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spicymakeupreads's review against another edition
4.0
It’s getting this rating because while it was a good book. I had a hard time keeping up with what era and time period we were in lol. I felt like there should of been like heading saying
California 1980 or what not
Also the ENDING!
Miss Hammons better be writing her second novel and it best be about what happened to Lisa turtle and LaShawn! I have questions! That bitch Kimberly shouldve drowned playing mermaids!
marsarah's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
1.0
If you enjoy books with unlikeable protagonists, look no further: The Black Kids is here for you.
I don’t mind a book where the main character is horrible. It can make for an aggravating time, however, I can separate my dislike for the character’s actions from whether or not their actions are good for the narrative. That is not the case here.
Ashley is probably the most divisive aspect of this novel. Her privilege leaves her insulated from the realities most people face in general let alone the realities of other Black people. What’s worse she doesn’t care to deconstruct said privilege. She implicitly cosigns the racism of her friends by refusing to speak up. She’s self-centered. She’s overly possessive. She’s all around a terrible person who only continues to get worse.
All of which would be acceptable except for the crucial fact that she lacks an arc.
Is it fun reading about someone as awful as Ashley? Heck no. But, the real question is does Ashley being awful benefit the story? Also no, but you get my point. Ashley is a teenager. She still has, presumably, decades of her life to lead. Plenty of teenagers are like Ashley. It’s not an excuse for their poor character, but it’s regrettably a phase for many. The important thing to note here is that it’s a phase. They will hopefully grow out of it eventually. I expect mistakes when I read young adult books. I expect selfishness. I expect mean spiritedness. It’s par for the course. The conflict arises when I am told information that runs in direct opposition to what I have been shown through reading the text: I am shown that Ashley is a miserable person for the entirety of the book yet told at the end she has achieved enlightenment.
Using the synopsis as the metric by which to judge this book - it is plainly laid forth that Ashley is supposed to learn her lesson along the way. The fact that she never does automatically means the book has not upheld its half of the bargain. And every facet of the book is impaired by Reeds’ failure to effectively convey a sense of personal advancement for Ashley.
First off, the whole notion of Ashley’s preconceived notions about racial identity being shattered is a farce. When the riots happen nothing changes for Ashely because per her aforementioned terribleness she does not care nor does she choose to until it’s too late to make a difference in the trajectory of the story. She is grievously self-involved to the point that the only things that have an impact have to directly affect her otherwise she expends no additional time considering it.
For example, her 21 year old sister Jo has mental health issues aggravated by their parents’ emotional neglect. The mental illness on top of a rebellious temperament means that the family is disinclined to take her seriously when she becomes caught up in the social unrest leading up to the riots. Despite her sister practically begging her to take an interest Ashley refuses to do so for no reason other than general disinterest. Ashley initially waving her off is understandable. However, her sudden decision to care towards the end is arbitrary as a result since Ashley is not allowed to engage in any kind of reflection in the interim.
Ashley is constantly overthinking and assessing and relaying her thoughts so it may seem like all she ever does is reflect, but I touch on why this is actually a smokescreen a bit more later.
The lack of introspection is what I feel does Ashley the most disservice as a character.
Jo’s mental health issues manifested as a lot of volatile, emotional outbursts when she was growing up. In reaction Ashley subconsciously swung in the complete opposite direction; emotional repression. She believes herself to be less important as the attention - even negative - mostly was on Jo. She stays silent on her true feelings because she’s been taught that ‘discussion’ equates to ‘argument’. Therefore, if she is unable to sufficiently argue a point she has internalized the idea that her opinion must not be all that important seeing as she isn’t willing to defend her position. Her feelings of insignificance are compounded by the growing distance between her and her white friends that only she seems to notice. Her inability to share such a significant segment of herself causes her to feel increasingly unmoored. The disillusionment is what pushes her to make the poor decisions she does.
Now, all of what I just said? That’s all from me. Ashley never explores this for herself. She never figures out why she feels compelled to make bad decisions. She never takes accountability for those decisions. She passively blows through the plot complaining and making herself out to be the victim with barely a shred of empathy for anyone else.
