he finally called Navaeh out for being so selfish. Navaeh had to check her privilege many times, and was often an unlikable character, but it felt 100% honest.
I love the addition of Navaeh’s poetry and her mother’s journal entries. The journal entries really make us understand her mother better, and they really made me dislike Navaeh’s father even more. Her parents weren’t giving her the room to explore her identities on her own, but she found her way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Sexual assault, and Racism
Moderate: Antisemitism, Mental illness, and Bullying
naomirulzok's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Police brutality, and Bullying
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
leahsbooks's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is a tough book for me to review, partly because according to the author’s note, it draws heavily on her own life experience. And as much as I respect her own lived experiences, there were a few aspects of the book that I really had a hard time with.
I listened to the audiobook. While Bahni Turpin was an enjoyable narrator as the voice of Nevaeh, she clearly struggled with the pronunciation of quite a few of the Hebrew words. There were a lot of words that were pronounced wrong, and I wish this had been addressed. It took me out of the story each time it happened, and was incredibly frustrated.
The characters commonly felt so one-dimensional. Every single time that Nevaeh’s cousin Jerry appears, he is referred to as chubby or eating. Miss Clarisse is constantly portrayed as slutty and focused on pushing her form-fitting clothing. Abby’s father is described in a way that made him seem like an overdone Southern villain. And the Levitz side of the family is problematic in a whole different way — the grandmother is overbearing and kind of controlling (a stereotype), and while the family seems to have no connection to their Jewish roots, they become fixated on the idea of having a Bat Mitzvah for Nevaeh only when they discover that she’s been attending church with her mother. The mother’s behavior is bizarre to me as well — for someone who is so incredibly depressed for much of the book, it didn’t feel realistic to me that she attended a couple of therapy sessions and magically became supermom. There could have been so much nuance to all of the characters. I’m sure there’s more to Jerry than his weight and eating habits and Miss Clarisse is a successful Black business owner that hopefully has a genuine relationship with the grandfather, but those roles aren’t explored at all.
Nevaeh herself seems to have no desire to explore either side of her heritage. She’s kind of forced to explore her Jewish side, which I understand not wanting to, since she wasn’t raised with any connection to it. However, I didn’t think that the representation was done very well there. Judaism is so much more than simply prayers — there’s a rich culture and heritage, with thousands of years of history, customs, rituals, foods, holidays, stories, and a system of beliefs. However, all Nevaeh seems to learn is a few prayers. I did like how she was able to incorporate what she learned into her life, and that her Bat Mitzvah mixed both sides of her background into the celebration.
I liked the message that Nevaeh learned, but I guess I was hoping for more from the story. The relationships just kind of seemed to happen, rather than build up over time. Nevaeh went from disliking Rabbi Sarah to relying on her and considering her as a support, and went from being unsure of Jesus to dating him. I just didn’t really understand how things happened so quickly. Even the relationship with Jordan — it went from antagonistic to friends very quickly. I had some high expectations for this book, but it just didn’t really hit the bar for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Racism
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