lanica's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. I really did, but I just can't finish it. It's heavy handed, obvious and slow.
It's the story of a mixed race girl witnessing her white mothers divorce from her black father. It could be educational, thought provoking and heart-warming. Instead there are layers upon layers of 'race-issues' that are written into a thick nest of 'you-should-be-thinking-about-this' subplots. Instead of giving a us a story that makes us think the writing is a conglomeration of 'issues' put over a simple story - overwhelming the characters and story with so many 'big-ideas'.
It's the story of a mixed race girl witnessing her white mothers divorce from her black father. It could be educational, thought provoking and heart-warming. Instead there are layers upon layers of 'race-issues' that are written into a thick nest of 'you-should-be-thinking-about-this' subplots. Instead of giving a us a story that makes us think the writing is a conglomeration of 'issues' put over a simple story - overwhelming the characters and story with so many 'big-ideas'.
hereistheend's review against another edition
2.0
This book was ok. It was really hard to get into and just kinda boring... I liked reading the parts about Nina's slave relative! That was better than the actual story, I think... sorry!
jeannemurray3gmailcom's review against another edition
3.0
This book is about a mixed race girl's struggle to find her identity. She finally, after many trials, begins to realize that her identity is not a race, but it is her, with all of her strengths and weaknesses.
There is a continuing story interspersed throughout the book of Nina's slave ancestor. Sarah's story of escaping slavery is exceptional, although it starts out choppy.
I noticed that the publisher of the book usually publishes Christian literature. This book has little bits about God and Jesus giving a person strength but it is not a dominant theme in the book.
I didn't give the book more stars because it was not exceptional. I did like it well enough that I wanted to keep reading to find out how Sarah's story ended and also how the author would close Nina's part of the story.
There is a continuing story interspersed throughout the book of Nina's slave ancestor. Sarah's story of escaping slavery is exceptional, although it starts out choppy.
I noticed that the publisher of the book usually publishes Christian literature. This book has little bits about God and Jesus giving a person strength but it is not a dominant theme in the book.
I didn't give the book more stars because it was not exceptional. I did like it well enough that I wanted to keep reading to find out how Sarah's story ended and also how the author would close Nina's part of the story.
amberinpieces's review
5.0
Nina Armstrong is a biracial teen with a little brother, Jimi, whose skin is darker than her own, a black father, and a white mother. Her life is good and she has great friends but it is not until her parents decide to divorce that she realizes she has been viewing her life through rose-colored glasses.
Everyone in Nina’s life is changing. Her father transforms from mellow to angry, seeming to forget that his children are half white. Nina’s mother is irritable and begins to curse more than usual. Her sweet and sometimes annoying little brother steals someone else’s property. Her white friends start to imply she is too black while her black friends imply she is too white.
Nina’s world is crumbling and she sees racial boundaries where she had not noticed them before. She has no idea which side she belongs on. She turns to her only source of solace, the story of her great-great-grandmother Sarah’s escape from slavery. Maybe Sarah’s story can help Nina discover her own identity.
Read the full review here.
Everyone in Nina’s life is changing. Her father transforms from mellow to angry, seeming to forget that his children are half white. Nina’s mother is irritable and begins to curse more than usual. Her sweet and sometimes annoying little brother steals someone else’s property. Her white friends start to imply she is too black while her black friends imply she is too white.
Nina’s world is crumbling and she sees racial boundaries where she had not noticed them before. She has no idea which side she belongs on. She turns to her only source of solace, the story of her great-great-grandmother Sarah’s escape from slavery. Maybe Sarah’s story can help Nina discover her own identity.
Read the full review here.
crackedspines's review against another edition
DNF at 40%
Sorry but I really don't want to waste anymore of my time with mediocre books. The throwback parts bored me to hell. The story wasn't captivating at all. I felt like I was listening to a commentary the whole time.
An ARC of this book was sent to me. This is my honest review.
