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tahirarani 's review for:
American Street
by Ibi Zoboi
I have to be honest, first things first; I liked this novel. I did not really like this novel, but I wanted to really like this novel. One of the aspects I enjoyed the most was the characters. All of the characters lifted right off the page, they felt real and whole, and layered in a way that can be hard to convey, and I feel Zoboi did this exceedingly well. Perhaps it was something about the interjection of each main character's inner thoughts/personal narratives that helped to give dimension to everyone, which also served a dual purpose in demonstrating to readers that Zoboi was not relying on stereotypes, lest readers draw the wrong conclusions. I also really enjoyed all the spiritual elements of the novel as well.
But this book could have easily been another 100 pages. First of all, what we believe to be one of the driving conflicts ultimately gets resolved, but in such a quick, overlooked manner that it feels almost disingenuous to the rest of the story as we thought we knew it. But our preconceived notions are not quite on target, because all along we've been barreling towards a climax that I certainly did not see coming. Perhaps I am naive, or did not know enough about the book, but I was completely blindsided. And then, shortly after the climax, the novel is done. It's just too quick, or at least to quick for me. In my opinion, the last 50 pages of the story, in terms of plot, are completely underdeveloped, but maybe that's just me. Nonetheless, this is an extremely important addition to YA literature in 2017/2018, so I am glad that it is getting the right attention.
But this book could have easily been another 100 pages. First of all, what we believe to be one of the driving conflicts ultimately gets resolved, but in such a quick, overlooked manner that it feels almost disingenuous to the rest of the story as we thought we knew it. But our preconceived notions are not quite on target, because all along we've been barreling towards a climax that I certainly did not see coming. Perhaps I am naive, or did not know enough about the book, but I was completely blindsided. And then, shortly after the climax, the novel is done. It's just too quick, or at least to quick for me. In my opinion, the last 50 pages of the story, in terms of plot, are completely underdeveloped, but maybe that's just me. Nonetheless, this is an extremely important addition to YA literature in 2017/2018, so I am glad that it is getting the right attention.