An ARC was sent to me by Harper360 YA - thanks guys!
First of all the cover! LOVE!
Themes: Sexual abuse, music, family, grooming
Legendary R&B singer Korey Fields spots teenager Enchanted Jones at an audition and promises to make her a star. But Korey has a dark side to him and Enchanted ends up in a spiralling hole that she can't escape from.
Okay so Grown isn't what I thought it was going to be until I read the authors note and she mentioned R.Kelly, then I was like ah okay! Anyone that is familiar with Surviving R. Kelly will find this story similar. A teenage girl being promised the world by an older, famous singer and he takes advantage of her. As someone who watched the R.Kelly series, I felt like I was reading a book from one of his survivors and I liked that. This book is so important for people to understand how mental and emotional abuse works. I know teenagers who weren't even born during R.Kelly at his peak that have said to me that they're backing him. That is so scary and I would tell them to read this book.
Grown is the perfect title as well. Enchanted is a normal girl with an exceptional voice who just wants to pursue her dreams and because of Korey, who should know better than to move to her, she gets caught up in a lifestyle that she can't handle. Her peers are jealous of her thinking she's living this grown lifestyle with Korey and her best friend is the one from the beginning that is like this ain't right!
I really liked the thriller side of it. The book starts off with blood being all over the room and by the end you out find what happened. At one point I thought Enchanted had lost her mind when she was describing her best friend and no-one knew who she was. And when Enchanted was trying to tell people about Korey and no-one believed her. My heart broke for her. You could really feel her fear when she realised she was in danger. I love that she fought back and she tried to escape. She never accepted her fate. The bit that literally made me feel sick was when she hears Korey having sex with Amber and she is 15!
This book is a trigger so becareful if you read it. Grown really highlights how much attention we need to pay to children and how easy it is for people in a position of power to really abuse other. Korey represents every man who should know better. I hope this book educates people especially teenagers.
4/5
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