I get that she’s not going to be perfect nor do I expect her to be. I get that this is only the beginning of her journey. But, again when the book sets the expectation that Ashley will have to grow up because of the riots I expect that to actually occur. That can’t happen when Ashley is not forced to meaningfully address her shortcomings; it’s intellectualization masquerading as self-reflection. That is to say, while Ashley monologues at length this actually prevents her from changing because she hides her emotional response behind rationalizing the situation. In short she mistakes thinking about an act being bad as equal to feeling bad about doing it. As long as she hides from being emotionally vulnerable it will be impossible for her to progress as she has no reason to do anything different when she’s numb to it either way.
It’s actually a fascinating part of emotional repression - I speak from personal experience. Too bad it’s clearly incidental. It would have been nice to see a spotlight shined on this kind of defense mechanism as it is an underrepresented insidious barrier to a healthier mental state.
The way that Ashley is shielded from any repercussions is frustrating. If a character is terrible - in personality not writing style - then I want this to be committed to. That means letting the situation unfold and other characters react accordingly. Instead Reed coddles Ashley while simultaneously trying to say she had to rise above her circumstances. The cosseting is so embedded in the fundamental framework of the story it extends to the synopsis.
“Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.”
This completely erases Ashley’s involvement as the source of the rumor. How hard would it have been to reword it slightly to include Ashley’s influence?
Lashawn as a whole is a problem. He is severely underdeveloped, disappearing for the bulk of the novel. When he is present he exists purely to aid Ashley. His interest in her would be nonsensical if he were a real person so thankfully he’s only a caricature.
(Next part will be vaguely spoiler-y so keep that in mind)
This is revealed early enough I don’t feel it’s really a spoiler so here we go: Ashley is cheating with her best friend’s boyfriend for most of the novel. She barely likes the guy, but it’s symptomatic of her emotional unavailability. She's been emotionally neglected her entire life so she finds the inability to be truly open to him familiar. Underneath it all she desperately wants to be seen yet she finds the vulnerability scary so being an affair partner is a way of protecting herself. It has the immediacy of feeling wanted while in the long term feeding her insecurities which validates her worthlessness: she’s a bad person so this is all she deserves. From a narrative standpoint, I didn’t mind this since it aligns perfectly to her character.
The fallout of the cheating is a huge part of why the book does not work.
When the cheating comes out it is at an extremely public venue. Kimberly, in response, tears Ashley a new one. Justified. Ashley totally deserves to be called out. Then Kimberly calls her a slur. Obviously reprehensible.
My problem is that Kimberly calling Ashley a slur does not feel like an honest indication of the unconscious racism her friend has been harboring this whole time: it feels like a device designed to even the score to let Ashley off the hook for her misbehaviour.
We don’t even get to read what Kimberly says to her before the slur because Ashley conveniently disassociates the moment she is confronted further limiting Ashley's exposure to consequences.
A slur is absolutely never okay to say - barring instances of reclamation which are up to the respective community and individuals within that community to determine. Kimberly is absolutely in the wrong, no doubt about it. But, it feels like Reed is taking advantage of the way throwing out a slur automatically 'wins' an encounter. She did not want Ashley to be too irredeemable so she threw this nuclear bomb onto the relationship as a way of forcing us to be on Ashley’s side by default. It was manipulative since Ashley was then able to absolve herself of all culpability because her friend turned out to be racist so retroactively she had the betrayal coming.
As much as Kimberly sucks now, Ashley did let her and her other friends get away with racist rhetoric for years. If Kimberly was so despicable all this time then what does that say about Ashley who was expressly comfortable with a lot of Kimberly's other problematic conduct? The book doesn't want you to think about that. It just wants a bombshell to artificially create a reason for Ashley to finally breakaway from the group without having to take the initiative on her own.
Ashley is definitely a victim. I'm not disputing that. I am disputing the assertion that she is a victim to the degree the book tries to propound. I spent a majority of my formative years in predominantly white spaces. I understand intimately the difficulty in navigating similar experiences. It is extremely hard when you’re young to call out poor behavior - not just restricted to racism - when it’s coming from someone you care about.
