I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.75 stars
TW: Racism, Depression, Homophobia

I haven't read many middle grades that tackle the topic of mental health specifically depression and loneliness and after reading Hurricane Child, there's a need for more and I want to read more.

Caroline Murphy is lonely and grieving as her mother left her and her father on Water Island on the Saint Thomas US Virgin Islands. Caroline has no friends, her teacher harasses her and all of her peers at school bully her to the extreme (i.e. throwing rocks and degrading her).

Until one day, a new girl arrives at her school, Kalinda Francis from Barbados. Caroline is eager to befriend her and once she does they become inseparable. Caroline becomes infatuated with Kalinda, her first friend and now first crush. However, she is deemed a sinner when she confesses her love for her new friend. Caroline goes through so much in this book and Kalinda is someone she relies on to keep up her spirits.

The major issue I had with this book was that Caroline doesn't get a single adult figure who will hear her out. Caroline is battling a lot of bad, dark thoughts that a 12-year-old shouldn't have to go through. The adults in her life are horrible communicators and I really disagreed with her parents particularly in the end.

I love dark contemporaries, so I did enjoy the topics of Caroline and "the woman in black" and her loneliness and thoughts of leaving the island and her father behind. I would recommend this for an #ownvoices book about a queer, black girl and her demons.