This was a stunning book. I was so enthralled by the story, and I have to admit, a little crushed by the ending. I thought this was the kind of book I'd want to read slowly, but it took less than a day. I kept putting it down intending to take small breaks, but then I'd have to pick it up again to find out what happened.

The strength of this book, for me, was the voice. Baldwin captures Tish perfectly, I could hear her in my head. It was written subtly, but so strong that it was nearly overpowering. There were sections I had to read again and again just to understand it fully because the voice could overwhelm the content, but I loved it.

I struggled a bit with the almost omniscient first person narration. Most of the story was Tish's experiences told from her point of view, but sometimes she joined Fonny in jail or her mother in Puerto Rico to tell their stories, even though she wasn't present. It threw me a bit and I think that was where my disconnect came from.

The word people keep using in their reviews is passionate and that's so true. This was so full of love, hate, fear. It's raw and powerful. And it's still incredibly relevant today. I would highly recommend this book because it's so incredibly worthwhile and I'll definitely be picking up more Baldwin.