serendipitysbooks 's review for:

The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson

4.5

emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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The Color of a Lie opens in 1955 with Calvin and his parents moving to an all-white suburb in Pennsylvania. They are Black, but passing as white, not his choice and something he finds increasingly difficult once Lily, a Black girl, enrols at his school and as he discovers some dark secrets about his new home. Lots of important aspects of the racial history of the US are incorporated, including the murder of Emmett Till, sundown towns, redlining, identity, the Green Book, the cost of passing, and school integration. While Calvin's earnestness was never in doubt, some of his fool-hardy actions irritated me, and I had to remind myself that he was just a teen whose pre-frontal cortex was not fully developed. The story got very action-packed, high stakes tense at the end, which made for exciting reading. But I think I preferred the early parts of the novel where the slower pace allowed for more reflection and nuance. An absorbing story that taught me a lot about race relations in the north and the calculated methods and used by some to try and maintain segregation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism

Moderate: Homophobia