That being said, before the moment Kimberly scorches the earth, she was not this malignant, bigoted demon. She was a casually racist affluent white girl in the early 90s - I’d imagine that was not uncommon. More importantly, she was Ashley’s closest friend. Her closest friend whom Ashley never even tried to explain anything to. It's certainly not Ashley's job to educate her friends but the caveat is if they're her friends it is partially her responsibility to negotiate boundaries. So them not understanding how something is racist is on them, but her not even making an attempt is on her. Whose to say what would have happened if she had told them she was uncomfortable? How were they supposed to know she wasn't?
Also, this takes place before the Internet age. I feel like some amount of clemency can be granted to a bunch of 17 year olds who don't know any better who aren’t being raised to know better. Ashley is Black, herself, yet she actively chooses to live in a blissful denial about a great number of things too. So I don’t see how she is granted so much leniency while we are expected to write off all of her friends as lost causes.
That's not a blanket excuse for her friends' ignorance. If you don’t want to give them a pass I can understand why. I’m not going to fault you for it when I think it’s a complicated, personal choice shaped by a combination of extenuating factors.
But, my overall point is that if Ashley really cared about these people, namely Kimberly, then wouldn’t it have made sense for her to discuss any of her misgivings with them? Sometimes you make sacrifices for people you care about. You gracefully try to help them because they matter to you and you want to give them an opportunity to prove themselves. You don’t want to have to cut them off. I don't think it's fair to shift the narrative in Ashley’s favor to disguise the fact that she is complicit.
I could understand if Ashley was scared of rocking the boat because she’d lose the friend group. Except I feel that ship somewhat sailed considering the cheating thing. Also, Ashley alludes to the fact that after their senior year it’s likely none of them will interact anyways. So what’s holding her back? You can argue that since the friendship has an expiration date there is no reason for her to bring it up now. Except Ashley not challenging their prejudice goes against the very thesis of the novel.
After the blow up, the other two friends in the group don’t even care. They don’t ask about why Ashley did it - she literally never expounds on what drove her to do this to Kimberly - nor are they upset at her after the fact despite how close the group purportedly was. It’s like all of a sudden Kimberly is this huge racist monster that all of them are glad to be rid of. Except all of the white friends were presented as having some latent prejudice so why is Kimberly the scapegoat?
I will admit Ashley does finally say something to Heather who feels way too comfortable using the n-word. The downside is that it is erroneously framed as if Ashley has ascended to some moral high ground, but hey small victories.
All of that aside by far my biggest grievance is that the titular Black kids are nonexistent. Ashley does not hang out with the ‘Black Kids’ until 83% into the book. And when she does it’s honestly insulting because the sole reason she does it is because she has no one other (read: better) options. She doesn’t make a conscious choice to embrace her people or seek a new viewpoint outside of her comfort zone. The Black Kids are a consolation prize.
Despite Ashley’s pointed, casual disdain of them for years they inexplicably welcome her with open arms. And did I mention that this is after she blatantly ignored a protest all the other Black kids took part in in solidarity with the riots earlier in the novel? Yeah, okay sure.
The riots are a means to an end. I don’t feel like the riots impacted anything. They were just another tool to use to move the story in a certain direction. They were not treated with half the importance they deserved. The same exact story could have been told if they were removed.
I didn’t like this book. It had its moments. I connected a lot with Ashley’s emotional failings - as if you couldn’t tell - which did make her more sympathetic to me. Though, I can see why not everyone would feel the same considering it took a lot of speculation on my part that was only technically supported in text. There was some surprisingly insightful commentary on intergenerational trauma. Jo, specifically, was a great look at how demonized mental illness can be in Black households. It’s only in the last decade or so that we’ve begun to unpack how detrimental that kind of belligerent dismissal has been to our community. Unfortunately, the discussions on mental health were not nearly enough to combat all the other deterrents.
I’d say skip this one. I haven’t read any myself, but I know there have to be better books on the LA riots with more likable protagonists or at the very least better written ones.
I don’t mind a book where the main character is horrible. It can make for an aggravating time, however, I can separate my dislike for the character’s actions from whether or not their actions are good for the narrative. That is not the case here.
