ARC, 288 pages
Release Date: August 7, 2018Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Read from: August 5-August , 2018Stand-aloneSource: TxLATW: (Spoiler) Abortion
For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, #OwnVoices, POC MC, YASince she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.
Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He’s mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I heard about Brandy Colbert’s new book, I added it without question. After reading Little and Lion last year I fell in love with her words and I knew I would read anything and everything else she wrote. And of course, once I had this in my hands, I didn’t waste time to read this one too!
“It’s hard not to give up on yourself when the person who’s supposed to believe in you the most already has.“pg. 9
Yvonne has played violin for as long as she could remember. She thought she loved it…. Until she didn’t. Or so she thinks. As it gets closer to her graduation, she knows she needs to finally put some plans into action. As she tries to sort it out, she has trouble dealing with all the other things going on in her life, like her father, her “boyfriend,” and her unexpected pregnancy.
“Just because it’s not the center of your life, that doesn’t mean you can’t have it at all.“pg. 31
The main thing I liked about this was the fact that it was a contemp….About an African American girl. Contemps are some of my favorite reads and I’m not sure how many contemps with African American MC’s there are, but I haven’t read too many. And this one was amazing. I really wish I had something like this when I was a teen. And the topic itself is a bit taboo and people don’t like talking about it. Which made me love that Colbert went this route even more.
“Loneliness leaves me feeling a lot of things: sad, angry, betrayed. Sometimes I think I could choke on it. But I prefer it to numbness. Numbness is nothing, and that feels unfixable.“pg. 204
My other favorite part of this was the writing style. I used so many tabs while reading this one. I found myself lost amongst the pages multiple times. It was so easy to fell into Yvonne’s world and learn more about her and her family.
“Even the most talented people have to work hard to become the best. Writers don’t just pop out award-winning novels on their first try. We all have different paths, and we all learned a lot along the way. From school, our peers, our mentors.“pg. 221
I really loved the characters as well. Yvonne went through a great character arc and she learned so much throughout the entire story. Although I didn’t care for her choices, I still wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be alright. But other times I wanted to throttle her. I agreed more with Sabina, but I understood that Yvonne had to make her own choices before she took anything serious. It just took her a long time to get through to her.
“Some choices are easier than others, and I still have the most difficult one ahead of me.“pg. 235
There was no surprise that I would like this one. However it did surprise me that I loved it as much as I did. Brandy Colbert is quickly climbing the ladder of my favorite authors. She is an amazing author who hasn’t missed the mark with me yet.
Overall, I give this
