I found this story so captivating, the characters compelling and believable. It took me a while to get into, but once it got going it was an entrancing, gut-punching, fascinating read. I've never read a book quite like it and can definitely see what makes it a classic. I could see it working well in a high school english class or even on film because it is very accessible and plot-driven, with stripped-down language and a vivid setting. As far as the reading experience goes, the writing was a bit straight-forward for my taste and I would have liked more depth to the storytelling, but overall I would definitely recommend reading it just for the groundbreaking nature of the book.

Over the several months I read it, this book slowly changed me, made me look at the world and my community differently. The last several paragraphs were hauntingly and summarily prophesy the Black Lives Matter movement three years before its founding.