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A review by legalplanner
This Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First and foremost I want to thank Netgalley and Quill Tree Books for my advanced copy.
We're in 2023 and many of us think that race relations aren't an issue. But This Town Is on Fire is the perfect example that we still have so much more to do. Naomi has every right to want to be a normal popular high school student, but by questioning how and where she fits into the world as a person of color changes the dynamics in her life more than she could possibly know.
Reading this in heavy world where we've had pandemics, protests, and violence a lot made this read much heavier than I was expecting. There were times where Naomi, Kylie and crew seemed more naive than I expected an 18 year old to be. I know at that age I was more aware of things going on and figured that these kids would to but it was like they had wool over their eyes and that was a bit hard for me to overlook sometimes because I wanted to reach in there and smack them.
This gave me How to Get Away With Murder vibes because you start in the present and work your way back to that given moment. That type of reading experience allowed me to form opinions about how she was being treated during those "present" times, but it also allowed me to be fully informed from the "past" moments.
Overall, I Harris did an excellent job discussing race relations and dealing with problematic people, police violence, and greed in America. I think this was a great read and should absolutely be read but also acknowledge trigger warnings.
We're in 2023 and many of us think that race relations aren't an issue. But This Town Is on Fire is the perfect example that we still have so much more to do. Naomi has every right to want to be a normal popular high school student, but by questioning how and where she fits into the world as a person of color changes the dynamics in her life more than she could possibly know.
Reading this in heavy world where we've had pandemics, protests, and violence a lot made this read much heavier than I was expecting. There were times where Naomi, Kylie and crew seemed more naive than I expected an 18 year old to be. I know at that age I was more aware of things going on and figured that these kids would to but it was like they had wool over their eyes and that was a bit hard for me to overlook sometimes because I wanted to reach in there and smack them.
This gave me How to Get Away With Murder vibes because you start in the present and work your way back to that given moment. That type of reading experience allowed me to form opinions about how she was being treated during those "present" times, but it also allowed me to be fully informed from the "past" moments.
Overall, I Harris did an excellent job discussing race relations and dealing with problematic people, police violence, and greed in America. I think this was a great read and should absolutely be read but also acknowledge trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death and Emotional abuse