Ashley is probably the most divisive aspect of this novel. Her privilege leaves her insulated from the realities most people face in general let alone the realities of other Black people. What’s worse she doesn’t care to deconstruct said privilege. She implicitly cosigns the racism of her friends by refusing to speak up. She’s self-centered. She’s overly possessive. She’s all around a terrible person who only continues to get worse.
All of which would be acceptable except for the crucial fact that she lacks an arc.
Is it fun reading about someone as awful as Ashley? Heck no. But, the real question is does Ashley being awful benefit the story? Also no, but you get my point. Ashley is a teenager. She still has, presumably, decades of her life to lead. Plenty of teenagers are like Ashley. It’s not an excuse for their poor character, but it’s regrettably a phase for many. The important thing to note here is that it’s a phase. They will hopefully grow out of it eventually. I expect mistakes when I read young adult books. I expect selfishness. I expect mean spiritedness. It’s par for the course. The conflict arises when I am told information that runs in direct opposition to what I have been shown through reading the text: I am shown that Ashley is a miserable person for the entirety of the book yet told at the end she has achieved enlightenment.
Using the synopsis as the metric by which to judge this book - it is plainly laid forth that Ashley is supposed to learn her lesson along the way. The fact that she never does automatically means the book has not upheld its half of the bargain. And every facet of the book is impaired by Reeds’ failure to effectively convey a sense of personal advancement for Ashley.
First off, the whole notion of Ashley’s preconceived notions about racial identity being shattered is a farce. When the riots happen nothing changes for Ashely because per her aforementioned terribleness she does not care nor does she choose to until it’s too late to make a difference in the trajectory of the story. She is grievously self-involved to the point that the only things that have an impact have to directly affect her otherwise she expends no additional time considering it.
For example, her 21 year old sister Jo has mental health issues aggravated by their parents’ emotional neglect. The mental illness on top of a rebellious temperament means that the family is disinclined to take her seriously when she becomes caught up in the social unrest leading up to the riots. Despite her sister practically begging her to take an interest Ashley refuses to do so for no reason other than general disinterest. Ashley initially waving her off is understandable. However, her sudden decision to care towards the end is arbitrary as a result since Ashley is not allowed to engage in any kind of reflection in the interim.
Ashley is constantly overthinking and assessing and relaying her thoughts so it may seem like all she ever does is reflect, but I touch on why this is actually a smokescreen a bit more later.
The lack of introspection is what I feel does Ashley the most disservice as a character.
Jo’s mental health issues manifested as a lot of volatile, emotional outbursts when she was growing up. In reaction Ashley subconsciously swung in the complete opposite direction; emotional repression. She believes herself to be less important as the attention - even negative - mostly was on Jo. She stays silent on her true feelings because she’s been taught that ‘discussion’ equates to ‘argument’. Therefore, if she is unable to sufficiently argue a point she has internalized the idea that her opinion must not be all that important seeing as she isn’t willing to defend her position. Her feelings of insignificance are compounded by the growing distance between her and her white friends that only she seems to notice. Her inability to share such a significant segment of herself causes her to feel increasingly unmoored. The disillusionment is what pushes her to make the poor decisions she does.
Now, all of what I just said? That’s all from me. Ashley never explores this for herself. She never figures out why she feels compelled to make bad decisions. She never takes accountability for those decisions. She passively blows through the plot complaining and making herself out to be the victim with barely a shred of empathy for anyone else.
I get that she’s not going to be perfect nor do I expect her to be. I get that this is only the beginning of her journey. But, again when the book sets the expectation that Ashley will have to grow up because of the riots I expect that to actually occur. That can’t happen when Ashley is not forced to meaningfully address her shortcomings; it’s intellectualization masquerading as self-reflection. That is to say, while Ashley monologues at length this actually prevents her from changing because she hides her emotional response behind rationalizing the situation. In short she mistakes thinking about an act being bad as equal to feeling bad about doing it. As long as she hides from being emotionally vulnerable it will be impossible for her to progress as she has no reason to do anything different when she’s numb to it either way.
It’s actually a fascinating part of emotional repression - I speak from personal experience. Too bad it’s clearly incidental. It would have been nice to see a spotlight shined on this kind of defense mechanism as it is an underrepresented insidious barrier to a healthier mental state.
