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mrswhiteinthelibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
A slow burn mystery as a girl slowly unravels the mystery of her best friend's disappearance. While haunting, propulsive, at times it can feel as though Jackson has no idea what type of story she is telling or who these characters are and how they should behave--but as the story reveals itself, it becomes clear she's had it well in hang the whole time. This is ultimately a reflection on recognizing the red flags for child abuse, trauma, mental illness, and grief, and how they tie into Black and impoverished communities. Masterfully done, and not one soon to leave your mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Child abuse
Moderate: Classism, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia
mhakayla's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
5.0
Tiffany DJackson once again displayed how excellent her prose is. The story was interesting the whole way through. Tiffany D Jackson told a story of two girls who had completely different home lives that were best friends. The differences between the two
girls was very interesting. I love how she gave insight into what it's like growing up in a poor household with Monday. I also enjoyed the insight and appreciation of the culture of black people in DC. She explored how the system treats children of color, especially black girls and how they continually fail them. The story is heartbreaking yet filled with love, love for friends, love for family, love for your community, love for your culture, and love for your passions and dreams. The ending was brilliant and it made me want to reread the story.
girls was very interesting. I love how she gave insight into what it's like growing up in a poor household with Monday. I also enjoyed the insight and appreciation of the culture of black people in DC. She explored how the system treats children of color, especially black girls and how they continually fail them. The story is heartbreaking yet filled with love, love for friends, love for family, love for your community, love for your culture, and love for your passions and dreams. The ending was brilliant and it made me want to reread the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual content and Bullying
lasafica_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, Torture, Violence, Murder, Child death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Classism, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence
keelsrn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A beautiful, emotional read. The writing is so captivating and authentic to a 13 year old’s voice. Highly recommend checking the trigger warnings in advance before deciding to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual content and Classism
Minor: Alcohol and Blood
caitbrat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content and Miscarriage
jetregan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Torture, Bullying, Cursing, and Death
athenathestorier's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? No
5.0
This book does exactly what it sets out to do, and more. Throughout the work I was waiting for the ball to drop, chills gathering by the chapter. And had nothing but tears for those last few sections. It’s a heart-wrenching tale of connection that transcends friendship, romance, and sisterhood. A tale of loss that’s impossible to bounce back from. Throughout the work, Claudia just wanted to be taken seriously. Just wanted to know what was going on. Desperate to know if she was right. But sometimes being right comes with more pain than satisfaction.
Besides how palatable the emotion was on the pages, how desperation and fear permeated nearly every word, I think what really hurt the most was how real this scenario felt. How many kids are ignored and left in states of living hell all because of people applying “ain’t our business” logic to situations it shouldn’t apply. How it’s funny that “ain’t our business” logic never seems to apply to gossip. How people pretend to be blind when things get serious. How “ain’t our business” gets spouted even by the very systems meant to protect people, in order to protect reputation and time instead.
And how I know/n kids to this day who should’ve had state and school intervention. But received nothing other than a scheduled knock on the door and a “could be worse.” And I know it’s even worse in other areas. In other communities. So much needs to get fixed.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒘𝒉𝒐’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈—𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚?”
Our protagonist is Claudia. Daughter of a southern mother and a trucker father. Tragic fan of go-go music. Beautiful dancer and overall artist. She sees the world in colors. And words tend to escape her. She fears speaking. Fears standing out. Monday is her safety net from the world. And Claudia is hers. They shared a dynamic that perhaps wasn’t the most honest or healthy, but was nonetheless crucial. Nonetheless genuine. I absolutely loved how the author explored this relationship, and how deep-seated and confusing it was, without ever turning it into something it wasn’t.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓—𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍'𝒔-𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎, 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒔.”
“𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆, 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃.”
Overall, this story was excellently crafted. It really spoke to how kids notice a lot. But they often lack the focus and emphasis that comes with experience—the focus that establishes importance. This style made it spectacularly well-suited to a mystery thriller.
I also loved how the story used AAVE. I think this might actually be the first book I’ve read that used it consistently throughout. It was interesting to see how similar it was to my southern dialect—enough so that I would occasionally slip into it while reading—but also simultaneously so different that I had to use context to understand the general meaning.
