Maya Angelou's writing is so writing and so much of it is relevant even today. I loved her determination to not let anything get in the way of what she wanted.

Insightful look at life for black people in Harlem. So many deaths of black people at the hands of white people; and so shameful that people could be so awful to people who look different than them.

One thing that stood out in this book is when

Elizabeth wears a ring on her finger to pretend to be married

It was like what the woman does in Stephen King's story The Breathing Method, in which a woman is pregnant and unmarried. While the women in both stories have different skin color, they still get shamed for being unwed mothers.

The only thing I disliked about this book was the preaching, but I can understand that in a time of racism and the threat of being murdered any day, black people probably relied on religion to comfort themselves.

It's so sad that people can become so obsessed with money, whether they have enough to fit in and buy fancy things, or have too little and work for low wages. It is especially sad when a rich person and a poor person are in love, and just because of the difference of their wealth they are unable to be together.

Obviously this is a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. And no offense to Hawthorne, this version is way better.

I really enjoyed this book, despite all the slut-shaming by Joji to Naomi. It was creepy how he tried to make her into his ideal woman, so it was no surprise that she turned out the way she did.

While reading this I thought of how much I take education for granted in America. I have a lot of respect for Malala and her parents, as well as all the doctors and nurses who took care of her after she had been shot. Many passages in this book were hard to read, but it is still useful to know. I wish Muslims were not considered terrorists by so many people in America. I am more scared of white supremacists than people trying to escape their country for refuge.

In some ways I feel bad for Tomie, because she is always getting killed and chopped up. But at the same time I hate her for the way she is. In some stories it seems like she wants to be a normal human, but then she is reminded of what she is when men want to kill her. One of the things that stood out to me is how so many characters start to get raccoon eyes when they're around her for long periods of time, as if just being around her is draining their energy.

Despite that Tomie is always getting killed, I just cannot blame her no matter how manipulative she is. In real life I would not want a woman to die just because she has to be cruel to survive (I don't think that's why Tomie does what she does, but in real life that might be the case). So even if Tomie was real, I would not want to see her die even if she called me ugly or put me down in some other way.