This is labeled as a mystery-thriller and rightfully so, the atmosphere was intense and fast-paced the whole way through. I think you should be in the right headspace when you start reading this because watching the manipulation unfold just elicited so many emotions for me. I couldn’t put it down even though it just kept getting more intense.

I didn't like with some things about the ending and the plot twist TDJ chose... and that's the main reason didn't give it a full perfect rating.


— overall thoughts: 4.5 —
⇢ content warnings//

Spoiler

Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death (including loved one), Emotional abuse, Grooming, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide ideation, Victim Blaming

⇢ representation: Black Main Characters, Black Side Characters, Latinx Side Character

The story begins at the climax of the plot when Enchanted wakes up to find Korey Fields dead and she has no recollection of what happened. From there the narration goes to what happened before the incident and as well as shows the aftermath of trauma after you go through said traumatic events with the main character. The way Tiffany D. Jackson decided to end the plotline was, I think, the best decision that could have been possible and I still didn’t see it coming. I do think that it could have been built up more that it was.

As a musician, it was so interesting to me that the author chose to portray racism and prejudices in the music industry specifically. It added a layer of relatability for me, especially at the moments when her PTSD manifested while performing. I don’t wish to glorify or romanticize that in any way but since Enchanted is a singer and part fo the trauma was a result of that, it makes sense.

My favorite aspect about this whole thing was probably the fact that Korey is actually humanized and not cast as a straight up bad guy while still making it very clear that what he did was manipulative and wrong. He felt like a real person with real feelings, real stories to tell. As the book said, it explores the complicated feelings of loving your torturer.


I loved that the teenage dialogues didn’t make me cringe, they felt realistic and genuine. I found it easy to relate to Enchanted as a character. The writing style made everything feel so tangible. I was so intrigued the whole time from her being a swimmer, to a singer, and the murdering mystery part too. I don’t know why it took me so long to pick up a Tiffany D. Jackson book but I’m glad this was the first, I get the hype now.

There was such a well established family foundation that I didn’t expect to actually be invested in Enchanted’s family as much as just herself. Usually, I find that even though a book has strong family dynamics, they are never seem to be as deeply entertained to the main character’s development. The author went that extra mile to showcase that and it just goes to show how no one is ever exempt from trauma/manipulation, even those from two parent households. That was a detail I highly appreciated since even in real life, we tend to look at the background of the victim before actually starting to accuse the person who committed the crime.

The father-daughter content was very intense for me to read as I am so close to my own dad and the emotions hit me on another level but was still, I think, handled beautifully.

Furthermore, it reflected the complicated feelings of not just Enchanted as a victim but her parents as well (with the self blame that parents have being a catalyst for the trauma that was caused). There was one part that sounded like it glorified her trauma when she they said she sang so well in the middle of a panic attack but I think that was done more so to reflect the personality of the people around her.

The book even discusses (this all sounds like a lot but it was placed so well into the story) how even those who were abused by Korey in the past didn’t believe Enchanted not killing him even. The story actively tries to show how sometimes abuse is normalized which will always be triggering and intense to read for a lot of people. Again, this is a challenging read but Tiffany D. Jackson managed it well.

Please read the author’s note at the end because I feel like it wraps up the themes of the story in the best way.

↣ aside from being so important, I find that this was an incredibly written story that handled such sensitive topics well while exploring so many different views on manipulation, grooming, victim blaming, ++ ↢

“I mean, we’re all scared of drowning, everybody trying to keep afloat. You just have to keep swimming. Like in Finding Nemo.”