A review by serendipitysbooks
Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

challenging dark emotional reflective

4.0

 Allegedly is the story of Mary Addison, a Black girl who at the age of nine was convicted of killing a 3 month old white baby and sentenced to time in prison. Don’t even get me started on why treating children the same as adult offenders is so problematic and wrong. Mary is now sixteen and living in a group home. The conditions in the home, the lack of any real care and supervision by the adults in charge, the bullying and violence dished out by other residents, and the obstacles put in Mary’s way when she attempted to improve herself and her prospects were all infuriating and left me fuming, especially because I suspect it accurately portrays the reality. How do we expect kids from troubled backgrounds to become responsible citizens if this is the way society treats them? Sometimes my patience with Mary as an unreliable narrator waned; it felt like the author was toying with the reader, delaying the reveal as to what really happened on the night baby Alyssa died. Still not sure how I felt about the actual ending. It wasn’t the happy ending I was hoping for but in many ways it didn’t surprise me. I always enjoy books where the author trusts the reader to deal with shades of grey.
5d 
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