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sydneythegoddess's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
brightestwitch_maddie's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
curlypip's review against another edition
2.0
A disappointment. It wasn’t well written, and needed better editing. I read another review suggesting it might have worked better as a collection of short essays, and I agree.
The moments of reflection on what it was like to be a black student at an institution of overwhelming white privilege were few and far between. There was too much teen angst for me, too much rehashing of teen journals about everyday teen crushes and experiences which I was bored by (the middle third of the book dragged especially).
She obviously had an unhappy time at Taft, and still hasn’t been able to make peace with it, which is really sad. That this prevents her from appreciating the good in her experience is also sad - begrudgingly crediting her teachers for actually teaching her enough to earn a living from writing didn’t endear me to her at all. To make this better book, I needed her to take one more step back, in order to reflect on her experiences with more distance - not to minimize them, but to make this less of a personal diary and more relatable for those of who didn’t grow up in her bubble.
I wouldn’t recommend it.
The moments of reflection on what it was like to be a black student at an institution of overwhelming white privilege were few and far between. There was too much teen angst for me, too much rehashing of teen journals about everyday teen crushes and experiences which I was bored by (the middle third of the book dragged especially).
She obviously had an unhappy time at Taft, and still hasn’t been able to make peace with it, which is really sad. That this prevents her from appreciating the good in her experience is also sad - begrudgingly crediting her teachers for actually teaching her enough to earn a living from writing didn’t endear me to her at all. To make this better book, I needed her to take one more step back, in order to reflect on her experiences with more distance - not to minimize them, but to make this less of a personal diary and more relatable for those of who didn’t grow up in her bubble.
I wouldn’t recommend it.
katietopp's review against another edition
4.0
Great book. Interesting look into the world of boarding schools all of us were so fascinated by. Intimate and real. And in a lot of ways, shocking.
margot_psd's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this memoire was really interesting at first but I failed to get engaged with the reference-heavy style of writing. I think it's a very typical millennial American way of writing and I'm not fully caught up on their lingo, not the same way I am with British lingo.
On top of that, I was expecting a lot more self reflection and to see the impact James's boarding school experience had on her everyday life in the present. Instead, I got a lot of retelling on instances of micro-agressions and everyday racism as experienced by a 14 to 18 year old. And while those were jaw dropping at times with their sheer audacity, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. I'm so mad nobody got their comeuppance, but then again this is America.
And maybe that was the point of the book. We can't just wrap her experience up and put a nice bow on it. But still, I wanted to engaged with the adult version of Kendra James more.
On top of that, I was expecting a lot more self reflection and to see the impact James's boarding school experience had on her everyday life in the present. Instead, I got a lot of retelling on instances of micro-agressions and everyday racism as experienced by a 14 to 18 year old. And while those were jaw dropping at times with their sheer audacity, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. I'm so mad nobody got their comeuppance, but then again this is America.
And maybe that was the point of the book. We can't just wrap her experience up and put a nice bow on it. But still, I wanted to engaged with the adult version of Kendra James more.
jambsie's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5