Scan barcode
A review by popthebutterfly
Light It Up by Kekla Magoon
1.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Light It Up
Author: Kekla Magoon
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: African American main character and characters.
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Genre: YA Contemporary
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed, but this does talk about an officer involved shooting of a young child (13).
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Pages: 368
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength—as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down.
A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying.
She never makes it home.
In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: a police officer has shot and killed an unarmed thirteen-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter demonstrators.
Review: This book was really good for the most part, but it got to a point where it got really confusing for me. There were a lot of narrators and it didn’t feel like there was any character development. Also, I felt like most of the book was about the romance rather than the murder, which I thought would be the focal point of the book. I made it pretty far, 76%, but I had to DNF it unfortunately. I would recommend this book for people who love books that touch on the reality of our unfair world involving race and racism and I commend the author on writing such a hard book!
Verdict: It wasn’t for me, but might be for you!
Book: Light It Up
Author: Kekla Magoon
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: African American main character and characters.
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Genre: YA Contemporary
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed, but this does talk about an officer involved shooting of a young child (13).
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Pages: 368
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength—as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down.
A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying.
She never makes it home.
In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: a police officer has shot and killed an unarmed thirteen-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter demonstrators.
Review: This book was really good for the most part, but it got to a point where it got really confusing for me. There were a lot of narrators and it didn’t feel like there was any character development. Also, I felt like most of the book was about the romance rather than the murder, which I thought would be the focal point of the book. I made it pretty far, 76%, but I had to DNF it unfortunately. I would recommend this book for people who love books that touch on the reality of our unfair world involving race and racism and I commend the author on writing such a hard book!
Verdict: It wasn’t for me, but might be for you!