A review by axmed
Gone Like Yesterday by Janelle M. Williams

  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

god, there was so much i loved about this book, from the deep and beautiful relationships between different characters, to the ancestral work, to the Blackity Black lives in the book. and was it not for the wildly unnecessary story line between Sammie and the white kid, i would have given this book 5*. the storyline was not only unnecessary, but i found it harmful as well, because instead of depicting a young white teenager in the way that young Black teenagers reading this book know them, the author went out of her way to push the 'of course there are good white ppl' narrative so much, that the character is so unrealistic. it is especially wild to push this shit in a book that is otherwise so Black in so many ways. did the publisher force this on the author? lmao