This is my first book by the author, and I didn't know what to expect. The writing style is different and takes a while to get used to. It doesn't help that the narrator is a child for some chapters while the other parts are in the third person. Yet, as the story progresses, we see how it works so beautifully to give the readers the backstory of the characters in the book.
This helps us understand their actions (and we are free to like or dislike them). The underlying theme of the book is how the blacks were treated as second-class citizens or worse, and how white privilege was evident in every word and silence. The book also deals with human nature and how one's actions can ruin another's life forever.
Though there is a conclusion at the end, I felt the book was more of a slice of life story than a regular one.