*3.5 stars
(triggers at the end)

this was fantastic. it showed the sides to police brutality that would only be heard from stories of those who'd lived it, and this book very much tells that story in the forefront. like other books in this subgenre of hard-hitting contemporary, it looks at the tough, and difficult aspect to police brutality, gang violence, and racism that plague the lives of black people and our journey day in and day out. something i thought to myself while reading this was how close to home it all hits, sometimes it got overwhelming with it.

but then honestly, ask most black folk, and we'll have similar answers: it hits close to home for expereiences we deal with in our white, eurocentric, homogenous society.

besides the message, i thought it was well-written and gripping, but i found myself connecting with the characters kind of shallowly. we had similar experiences, but i wasn't connecting with them like i would in other ways, like their personalities weren't fleshed out incredibly much or their relationships, past the brotherly relationship between marvin and tyler. that was magnificent and heartbreaking to read about.

trigger warnings for
racism, colourism, police brutality, gang violence, drug/alcohol abuse, death of a loved one, grief