*Thank you to the publisher -Inkyard Press- for sending me an ARC for their Winter 2021 blog tours. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

✧ you can read an excerpt of this book on my blog ✧

To be honest, I am not much of a contemporary reader but when I am in the mood, this is the writing style that my brain mechanisms thrive in. It’s an understatement to say that I was touched.

I love that it was told in multiple perspectives with timelines switching before, during, and after the looming arrest that served as the catalyst for the plot. It created layers to the story and did a lot to build the relationships between the characters.

I am completely soft for stories centered around a family/community and this book about sisters, written by sisters, encapsulates all the emotions that I wanted it to bring.

— overall thoughts: 4.5 —
⇢ trigger warnings//

Spoiler

Death, Drugging, Fire, Grief, Homophobia (religious), Lynching descriptions, Police brutality, Racism

An equally strong plot and character driven story that will get you lost in the writing.

If I were to describe the story telling style, I would say it’s closest to Daisy Jones & The Six wherein you go through the process of piecing together the details of the story as the narration goes on. Clearly, I have a type since I have read Daisy Jones four times now. I just find that kind of writing style to be highly thought provoking as a reader. With the fact that it managed to turn a usually-contemporary-plot into a mystery/thriller… I stan.

Truthfully, my favorite aspect of it boils down to the fact that you see the way everything builds up to the twist in the end. Then when it drops, you’re left wondering why you didn’t see it from the very beginning.

“But as I sit here and contemplate all of these things I know as confidently as my own name, I realize you probably have no idea why I want to pursue this degree in the first place. Well, it’s because I’ll be able to dig into our stories. I can do my part to help pull together the threads of our past to form a better view of our historical tapestry.”

PLEASE. Do you see this writing?? T_T

There were discussions on teen activism and exploration on socio-political themes embedded all throughout the plot of the story… while still being a, well, thrilling thriller that is borderline coming-of-age. And really, I am always enamored by well-written sibling/family dynamics.

There are times when I find characters in YA contemporary novels to be unbelievable because of how they interact with people their age… but this was not that. It’s so cleverly written and executed while still being relatable to young adults of this generation. You’re given the chance to be able to get attached to each of the sisters between everything that is going on (including side characters wink wink).

This was truly a timely book when I read this with what went down in the US. It's truly disheartening to see how differently you can be treated simply based on your skin color and this book explores all of that.

↣ Fast-paced, exciting, and emotional mystery/thriller with characters that feel like you’ve known them forever. ↢

This might turn into one of my most recommended books.

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12/02/20: I have decided to make this the first book I'm going to read for 2021 to celebrate me getting an ARC for one of my most anticipated releases of the next year.

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UPDATE: I GOT AN ARC!! :D

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9/25/20: fingers crossed that my favorite people from inkyard press pull through for the arc of this one or i might get broken hearted

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