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A review by captwinghead
Everyone's Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni
3.0
3.5 stars
This story has good bones, but there were a few elements that kept it from being a slam dunk for me.
I love how much Black culture was infused in the story. There was a lot of focus on the importance of hair and how it affects treatment from non-Black people. There’s discussions of experiences with colorism and respectability politics. There’s lot of references to Nigerian food and clothing. There’s an Afro-Latino family that’s in the book a lot and there is some mention of their culture, as well.
Overall, the book was very diverse. There’s plenty of queer representation as well as Black, Afro-Latino, and Chinese representation. The book tackles plenty of topics. Aside from the aforementioned racism and colorism, it discussed biphobia, mental illnesses, and bullying.
The overarching “whodunnit” plot made this feel a bit like a blend of Ace of Spades and One of Us is Lying in terms of there being an evil plot set up by racists and the kids investigating to figure out who it was. It’s thankfully not as heavy or intense as Ace of Spades and it was thankfully better written than One of Us is Lying.
What kept me from really connecting was that the rugby brothers felt pretty interchangeable until maybe halfway through the book. The number of times I mixed up who Quincy, Jordan, and Marcus were when there being talked about was embarrassing.
I enjoyed Iyanu’s parts more than Kitan’s by far. Perhaps because Kitan’s friends aren’t meant to be likable, but she also didn’t see her family much. Again, that might’ve been intentional, as she tried to assimilate as best she could. Regardless, I enjoyed reading about Iyanu’s time with Feyi, her parents, and Navin more than most of Kitan’s chapters.
The end showdown fell a bit flat for me. Maybe I wanted something a bit more dramatic? I don’t know. I expected more of a meltdown from Luc, Heather, and Sarah. Also, I know that she lost her brand deal, but I kind of thought the pushback on her doing blackface would be a bit bigger.
Anyway, I’m glad this book tackles Black teens having to speak out against their friends participating in cultural appropriation and just generally racist things. It’s not always easy to be one of the few Black people in an environment and having to pick your battles because you don’t want to “make waves” or be too “feisty”.
This story has good bones, but there were a few elements that kept it from being a slam dunk for me.
I love how much Black culture was infused in the story. There was a lot of focus on the importance of hair and how it affects treatment from non-Black people. There’s discussions of experiences with colorism and respectability politics. There’s lot of references to Nigerian food and clothing. There’s an Afro-Latino family that’s in the book a lot and there is some mention of their culture, as well.
Overall, the book was very diverse. There’s plenty of queer representation as well as Black, Afro-Latino, and Chinese representation. The book tackles plenty of topics. Aside from the aforementioned racism and colorism, it discussed biphobia, mental illnesses, and bullying.
The overarching “whodunnit” plot made this feel a bit like a blend of Ace of Spades and One of Us is Lying in terms of there being an evil plot set up by racists and the kids investigating to figure out who it was. It’s thankfully not as heavy or intense as Ace of Spades and it was thankfully better written than One of Us is Lying.
What kept me from really connecting was that the rugby brothers felt pretty interchangeable until maybe halfway through the book. The number of times I mixed up who Quincy, Jordan, and Marcus were when there being talked about was embarrassing.
I enjoyed Iyanu’s parts more than Kitan’s by far. Perhaps because Kitan’s friends aren’t meant to be likable, but she also didn’t see her family much. Again, that might’ve been intentional, as she tried to assimilate as best she could. Regardless, I enjoyed reading about Iyanu’s time with Feyi, her parents, and Navin more than most of Kitan’s chapters.
The end showdown fell a bit flat for me. Maybe I wanted something a bit more dramatic? I don’t know. I expected more of a meltdown from Luc, Heather, and Sarah. Also, I know that she lost her brand deal, but I kind of thought the pushback on her doing blackface would be a bit bigger.
Anyway, I’m glad this book tackles Black teens having to speak out against their friends participating in cultural appropriation and just generally racist things. It’s not always easy to be one of the few Black people in an environment and having to pick your battles because you don’t want to “make waves” or be too “feisty”.