Sorry but I really don't want to waste anymore of my time with mediocre books. The throwback parts bored me to hell. The story wasn't captivating at all. I felt like I was listening to a commentary the whole time.
An ARC of this book was sent to me. This is my honest review.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
This is another book that I decided to read because I "met" the author through Shelf Awareness' Book Brahmin. Lester mentioned some of my favorite books in her interview so I decided to read her YA novel.
Nina is a freshman in high school whose whole world seems to be coming apart. Her parents are separated, one of her best friends has moved away and suddenly the fact that she is biracial seems to matter. The beginning of the book is a great set up for your typical Young Adult problem novel.
Early on, Nina's father tells her he is writing a novel based on her great-great-grandmother Sarah's life. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that Sarah is from a plantation in Hanover County. This is where I live. I could not guess that a book set California could have anything that has to do with Virginia. This was just so strange and so different from the usual YA book.
Lester does a good job with both tales within this story. Nina has to deal with her problems, but also realize what her ancestor dealt with. This is a lot for a high school freshman, but Nina can handle it. The story does not come to easy solutions, but it shouldn't. Nina does have to find herself.
I recommend this novel to any teen trying to figure out who they are. Although Nina's life does have its own particular issues, they can be used to think about any young adult's own life.
Nina is a freshman in high school whose whole world seems to be coming apart. Her parents are separated, one of her best friends has moved away and suddenly the fact that she is biracial seems to matter. The beginning of the book is a great set up for your typical Young Adult problem novel.
Early on, Nina's father tells her he is writing a novel based on her great-great-grandmother Sarah's life. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that Sarah is from a plantation in Hanover County. This is where I live. I could not guess that a book set California could have anything that has to do with Virginia. This was just so strange and so different from the usual YA book.
Lester does a good job with both tales within this story. Nina has to deal with her problems, but also realize what her ancestor dealt with. This is a lot for a high school freshman, but Nina can handle it. The story does not come to easy solutions, but it shouldn't. Nina does have to find herself.
I recommend this novel to any teen trying to figure out who they are. Although Nina's life does have its own particular issues, they can be used to think about any young adult's own life.
yuneebi's review against another edition
1.0
Disclosure: Received a digital ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. No spoilers.
I tried I honestly did but I didn't finish this book. This book was so bad from the very beginning I'm honestly surprised I got very far into it. As a biracial teen I was excited to read this book hoping the author would convey how mixed kids feel, she didn't.
What I got from this book is a whiny teenager who doesn't understand a goddamn thing about the world and wants everything to be just like they were when she was a child. News flash honey, things change in life and you gotta learn to deal with it. Honestly, this character disturbed me. The way she talked about black people you would've thought she had never seen one much less be one. I'm so angry about this book because that's not an accurate depiction of a mixed person, honestly Nina sounded like a white girl who couldn't cope with all the black people around her but wasn't outwardly racist toward them like her "friends". This author clearly has no idea what it means to be mixed in this world and it upsets me greatly that this is how she believes it to be.
I'm just so sorry I ever read this book it was just so bad.
I tried I honestly did but I didn't finish this book. This book was so bad from the very beginning I'm honestly surprised I got very far into it. As a biracial teen I was excited to read this book hoping the author would convey how mixed kids feel, she didn't.
What I got from this book is a whiny teenager who doesn't understand a goddamn thing about the world and wants everything to be just like they were when she was a child. News flash honey, things change in life and you gotta learn to deal with it. Honestly, this character disturbed me. The way she talked about black people you would've thought she had never seen one much less be one. I'm so angry about this book because that's not an accurate depiction of a mixed person, honestly Nina sounded like a white girl who couldn't cope with all the black people around her but wasn't outwardly racist toward them like her "friends". This author clearly has no idea what it means to be mixed in this world and it upsets me greatly that this is how she believes it to be.