The way that Ashley is shielded from any repercussions is frustrating. If a character is terrible - in personality not writing style - then I want this to be committed to. That means letting the situation unfold and other characters react accordingly. Instead Reed coddles Ashley while simultaneously trying to say she had to rise above her circumstances. The cosseting is so embedded in the fundamental framework of the story it extends to the synopsis.
“Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.”
This completely erases Ashley’s involvement as the source of the rumor. How hard would it have been to reword it slightly to include Ashley’s influence?
Lashawn as a whole is a problem. He is severely underdeveloped, disappearing for the bulk of the novel. When he is present he exists purely to aid Ashley. His interest in her would be nonsensical if he were a real person so thankfully he’s only a caricature.
(Next part will be vaguely spoiler-y so keep that in mind)
This is revealed early enough I don’t feel it’s really a spoiler so here we go: Ashley is cheating with her best friend’s boyfriend for most of the novel. She barely likes the guy, but it’s symptomatic of her emotional unavailability. She's been emotionally neglected her entire life so she finds the inability to be truly open to him familiar. Underneath it all she desperately wants to be seen yet she finds the vulnerability scary so being an affair partner is a way of protecting herself. It has the immediacy of feeling wanted while in the long term feeding her insecurities which validates her worthlessness: she’s a bad person so this is all she deserves. From a narrative standpoint, I didn’t mind this since it aligns perfectly to her character.
The fallout of the cheating is a huge part of why the book does not work.
When the cheating comes out it is at an extremely public venue. Kimberly, in response, tears Ashley a new one. Justified. Ashley totally deserves to be called out. Then Kimberly calls her a slur. Obviously reprehensible.
My problem is that Kimberly calling Ashley a slur does not feel like an honest indication of the unconscious racism her friend has been harboring this whole time: it feels like a device designed to even the score to let Ashley off the hook for her misbehaviour.
We don’t even get to read what Kimberly says to her before the slur because Ashley conveniently disassociates the moment she is confronted further limiting Ashley's exposure to consequences.
A slur is absolutely never okay to say - barring instances of reclamation which are up to the respective community and individuals within that community to determine. Kimberly is absolutely in the wrong, no doubt about it. But, it feels like Reed is taking advantage of the way throwing out a slur automatically 'wins' an encounter. She did not want Ashley to be too irredeemable so she threw this nuclear bomb onto the relationship as a way of forcing us to be on Ashley’s side by default. It was manipulative since Ashley was then able to absolve herself of all culpability because her friend turned out to be racist so retroactively she had the betrayal coming.
As much as Kimberly sucks now, Ashley did let her and her other friends get away with racist rhetoric for years. If Kimberly was so despicable all this time then what does that say about Ashley who was expressly comfortable with a lot of Kimberly's other problematic conduct? The book doesn't want you to think about that. It just wants a bombshell to artificially create a reason for Ashley to finally breakaway from the group without having to take the initiative on her own.
Ashley is definitely a victim. I'm not disputing that. I am disputing the assertion that she is a victim to the degree the book tries to propound. I spent a majority of my formative years in predominantly white spaces. I understand intimately the difficulty in navigating similar experiences. It is extremely hard when you’re young to call out poor behavior - not just restricted to racism - when it’s coming from someone you care about.
That being said, before the moment Kimberly scorches the earth, she was not this malignant, bigoted demon. She was a casually racist affluent white girl in the early 90s - I’d imagine that was not uncommon. More importantly, she was Ashley’s closest friend. Her closest friend whom Ashley never even tried to explain anything to. It's certainly not Ashley's job to educate her friends but the caveat is if they're her friends it is partially her responsibility to negotiate boundaries. So them not understanding how something is racist is on them, but her not even making an attempt is on her. Whose to say what would have happened if she had told them she was uncomfortable? How were they supposed to know she wasn't?
Also, this takes place before the Internet age. I feel like some amount of clemency can be granted to a bunch of 17 year olds who don't know any better who aren’t being raised to know better. Ashley is Black, herself, yet she actively chooses to live in a blissful denial about a great number of things too. So I don’t see how she is granted so much leniency while we are expected to write off all of her friends as lost causes.
