mezzythedragon's review
3.0
The characters are well fleshed-out, but fyi, both Smiles and Nike have also spouted misogynistic and racist bs, Nike especially.
Still, it’s a compelling story, and you get the feel what it’s like to live in poverty in 1983, what with Reaganomics, the AIDS crisis, slumlords torching apartments to get the insurance money, the stigma of living with addiction, and the stigma of being on welfare. Also gets into the Israel-Lebanon crisis at that time, which does affect Sara, Nike’s crush. Good that they don’t end up together; despite Nike maturing, spouting anti-Arab bs (while not knowing Sara was Palestinian) is never okay.
Still, it’s a compelling story, and you get the feel what it’s like to live in poverty in 1983, what with Reaganomics, the AIDS crisis, slumlords torching apartments to get the insurance money, the stigma of living with addiction, and the stigma of being on welfare. Also gets into the Israel-Lebanon crisis at that time, which does affect Sara, Nike’s crush. Good that they don’t end up together; despite Nike maturing, spouting anti-Arab bs (while not knowing Sara was Palestinian) is never okay.
crystal_reads's review against another edition
I reviewed this for Rich in Color http://richincolor.com/2015/11/review-show-and-prove/
saritagonzalez's review
5.0
Loved it. It completely brought me back to the early 80s. I'll be thinking about Nike, Smiles and Sara for a long time. Highly recommended.
libraryleopard's review
4.0
3.5 stars. I liked it but sometimes the narrators sounded too similar (which can happen first dual books in first person a lot, I guess.) It did help fill the void The Get Down left and I really liked the final scene with Vanessa at the end.
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