A review by kitandkat
An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi

4.0

This review is based on a reread as an adult. I adored this book as a preteen/young teen. I loved that it got pretty dark and wasn’t afraid to shy away from taboo topics. At the time, this was hard to find in middle grade fiction. Now, I am able to see some flaws. The writing tends toward the simplistic. I absolutely hate the way the book treats the Black characters. Specifically, the “dialect” is just unnecessary, it is hard to do without seeming racist. The main character’s attitude towards Black people is understandable for her time period and upbringing but this is a modern book and she doesn’t exhibit much growth in this area. And the characters themselves are mostly stereotypes, with this weird hint of... voodoo? that again is unnecessary and comes off as racist to a modern audience. I can forgive the main character’s actions and attitudes given her age though I think I enjoyed her more at that age! Now I’m just sitting there like, whyyyyyy. It’s still an engaging story and has really interesting (white) characters. Edit: Gave this 4.5 as a kid, now I'd probably give it like 2.5 for the racism... so I stuck with the 4 with the review.