A review by kjurewicz
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is powerful and well-written. I’m not always a fan of historical fiction, but I learned a lot from this one. It was easy to read/understand in terms of both the writing style and the emotions of the characters. When the description said the story would cover the stories of fourteen different characters, I was wary because this usually means that the characters are hard to remember and under-developed. I think the story could have included least characters (at least in terms of being centered around specific chapters); this would have made the characters more well developed without making the story less powerful.
I think because there were too many different perspectives, it made moments like Twitchy’s death less impactful because I hadn’t really made a connection with him (I’m actually surprised Mas wasn’t the character who dies since he seemed to connect EVERY character in the book).
My favorite character was Minnow - he was the most dynamic and since he had two chapters dedicated to him, I felt that I could really connect with him. Overall, this is a great YA historical fiction and I could see a great social studies connection with this book in the classroom. 
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