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A review by bookofcinz
Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump
3.0
Why did it take me so long to read this book?!!!!
Everywhere You Don’t Belong is Gabriel Bump’s debut novel that perfectly explores race, violence, love, regret, family and societal pressures. We are thrown into the world of Claude McKay whose parents left him with his grandmother at a very young age and never returned. Claude’s world is his grandmother and her friend Paul who lives with both of them. He lives in Chicago and is currently battling the pressures to stay in school and not be deterred by the violence around him. That fails when there is a major to throws his world off course.
Honestly, there is a lot happening in the book. Some parts felt unfinished but on a whole I felt the writing was immersive and honest in a way I will remember. Being in the world of a young black man from South Side Chicago who is raised by his grandmother because his parents abandoned him- well, I kinda didn’t want to leave- I wanted to cheer for him so very bad!
I also love how hilarious some moments were… I genuinely loved how the characters were jumping off the page- specifically Paul and Claude’s grandmother. This one is truly a gem and I cannot wait to see what the author writes next.
Everywhere You Don’t Belong is Gabriel Bump’s debut novel that perfectly explores race, violence, love, regret, family and societal pressures. We are thrown into the world of Claude McKay whose parents left him with his grandmother at a very young age and never returned. Claude’s world is his grandmother and her friend Paul who lives with both of them. He lives in Chicago and is currently battling the pressures to stay in school and not be deterred by the violence around him. That fails when there is a major to throws his world off course.
Honestly, there is a lot happening in the book. Some parts felt unfinished but on a whole I felt the writing was immersive and honest in a way I will remember. Being in the world of a young black man from South Side Chicago who is raised by his grandmother because his parents abandoned him- well, I kinda didn’t want to leave- I wanted to cheer for him so very bad!
I also love how hilarious some moments were… I genuinely loved how the characters were jumping off the page- specifically Paul and Claude’s grandmother. This one is truly a gem and I cannot wait to see what the author writes next.