I could tell, right from the beginning, that I was going to end this book in a 'Hot Mess' situation. There was so much to deal with, emotionally, in this book, it's hard to shift focus. This is a story so deep, it will leave you reeling. The hate, the racism, the police brutality, there is just so much.
Starr is such an incredible girl. The sort of person every parent hopes their child could try to be, in a lot of ways. Now, some parts of her are definitely a struggle, and those pieces are what kept her feeling like a real person, not just a fictional character. The need to push parts of yourself to the back around certain people, I think we can all relate to that, at least a little. She feels like she needs to be two different people all the time, and that would be so incredibly difficult to sustain for anyone, let alone a child. Even when she witnesses the unthinkable, again, she never feels like she can just be open and honest with everyone in her life. Starr never feels like her friends, from the 'white privilege school', would understand her. She constantly feels like she needs to keep the 'hood' side of herself hidden, for fear of what those kids would think of her. Starr experiences so much devastation and heart wrenching horror, and in the end, comes out a more grown, more developed person. She was definitely a stand out character for me in this one.
The reality of this story can make it a little hard to swallow, knowing that these events are an every day thing for a lot of people. I couldn't imagine living in a community, hearing gunfire, knowing that you could be caught in a drive-by at any point in your day to day life. Reading this book, I felt like I was right there, smelling the smoke from the riots, hearing the people shouting, feeling the sheer terror of it. Such a gripping story, incredibly written. Full 5/5 for me. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
Comments