ARC, 384 pagesRelease Date: October 24, 2017Published by: Greenwillow Books
Read from: October 16-22, 2017Stand-aloneSource: TxLAFor fans of: Contemporary, Family, Diversity, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction, YA
Taja Brown lives with her parents and older brother and younger sister, in Houston, Texas. Taja has always known what the expectations of her conservative and tightly-knit African American family are—do well in school, go to church every Sunday, no intimacy before marriage. But Taja is trying to keep up with friends as they get their first kisses, first boyfriends, first everythings. And she’s tired of cheering for her athletic younger sister and an older brother who has more freedom just because he’s a boy. Taja dreams of going to college and forging her own relationship with the world and with God, but when she falls in love for the first time, those dreams are suddenly in danger of evaporating..
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have to say, when I found out about this book at TLA I was a bit confused on how it hadn't been on my radar.... It's about an African American girl who grows up in the very city I live. There aren't very many books out there that I can relate to on THIS level. So of course, from there I HAD to add it to my TBR.
Taja's life is all planned out for her by her parents. Go to school, get good grades, go to church, and listen to God and His rules. But Taja can't decide if all this is what she actually wants. She wants so bad to have the things she shouldn't and knows that God wouldn't want it. But is it enough that SHE does?
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to read this and love this, I just didn't. Reason #1, I'm not a huge fan of super flowery prose. And that's exactly what this was. Some passages were eye-roll worthy and I just couldn't click with that. I know some people may be into that, but it just wasn't for me.
However, I felt I could really identify with Taja. To be honest, this was my saving grace for this book. I liked seeing the different places in Houston that I actually knew (like the streets, Antoine and South Victory, and the "hood" Acres Homes that I travel through to get to the library where I work every day and of course the Galveston scenes where I was born and raised) I also liked seeing some of the parallels between her family and mine. A lot of the things her mom did reminded me of my own. The only thing I didn't really connect with was her always wanting to kiss a boy or have someone look at her and things like that.
Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the overall book unfortunately. It just seemed like there was no climax. Towards the end I realized I didn't really see any "big thing that happened. The ending was just like the rest of the book. Because of that I think it could have cut some of it out.
But for the most part, I did like it. I connected with it on a deeper level than other books, and I really felt like it is something that other African American girls from Houston will fall in love with.
Taja's life is all planned out for her by her parents. Go to school, get good grades, go to church, and listen to God and His rules. But Taja can't decide if all this is what she actually wants. She wants so bad to have the things she shouldn't and knows that God wouldn't want it. But is it enough that SHE does?
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to read this and love this, I just didn't. Reason #1, I'm not a huge fan of super flowery prose. And that's exactly what this was. Some passages were eye-roll worthy and I just couldn't click with that. I know some people may be into that, but it just wasn't for me.
However, I felt I could really identify with Taja. To be honest, this was my saving grace for this book. I liked seeing the different places in Houston that I actually knew (like the streets, Antoine and South Victory, and the "hood" Acres Homes that I travel through to get to the library where I work every day and of course the Galveston scenes where I was born and raised) I also liked seeing some of the parallels between her family and mine. A lot of the things her mom did reminded me of my own. The only thing I didn't really connect with was her always wanting to kiss a boy or have someone look at her and things like that.
Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the overall book unfortunately. It just seemed like there was no climax. Towards the end I realized I didn't really see any "big thing that happened. The ending was just like the rest of the book. Because of that I think it could have cut some of it out.
But for the most part, I did like it. I connected with it on a deeper level than other books, and I really felt like it is something that other African American girls from Houston will fall in love with.
Overall, I give this
Real rating 2.5