Let me start by saying I can’t believe this is Mendez’ debut, it read so smoothly, This is a coming of age story like no other I have read and I would encourage anyone and everyone to read it.⁣
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This is one of a few books I have read recently that discusses the Windrush generation and it breaks my heart every time I read how excited they were to come to the U.K., by invite of the government, to be treated so abhorrently. ⁣
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The relationship between Jesse and his mum broken my heart, how could she treat her child like that! The scene where the title of the book comes from absolutely broke me as once, when I was a child, my mum gave me gone off milk in my cereal (by accident) as soon as she realised she couldn’t stop apologising. The difference in love we received in our childhood was so upsetting to me. ⁣
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Jesse was raised in a predominantly white neighbourhood with a white step father and so was never taught his true heritage and culture, and so his ideals of being black were what white people told him. There was no support in schools, no one trained to realised he was being bullied for the colour of his skin. ⁣
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The sex scenes are graphic so may not be for all but, for me, the author perfectly captured the sexual tension of a 19 year old and exposed how raw and vulnerable Jesse is. I also loved the music element of the story and the accompanying playlist on Spotify is fantastic!⁣
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It is definitely going to be in my top five books of the year!⁣
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#rainbowmilk