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thebookgiraffe's review against another edition
3.0
This was a beautifully written novel about a girl struggling to balance her religious beliefs and her feelings towards sex. The story is told in little vignettes of her adolescence as we see her exploring the realm of teenage boys (also there is on the page use of protection, and respect (albeit mixed with frustration) when she asks to stop/says no during one of the scenes). She also critiques the gendered double standard of her community's commentary, particularly that of her parents (them not treating her brother the same way, the concept of female virginity, purity pledge, etc.). Unfortunately, there was so much girl hate that was never addressed or resolved. I kept waiting for her to change the way she spoke about other young women and that point never came. She is opposed to certain words (hoe, slut) being used in regards to herself, but then goes and uses them to describe other girls throughout the book and I didn't appreciate that at all. I realize that her religious background influences her views but I was hoping for more personal growth and support for female sexuality.
andersonh92's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice coming-of-age story, although I’m not really sure what the main conflict was, other than strict religious views and overcoming them to become your own person.
martin27's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
macaroniapie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
What the heck is this?!?!?!?!!!!!!! All the characters were one dimensional and didn't even have an essential role in this story. She hangs out with this rude girl and hangs out with this dude named Andre (I'm pretty sure) and they are both forgettable and unnecessary. The only things I did sympathize w/was her trying to balance her religious beliefs. Not only was this book egregious (less egregious than *The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes imo), it was barely even interesting. The only part I laughed at was when a character said "White people are crazy."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny
megreadsalot's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars* I really tried to like this book and this is in no way a bad book, I just couldn’t get into it. It felt like there was no real plot. The writing style wasn’t for me but i can understand why some people like it.
jennms_qkw's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet and lyrical
Scenes from growing up. Family talks. Thoughts from a teen gal. What happened next? College? My daughter is 16. Maybe she can read this.
Scenes from growing up. Family talks. Thoughts from a teen gal. What happened next? College? My daughter is 16. Maybe she can read this.
ellieafterall's review against another edition
2.0
This book is a character-driven story about a black girl growing up and dealing with all the problems adolescence offers (and we all know it's a lot of problems). I have to admit that the main reason I picked this up was because of the cover, I think it's so BEAUTIFUL. However, the writing just wasn't for me. I really appreciate some little moments of it, but I got to like page 120 and all the side characters were flat and underdeveloped. Page 120, and I had NO idea as to how any of the characters looked, which was so ??? weird?
The only description we got with her family were part of longer thought dumps, like when she's thinking about the thing she loves and says she likes lying on her dad's belly. I don't know, I just didn't find her compelling. In every situation, she just felt the opposite of whatever was being presented if that makes sense? She's told about an opinion - she feels the opposite way. Her character's main personality was being different than everyone else. This just wasn't for me. But I did like the writing! It's good writing.
I should also mention that when I read character based books, I need to feel some sort of connection to the characters. I don't need them to be likable but I do have to get some sort of attachment to keep going, because there's no other plot. And she just wasn't that compelling. I also felt so disconnected every time she brought up her religion. I understand that it's just her life, she doesn't know any other way of living (I grew up in a religious household too - but a different religion). So whenever she mentioned Sunday church I just couldn't relate and so it further distanced me for the characters. It was as if she was telling me I couldn't understand her. So!! Yeah. I didn't really like this. But that's okay. I know some people will, and that's enough.
The only description we got with her family were part of longer thought dumps, like when she's thinking about the thing she loves and says she likes lying on her dad's belly. I don't know, I just didn't find her compelling. In every situation, she just felt the opposite of whatever was being presented if that makes sense? She's told about an opinion - she feels the opposite way. Her character's main personality was being different than everyone else. This just wasn't for me. But I did like the writing! It's good writing.
I should also mention that when I read character based books, I need to feel some sort of connection to the characters. I don't need them to be likable but I do have to get some sort of attachment to keep going, because there's no other plot. And she just wasn't that compelling. I also felt so disconnected every time she brought up her religion. I understand that it's just her life, she doesn't know any other way of living (I grew up in a religious household too - but a different religion). So whenever she mentioned Sunday church I just couldn't relate and so it further distanced me for the characters. It was as if she was telling me I couldn't understand her. So!! Yeah. I didn't really like this. But that's okay. I know some people will, and that's enough.
breadedbookpages's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely and lyrical writing centering a coming of age story about a young black girl whose relationship with family and God was so intricate and amazing to read.
jenno's review against another edition
2.0
I so wanted to love this so much but sadly I didn't. It's short, less than 300 pages, but it felt long. And that's pretty bad. This might be that I tend to read less and less young adult but also because I'm not sure what this is since it feels middle grade at times and young adult at times. I just couldn't with this at many times though and mostly wanted this to be over by the last third or so.
Remember I'm a 30+ women brown woman in Sweden reading this. I'm not the attended age group and I'm fine with that, but just saying since I think younger Christian people might connect to it more.
Remember I'm a 30+ women brown woman in Sweden reading this. I'm not the attended age group and I'm fine with that, but just saying since I think younger Christian people might connect to it more.