A review by kelseywaters
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
4.0
I couldn’t put this book down or stop thinking about it. Thank you to Sha’quise for recommending it to me!
Some thoughts I had throughout the book:
-it’s a great page-turner for the plot itself and just fun to read
-it opened me up into a whole new world and helped me see and understand perspectives differently and find myself being swayed by them
-I found the Sister Souljah self-promotion in the story to be bizarre and kind of off-putting. At the end she explains that people either love or hate her, so it was a tool to engage the reader. For me, it ended up being a distraction from the story and feeling suspicious about the point of the book.
-After reading the 10 most frequently asked questions and the answers at the end of the novel, it seems that Sister Souljah has many pointed reasons for writing this. Some I agree with and some I don’t as much.
-Sister Souljah’s beliefs on gender roles in society are too black and white for me. I watched some interviews with her after reading this and she discusses how Midnight is everyone’s dream man. He certainly isn’t my dream man. He believes that women are all emotion and no thought, that they talk too much. Men are the ones with the plans.
-Souljah’s beliefs about homosexuality are alluded to throughout both the novel in Winter’s thoughts and in the character of Sister Souljah’s advice, as well as her thoughts in the character analysis. I find them offensive.
Overall, this is a book that had me constantly thinking and wondering, wanting to read and ask and learn more. Even though I didn’t agree with parts of it, I like how it was on my mind so much.
Some thoughts I had throughout the book:
-it’s a great page-turner for the plot itself and just fun to read
-it opened me up into a whole new world and helped me see and understand perspectives differently and find myself being swayed by them
-I found the Sister Souljah self-promotion in the story to be bizarre and kind of off-putting. At the end she explains that people either love or hate her, so it was a tool to engage the reader. For me, it ended up being a distraction from the story and feeling suspicious about the point of the book.
-After reading the 10 most frequently asked questions and the answers at the end of the novel, it seems that Sister Souljah has many pointed reasons for writing this. Some I agree with and some I don’t as much.
-Sister Souljah’s beliefs on gender roles in society are too black and white for me. I watched some interviews with her after reading this and she discusses how Midnight is everyone’s dream man. He certainly isn’t my dream man. He believes that women are all emotion and no thought, that they talk too much. Men are the ones with the plans.
-Souljah’s beliefs about homosexuality are alluded to throughout both the novel in Winter’s thoughts and in the character of Sister Souljah’s advice, as well as her thoughts in the character analysis. I find them offensive.
Overall, this is a book that had me constantly thinking and wondering, wanting to read and ask and learn more. Even though I didn’t agree with parts of it, I like how it was on my mind so much.