Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Black Girls Left Standing by Juliana Goodman

2 reviews

carolita1128's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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elizabeth_delozier's review

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This is a wonderful and engaging contemporary, own voices, debut, YA novel. The reader is told an emotional story across a nonlinear timeline of the events leading up to, and following, the murder of the main character's sister. Our main character, Beau, is a young Black girl from Chicago who, while processing her grief, is also desperately trying to understand the circumstances surrounding the murder of her older sister, Katia, by local police. She and her friend find themselves in more and more dangerous situations as Beau uncovers more about the events leading up to, and people involved in, her sister's murder. 

This well written story keeps you engaged throughout its entirety and tackles topics (without glossing over the painful reality of such topics) of grief, institutionalized racism, gentrification, SES, police brutality (including minors), gang violence, bullying, and coming of age. 

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Ariel Blake, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review. 
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