I'm just so sorry I ever read this book it was just so bad.
artfromafriend's review against another edition
2.0
An earnest story about a biracial teenage girl who struggles with her parent's divorce and her identity.
- A heartfelt and earnest narrative on what it is like to be biracial - explores identity, history, perceptions of the media.
- About a girl who is trying to make sense of who she is - as she quickly learns, more often than not, we learn about race because of how people treat and talk to us.
- Offers an insightful and important narrative about the protagonist's grandmother, Sarah, who was a slave before traveling the Underground Railroad.
- However, momentum of the story stumbles in some instances, and something is missing. I can't quite put my finger on it - yet.
- A heartfelt and earnest narrative on what it is like to be biracial - explores identity, history, perceptions of the media.
- About a girl who is trying to make sense of who she is - as she quickly learns, more often than not, we learn about race because of how people treat and talk to us.
- Offers an insightful and important narrative about the protagonist's grandmother, Sarah, who was a slave before traveling the Underground Railroad.
- However, momentum of the story stumbles in some instances, and something is missing. I can't quite put my finger on it - yet.
thehermitlibrarian's review against another edition
1.0
A novel that strives to tell the story of a girl looking for her identity, White, Black, Other finds itself muddling these important issues and losing the voice that is so important.
Nina's struggle with her identity was clearly felt, not only during the transitions between her white mother's and her black father's household, but during the interactions with her friends when they were discussing current events. At school, for example, her white friends made comments regarding people from black neighborhoods in Oakland, neighborhoods that had been ravaged by fires, looting. All those "friends" could see were people that stole electronics whereas Nina saw people that were getting things they needed, the people that were taking food, diapers, etc. The privilege of these "friends", Jessica and Claudette, blinded them to the suffering of these people.
While there were moments of clarity regarding what I'm sure was the author's point of the story, I don't think that the execution of the story was well done. The writing style was slow paced and dull, several pages going by feeling extremely dry and feeling like real work rather than a good reading experience. It made it difficult to connect with any of the characters, to really get inside their narrative, which was a problem especially regarding Nina. The background characters felt like they had one characteristic that stood out plainly about them without any others being fleshed out to create a realistic person.
There were a lot of issues that got raised within the book, which would have been good if they'd been dealt with in a reasonable manner. However, in this particular book, it was like they all got thrown into a bag, shaken up, and spilled onto the page like Scrabble tiles.
I can't at this time recommend other books that tackle these kinds of issues in a better way, though I will say that Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give has been getting all kinds of good word of mouth and sales for its protagonist, Starr, and her experiences with black issues including the Black Lives Matter movement.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nina's struggle with her identity was clearly felt, not only during the transitions between her white mother's and her black father's household, but during the interactions with her friends when they were discussing current events. At school, for example, her white friends made comments regarding people from black neighborhoods in Oakland, neighborhoods that had been ravaged by fires, looting. All those "friends" could see were people that stole electronics whereas Nina saw people that were getting things they needed, the people that were taking food, diapers, etc. The privilege of these "friends", Jessica and Claudette, blinded them to the suffering of these people.
While there were moments of clarity regarding what I'm sure was the author's point of the story, I don't think that the execution of the story was well done. The writing style was slow paced and dull, several pages going by feeling extremely dry and feeling like real work rather than a good reading experience. It made it difficult to connect with any of the characters, to really get inside their narrative, which was a problem especially regarding Nina. The background characters felt like they had one characteristic that stood out plainly about them without any others being fleshed out to create a realistic person.
There were a lot of issues that got raised within the book, which would have been good if they'd been dealt with in a reasonable manner. However, in this particular book, it was like they all got thrown into a bag, shaken up, and spilled onto the page like Scrabble tiles.
I can't at this time recommend other books that tackle these kinds of issues in a better way, though I will say that Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give has been getting all kinds of good word of mouth and sales for its protagonist, Starr, and her experiences with black issues including the Black Lives Matter movement.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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