salmonread's review against another edition
4.0
Book Riot Read Harder 2016 Challenge #9: Listen to an Audiobook That Has Won an Audie Award
sde's review against another edition
3.0
Decent story told in the form of letters. It was written almost 15 years ago, and it shows in terms of some of the language and the atmosphere in Harlem, which has recently become a very expensive gentrifying neighborhood. Also the ease of Natasha getting into University of Chicago with a mediocre SAT score!
This was not classified as YA in our library, but I think it would make a great book for a high school English class, especially a non-honors class at the urban school my kids attend. It is short and fairly easy to read, but lots of discussion points, such as how hard it is to stay on the straight and narrow when everyone around you is not, the difficulty of maintaining relationships and getting use to the outside world when you are in jail, the slow separating Natasha from her neighborhood once she began to experience more middle class things, domestic abuse. . . . A lot is packed into this short book in a way teens could relate to.
This was not classified as YA in our library, but I think it would make a great book for a high school English class, especially a non-honors class at the urban school my kids attend. It is short and fairly easy to read, but lots of discussion points, such as how hard it is to stay on the straight and narrow when everyone around you is not, the difficulty of maintaining relationships and getting use to the outside world when you are in jail, the slow separating Natasha from her neighborhood once she began to experience more middle class things, domestic abuse. . . . A lot is packed into this short book in a way teens could relate to.
abenajanet's review
4.0
soo well written. a whole new level of romeo and juliet except when they lose each other its not through death but something much worse.
skiracechick's review against another edition
5.0
Whoa. That was good, moving, and I may be on the verge of tears. Read it.
refgirl1's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kshaw's review
5.0
Exciting, dramatic, hood, sexy(made you want see what he looked like..lol, heartbreaking, and realistic....you just wanna be like nooo at the end. lol I suggest the audio book it just makes it sooo much better. Just soo realistic.
It wasn't just someone reading they actully like painted a picture. I would really like to see this book as a movie, it reminds me of like a Lifetime movie. I think they should really push for it.
It wasn't just someone reading they actully like painted a picture. I would really like to see this book as a movie, it reminds me of like a Lifetime movie. I think they should really push for it.
steel_city_peach's review against another edition
4.0
Such a beautiful ending! It made me want to cry. Unconventional love stories make me happy.
kaleidoscope04's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lazygal's review
4.0
Ooooh I wish there were a half-star option because this just missed being a 5-star! I've always liked epistolary novels, and this one, chronicling the relationship between Antonio and Natasha is a great example of the genre.
Starting just after Antonio's arrest for killing his father (did he do it? and if so, why?) and ending nine years later, both characters grow in unexpected ways. The pain and despair, longing and general late teenage angst is magnified through the lens of the separation. Natasha's letters go from being very Harlem 4 Life in tone and subject to being a married lawyer with a degree from U. Chicago and then U. PA., while Antonio's stay at the same level in terms of tone, but it's clear that he is growing as well. His essay on The Catcher in the Rye was one of the best I've read (almost made me want to re-read the book, which I didn't like the first time I read it - and please, no comments about that!). By the end, though, it was clear that they were no longer really involved, except through the phantom of their youth and being each other's first love.
Why the 4.5 and not 5? Because the novel does end on an upbeat, and there's a part of me that felt it was just a little too neat, too pat an ending.
Copy provided by publisher.
Starting just after Antonio's arrest for killing his father (did he do it? and if so, why?) and ending nine years later, both characters grow in unexpected ways. The pain and despair, longing and general late teenage angst is magnified through the lens of the separation. Natasha's letters go from being very Harlem 4 Life in tone and subject to being a married lawyer with a degree from U. Chicago and then U. PA., while Antonio's stay at the same level in terms of tone, but it's clear that he is growing as well. His essay on The Catcher in the Rye was one of the best I've read (almost made me want to re-read the book, which I didn't like the first time I read it - and please, no comments about that!). By the end, though, it was clear that they were no longer really involved, except through the phantom of their youth and being each other's first love.
Why the 4.5 and not 5? Because the novel does end on an upbeat, and there's a part of me that felt it was just a little too neat, too pat an ending.
Copy provided by publisher.