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A review by outtoexist
Light It Up by Kekla Magoon
5.0
This is a fantastic book with a few shortcomings. First off, the characters are all relatively 2D - the story is told in their intersections, in the way they react to one another, rather than by their individuality. This was off putting to me at first, but I came to love it for providing a different perspective.
Second, the beginning of the book is written down, as though for younger (middle and highschool age) folx but it then dives into some really challenging sexual assault topics in addition to the obvious trauma it is written about (and boy is it's telling of police violence poignant - I literally had nightmares). The whole plot arc of sexual assault confused me - a girl experienced a clear attempted rape, but we never hear of it or the perpetrator again?
Third, I'm skeptical of the portrayal of gang member's lives. I LOVE the leader grappling with how to go about protecting his neighborhood and his people, that plot line is fantastic. But the portrayal of a shockingly drug-free gang (pent)house with a raised stage of couches for the leaders of the gang literally looking down at a dance club... That feels more like a music video than an actual home of a person in a gang? I'd be curious to know how somebody who'd been in a gang or been around gang members would react to this portrayal
Now for my favorite bits! The poetry of the neurodivergent children is amazing - I'm wondering if a neurodivergent person would appreciate this depiction, and myself can't say if it is accurate BUT it is incredible poetry for sure. The contrasts between our characters is incredible (ex between the daughter of the cop feeling safe with cops outside and the daughter of the witness feeling scared), I'm serious when I say the story is in the interactions. Again, I can't empathize this enough, this book gave me literal nightmare with it's incredible, multifaced, beautifully written portrayal of these days following a police shooting. Though, I was interrupted while reading by a drive-by protest of police brutality outside my window.
Second, the beginning of the book is written down, as though for younger (middle and highschool age) folx but it then dives into some really challenging sexual assault topics in addition to the obvious trauma it is written about (and boy is it's telling of police violence poignant - I literally had nightmares). The whole plot arc of sexual assault confused me - a girl experienced a clear attempted rape, but we never hear of it or the perpetrator again?
Third, I'm skeptical of the portrayal of gang member's lives. I LOVE the leader grappling with how to go about protecting his neighborhood and his people, that plot line is fantastic. But the portrayal of a shockingly drug-free gang (pent)house with a raised stage of couches for the leaders of the gang literally looking down at a dance club... That feels more like a music video than an actual home of a person in a gang? I'd be curious to know how somebody who'd been in a gang or been around gang members would react to this portrayal
Now for my favorite bits! The poetry of the neurodivergent children is amazing - I'm wondering if a neurodivergent person would appreciate this depiction, and myself can't say if it is accurate BUT it is incredible poetry for sure. The contrasts between our characters is incredible (ex between the daughter of the cop feeling safe with cops outside and the daughter of the witness feeling scared), I'm serious when I say the story is in the interactions. Again, I can't empathize this enough, this book gave me literal nightmare with it's incredible, multifaced, beautifully written portrayal of these days following a police shooting. Though, I was interrupted while reading by a drive-by protest of police brutality outside my window.