I found the character arc of Civil (the protagonist) to be masterfully done. She's flawed and very passionate, and I do think that the author giving us the hindsight perspective of an older Civil helped us see a lot of growth in her character that would not have felt necessarily natural or authentic had Civil come to these realizations on her own. 

TAKE MY HAND, along with being an important and well-researched novel, is, simply put, excellently penned. The heartbreaking moments throughout this novel don’t overshadow the humanity of the little girls or any of the downtrodden characters. The chapter endings make you want to keep reading, and before you know it, you’re hooked and can’t stop. I see this book being one I return to in the years to come. I was unaware that Dolen Perkins-Valdez had 2 previous novels, WENCH and BALM, but I will definitely be adding them to my collections.