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brittmariasbooks 's review for:
Like Vanessa
by Tami Charles
I received an e-galley on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
The synopsis reminded me of Dumplin' (a book I have yet to read) but with an own-voices twist. I really try to read more diverse books and look into lives that are completely different from mine.
Like Vanessa is such a book. The book follows 13 years old Vanessa who is a huge fan of the Miss America pageant. Especially, when in 1983 African American Vanessa Williams is crowned Miss America. Vanessa sees because of Williams that black girls can win too, can be beautiful too. (This just shows why diversity is important).
I really enjoyed this book especially the last third. The first part felt a bit slow paced to me but that might as be because I read only about one or two chapters a day. It was hard sometimes to see this girl struggle with a lot of things 13 year olds shouldn't worry about. However, the sad truth is lots of children do. It made it realistic. This book has a strong family element which I loved, too. Vanessa's family is imperfect in many ways but they make it work
3.5 stars
The synopsis reminded me of Dumplin' (a book I have yet to read) but with an own-voices twist. I really try to read more diverse books and look into lives that are completely different from mine.
Like Vanessa is such a book. The book follows 13 years old Vanessa who is a huge fan of the Miss America pageant. Especially, when in 1983 African American Vanessa Williams is crowned Miss America. Vanessa sees because of Williams that black girls can win too, can be beautiful too. (This just shows why diversity is important).
I really enjoyed this book especially the last third. The first part felt a bit slow paced to me but that might as be because I read only about one or two chapters a day.