And the detail is *chef’s kiss.* After reading a certain revelation, I am tempted to go back and re-read to see what details I may have missed, or forgotten about while waiting for all the simultaneous timelines to come together. I’ve already seen a few while getting quotes for this review, so I know they’re there. But I’ll do that reread when I get the physical book for my shelf.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒊𝒏’𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.”
“Lastly, missing children of color, we have not forgotten about you. We will continue to fight and give you a voice. You matter.” – Tiffany D. Jackson, Acknowledgments
Besides how palatable the emotion was on the pages, how desperation and fear permeated nearly every word, I think what really hurt the most was how real this scenario felt. How many kids are ignored and left in states of living hell all because of people applying “ain’t our business” logic to situations it shouldn’t apply. How it’s funny that “ain’t our business” logic never seems to apply to gossip. How people pretend to be blind when things get serious. How “ain’t our business” gets spouted even by the very systems meant to protect people, in order to protect reputation and time instead.
And how I know/n kids to this day who should’ve had state and school intervention. But received nothing other than a scheduled knock on the door and a “could be worse.” And I know it’s even worse in other areas. In other communities. So much needs to get fixed.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒘𝒉𝒐’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈—𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚?”
Our protagonist is Claudia. Daughter of a southern mother and a trucker father. Tragic fan of go-go music. Beautiful dancer and overall artist. She sees the world in colors. And words tend to escape her. She fears speaking. Fears standing out. Monday is her safety net from the world. And Claudia is hers. They shared a dynamic that perhaps wasn’t the most honest or healthy, but was nonetheless crucial. Nonetheless genuine. I absolutely loved how the author explored this relationship, and how deep-seated and confusing it was, without ever turning it into something it wasn’t.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓—𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍'𝒔-𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎, 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒔.”
“𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆, 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃.”
Overall, this story was excellently crafted. It really spoke to how kids notice a lot. But they often lack the focus and emphasis that comes with experience—the focus that establishes importance. This style made it spectacularly well-suited to a mystery thriller.
I also loved how the story used AAVE. I think this might actually be the first book I’ve read that used it consistently throughout. It was interesting to see how similar it was to my southern dialect—enough so that I would occasionally slip into it while reading—but also simultaneously so different that I had to use context to understand the general meaning.
And the detail is *chef’s kiss.* After reading a certain revelation, I am tempted to go back and re-read to see what details I may have missed, or forgotten about while waiting for all the simultaneous timelines to come together. I’ve already seen a few while getting quotes for this review, so I know they’re there. But I’ll do that reread when I get the physical book for my shelf.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒊𝒏’𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.”
“Lastly, missing children of color, we have not forgotten about you. We will continue to fight and give you a voice. You matter.” – Tiffany D. Jackson, Acknowledgments
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Ableism, Child death, and Death
Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Vomit, Homophobia, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Alcohol
implied prostitution;bookswithnaja's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ——— TW: child death & child abuse — Man oh man. This was a gripping and heartbreaking read for me. It was so well written though. The only part I struggled with was keeping up with the timeline. I do see why she wrote it that way though. Claudia’s and Monday’s friendship was so beautiful to read about. Their commitment to each other was to always stick together and Claudia definitely kept that pact until the very end. Everyone wants an heartwarming soul sister bond. If I’m not mistaken, this story was based on the events of Mitchelle Blair, known as the freezer mom and the case of Banita Jacks. Tiffany Jackson continues to be one of my favorite authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
kimib79's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Well written and interesting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Cursing, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
just_one_more_paige's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I have seen many readers rave about Jackson's novels. And I've been meaning to read something by her for quite some time. She has quite a few books out now, and there seems to just be consensus that her books are great; no standout or obvious starting place. So, this ended up being a random choice.
When Claudia heads back to school to start her 8th grade year, she cannot wait to see her best friend Monday after a summer spent apart. But Monday isn't there. In fact, weeks go by and she still isn't coming to school - but no one seems to know where she actually is. And as far as Claudia can tell, no one cares but her. She and Monday are as close as sisters, so Claudia cannot figure out why she disappeared without telling her, not when they had so many plans for high school and dance and...everything...that they can only do together. Plus, after all the rumors from last year and how much Claudia needs her help for school, she just knows that something is wrong. Despite getting continued misinformation and run-arounds from everyone she goes to for help, including her parents, school teachers and counselors, Monday's family, and even the police, Claudia will not stop looking for her friend, determined to figure out why no one can tell her where Monday has gone.
