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mochagirl's review
4.0
I will forego a synopsis of the novel because Amazon provides a fairly detailed description for Sister Souljah's latest offering, Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, the prequel featuring a character of the same name featured in her bestselling, The Coldest Winter Ever. Set in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the author revisits the Brooklyn landscape with Midnight coming of age against the backdrop of a tough urban setting. He navigates the streets and survives largely because of his faith, devotion to his family, adherence to paternal anecdotes and African proverbs. The subtitle refers to a romance between the adolescent Midnight and his Japanese soulmate, Akemi, a world-renowned teen sensation visiting New York with family for an international art competition. Despite the language barrier, they fall in love and what ensues is a discovery and sharing of cultures, tradition, and drama.
The author paints Midnight as a noble and admirable character holding fast to his beliefs amid temptations of the heart, flesh, and street. Sister Souljah withholds little and expounds, rather bluntly, the shortfalls of American popular culture via Midnight's immigrant eyes and voice. One does not have to read between the lines to note the critique on society's morals, the skewing and corruption of values, the apparent lack of respect for elders and women, high level of promiscuity, lack of personal responsibility, the worship of money, etc. If nothing more, I think it is a rally to "wake up" and heed the message(s) that call for self-examination and reflection. As my rating reflects, I enjoyed the novel and all it offered; however others might find it a bit "preachy" or condescending, not to mention woefully disappointing that it is not the much anticipated sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever.
The author paints Midnight as a noble and admirable character holding fast to his beliefs amid temptations of the heart, flesh, and street. Sister Souljah withholds little and expounds, rather bluntly, the shortfalls of American popular culture via Midnight's immigrant eyes and voice. One does not have to read between the lines to note the critique on society's morals, the skewing and corruption of values, the apparent lack of respect for elders and women, high level of promiscuity, lack of personal responsibility, the worship of money, etc. If nothing more, I think it is a rally to "wake up" and heed the message(s) that call for self-examination and reflection. As my rating reflects, I enjoyed the novel and all it offered; however others might find it a bit "preachy" or condescending, not to mention woefully disappointing that it is not the much anticipated sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever.
bookishbrandi's review
3.0
I must warn you this novel is not a sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever it's more like a pre-quel and the title is misleading. This is far from A Gangster Love Story. I enjoyed Midnight; however the story ends with a lot of unanswered questions which leads me to believe she is planning to write another hopefully it won't take as long as it did between this one and the Coldest Winter Ever.
waly's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
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