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A review by lakreadsthings
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
4.0
It was a heavy book. Although I did breeze through it, the subject was heavy. And I liked it. But the wish there was more character development, especially for Ellie. There wasn't a lot about her personality in the book except that she was in love with Miah. There was potential for so many relationships in this book to be explored. It felt like the author just started to explore them and then they were over. The book was too short.
But I liked the way young love was portrayed. It was accurate. I kind of felt like we didn't see them falling in love, we just kept hearing about it. But I later realized that's just kinda how it is when you're 15. But all Ellie and Miah talked about was heavy stuff. And I know that was the point of the book but it would have been nice to see some casual banter. I don't think we talk like that all the time when we're 15.
I also liked the way black identity and racial injustice was explored.
What pushed it up from a 3.5 to a 4 star was the last page with the "what could have been".
But I liked the way young love was portrayed. It was accurate. I kind of felt like we didn't see them falling in love, we just kept hearing about it. But I later realized that's just kinda how it is when you're 15. But all Ellie and Miah talked about was heavy stuff. And I know that was the point of the book but it would have been nice to see some casual banter. I don't think we talk like that all the time when we're 15.
I also liked the way black identity and racial injustice was explored.
What pushed it up from a 3.5 to a 4 star was the last page with the "what could have been".