Wow, y'all. I honestly don't know what I was expecting, as there can really be no "happy ending" or "uplifting message" to a story about a missing child that no one can find (or even really seems to be looking for). And yet, this was still way more intense than I was prepared for. First, the obvious. It is horrifying and infuriating that something like this can happen. Yes, I realize that this is fictional. However, this is one of those stories that is fiction only because these characters are not real, not because the situation/plot hasn't or doesn't happen. There are some heartbreaking moments when Claudia sees "red flag" moments but doesn't understand them for what they are, due to a mix of naïveté and overprotectiveness and that self-centered POV that youth have before puberty allows for empathy and perspective. Even worse though, are the ways that so many adults both missed and purposefully ignored those same red flags...and a whole child fell through the cracks, hard, as a result. Like, in how many ways, and by how many people and organizations, were Monday and her siblings failed? Jackson raises important and complex questions about who is ultimately responsible for your well being: your family, community, government, etc., but at the end of the day, the safety nets they should be for each other all failed too. And that is just too real.
Some other really intense content was included as well, which gave a lot of wonderful depth and nuance to the story surrounding the primary "issue" of Monday's disappearance. Considering what I do for a living, and the age of the characters, I really appreciated the way Jackson demonstrated puberty hitting in different ways, and at different times, for everyone. In the 6th-7th grade time on page, they were both clearly in different developmental stages, some due to environmental reasons, but some of it also hormonally. I love that they were given that complexity of consideration. There was a deeply impactful look at the stigma around disability, and how far a kid would go to "protect themselves" and avoid that stigma, even if they have all the best, and open, support from family and others around them. It makes you think about where they get those messages from (peers, media, etc.) that are more powerful than even your close friends/family, and how much work we have to do to counteract how harmful that is. In addition to that (internalized) ableism, there is also quite a bit of homophobic commentary, and an incident of digital sexual harassment that could be tough to read, depending on your personal experiences with that. As one more content warning note, there is an aspect of the story that covers miscarriage, specifically, and something I haven't read much before (perspectivally), the children who would have been siblings, which was really tragic.
There’re a couple other things I want to mention too, that had me reacting strongly, even as they held smaller parts in the overall story. The role that dance played in Claudia’s healing was lovely – art is unique in how it can help overcome and I love the central role it got here. I was particularly frustrated throughout the novel with Claudia’s parents because honestly, for all that they were supportive and caring, I feel like they really dropped some major balls, like getting legit mental health care for the daughter (especially after reading the “twist”) and (while I know it’s a cultural taboo about not getting involved in other families’ business) what little effort they made to follow up on Monday’s situation. I was pretty upset about both those things. The timeline really confused me until very close to the end. And I get it, in regards to Claudia’s “twist,” but also, it was so late that it was actually a lot of effort to go back and try to remember which aspects of the story took place during which of the time periods (it did help explain how some of the things Claudia was doing felt ”too old” for her, as an 8th grader, but still, it was a lot to mentally sort). Speaking of the twist…idk if it was necessary? It was a shocking enough reading experience even without that, in my opinion.
Anyways, this book had so much going on. How Jackson managed to make such a compelling mystery, a “taken from the headlines” crime situation, while also addressing as many social and cultural issues as she did, all in a reasonable-length and accessible YA novel is truly impressive. I was invested from start to finish in Claudia’s voice and narration, as well as the mystery of what had actually happened to Monday. I was horrified and shocked by so many things in the end, but in a great story-telling way. The next time I’m in the mood for a similarly emotionally intense and page-turningly dramatic narrative, I’ll be sure to look for another of Jackson’s works.
“She was my best friend. How could I not believe her? If she was lying, it had to be for a good reason. Right?”
“It’s hard facing a mirror and seeing all you are made of and all you couldn’t absorb.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Bullying, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Confinement, Child death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Death, and Cursing