Why oh why did I wait so long to read this masterpiece? I was lucky enough to win a copy and a giant framed print of the cover from the publisher, and now I regret it took me a year to get this read.

I am not a huge fan of stories told in verse. For me, many times this just makes the story drag, or leaves it to open to make sense. I’m not a poetry lover, can you tell? But this is just perfectly blended. I can picture every stanza in my head not just as prose, but as music. In fact I want an entire playlist of every song mentioned in this book, and trust me there are a lot. It ranges from Aretha to Metallica.

This story centers around Blade, the teenage son of a has been rock legend. While his life is privileged, it is not easy. Mom is dead, and dad is never sober, and his sister wants the life their dad once had. But all Blade wants is to be “normal”. To not be chased by paparazzi and see his family spread all over the National Enquirer. He wants his girlfriend to be able to say his name, and go on public dates, and tell their parents about their love and college plans. But one party and an angry sister later, secrets come out that were not meant to be told, and it will send Blade on an adventure to free his soul, and find his song. To tell you more would be to ruin the story.

This was written by a AOC and while there was only one line alluding to race “a shade darker than..” it made me realize that I automatically assumed the characters were POC because the author was. Do I do this when I read other stories? Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? But I have to ask myself if this matters to the story, and no it does not, but just to my inherent judgment of what I take into a book even when I go in “blind”. I have judged myself, and found myself lacking for my assumptions. The race of this character is not what makes this story special. It's the journey. The journey to find love, to keep love, and to know love. This book was so well written, and so touching, that I will be recommending it for years to come, and Kwame Alexander will officially become an auto buy author for me and my library.

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