Thank you to Danielle and Amina at S&S for the proof. Danielle's debut novel And The Stars Were Burning Brightly was my first blog post and was such a brilliant book. I was excited to see she had written another book and even more so when I was asked if I would like a copy!
Themes: Knife crime, racism, LGBT, love, friendships, fostering
When fourteen-year-old Shaq is stabbed outside of a busy shopping centre in Manchester, three teenagers from very different walks of life are unexpectedly brought together. What follows flips their worlds upside down and makes Chantelle, Jackson, and Marc question the deep-rooted prejudice and racism that exists within the police, the media, and the rest of society.
Like Stars this is another hard hitting book from Danielle but the focus of this one is knife crime in the UK, which is such an important topic to talk about and I haven't read many books on it. Chantelle lives with her grandma and sister, their Mum abandoned them and she is really smart but targeted a lot by a specific teacher who can't even begin to imagine that she could be intelligent. Marc is a very talented artist, is openly gay and is currently being fostered. Jackson is smart, privileged and I think is the most affected when the knife attack happens because it's so out of his 'world.'
The book explores how these three strangers are affected by the knife crime they witness on a teenager they're age and how it bonds them together. I really related to this book especially with Chantelle and school. I had teachers who seemed almost shocked with how smart I was and were always trying to find ways to kick me out of class or accuse me of doing something and as I was reading her storyline, I felt like I had a flashback.
I don't want to giveaway too much and spoil it but I will say there is so much deep rooted racism and I'm so glad Daniele highlighted what happens in the UK to Black people. There is an assumption that racism doesn't exist here, only in America and we know that isn't true. I think this is a book that will really educate and trigger conversations.
Love this book! And the final book cover has all three of the characters and I am obsessed.
5/5
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