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sydneyraereads 's review for:

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink
4.0
emotional hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a beautiful story about black joy, love, and success. Pink examines the complexities and multitudes within Greenwood, a black community, in 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma. This book shows the deep humanity and community that was long denied to Black people in America. It is a slice of life set in a historical setting. The tragedy of the massacre is not lessened by this narrative style but rather enhanced to a heart-breaking degree.

The story follows Angel and Isaiah, two teens in Greenwood, as they fall in love. It is a romance grounded in respect, trust, and affection. Throughout their conversations and narrations (in the dual perspective) the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois are explored and critiqued. I felt that the character development was rushed, but they are still presented as fully realized people. I don't love romance but this was a beautiful set up of the pure ignorance and horror of the one-sided massacre that white Tulsans executed against Greenwood. Not that it needs to be proven to any who know of it.