That's not a blanket excuse for her friends' ignorance. If you don’t want to give them a pass I can understand why. I’m not going to fault you for it when I think it’s a complicated, personal choice shaped by a combination of extenuating factors.
But, my overall point is that if Ashley really cared about these people, namely Kimberly, then wouldn’t it have made sense for her to discuss any of her misgivings with them? Sometimes you make sacrifices for people you care about. You gracefully try to help them because they matter to you and you want to give them an opportunity to prove themselves. You don’t want to have to cut them off. I don't think it's fair to shift the narrative in Ashley’s favor to disguise the fact that she is complicit.
I could understand if Ashley was scared of rocking the boat because she’d lose the friend group. Except I feel that ship somewhat sailed considering the cheating thing. Also, Ashley alludes to the fact that after their senior year it’s likely none of them will interact anyways. So what’s holding her back? You can argue that since the friendship has an expiration date there is no reason for her to bring it up now. Except Ashley not challenging their prejudice goes against the very thesis of the novel.
After the blow up, the other two friends in the group don’t even care. They don’t ask about why Ashley did it - she literally never expounds on what drove her to do this to Kimberly - nor are they upset at her after the fact despite how close the group purportedly was. It’s like all of a sudden Kimberly is this huge racist monster that all of them are glad to be rid of. Except all of the white friends were presented as having some latent prejudice so why is Kimberly the scapegoat?
I will admit Ashley does finally say something to Heather who feels way too comfortable using the n-word. The downside is that it is erroneously framed as if Ashley has ascended to some moral high ground, but hey small victories.
All of that aside by far my biggest grievance is that the titular Black kids are nonexistent. Ashley does not hang out with the ‘Black Kids’ until 83% into the book. And when she does it’s honestly insulting because the sole reason she does it is because she has no one other (read: better) options. She doesn’t make a conscious choice to embrace her people or seek a new viewpoint outside of her comfort zone. The Black Kids are a consolation prize.
Despite Ashley’s pointed, casual disdain of them for years they inexplicably welcome her with open arms. And did I mention that this is after she blatantly ignored a protest all the other Black kids took part in in solidarity with the riots earlier in the novel? Yeah, okay sure.
The riots are a means to an end. I don’t feel like the riots impacted anything. They were just another tool to use to move the story in a certain direction. They were not treated with half the importance they deserved. The same exact story could have been told if they were removed.
I didn’t like this book. It had its moments. I connected a lot with Ashley’s emotional failings - as if you couldn’t tell - which did make her more sympathetic to me. Though, I can see why not everyone would feel the same considering it took a lot of speculation on my part that was only technically supported in text. There was some surprisingly insightful commentary on intergenerational trauma. Jo, specifically, was a great look at how demonized mental illness can be in Black households. It’s only in the last decade or so that we’ve begun to unpack how detrimental that kind of belligerent dismissal has been to our community. Unfortunately, the discussions on mental health were not nearly enough to combat all the other deterrents.
I’d say skip this one. I haven’t read any myself, but I know there have to be better books on the LA riots with more likable protagonists or at the very least better written ones.
tmyers3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
evarano's review against another edition
3.0
I'd rate this a 2.5.
I had a hard time with this book-it took me forever to get through, despite being extremely excited to read it.
The Black Kids is about a teenager named Ashley, who is living in LA during the Rodney King trial and following riots. Ashley, and her group of friends, are navigating life in LA, finishing high school and hanging out, through all the turmoil. Life gets more complicated when Ashley unintentionally starts a rumour about one of her classmates.
I thought the premise of the book was so interesting-but I was surprised that it didn't exactly focus on the Rodney King riots, that was a side plot. The book focused on Ashley and her senior year, with her friends and family. Let me start by saying that almost everyone in this book, except perhaps Lucia, Lana, Harrison and LaShawn (and his friends) were so extremely unlikeable. Ashley's friends were shockingly horrible people. Ashley herself wasn't much better, she was selfish, never stood up for herself or others until the end and engaged in a lot of wrong behaviour. She forgave to easily and very clearly didn't know who she was, which is fine, but hard to read. I was shocked at a lot of things that were said and done in this book and do think it is important to be aware that people still treat each other this way today.
I really enjoyed the end, despite skimming through most of the book. The highlight of the story was the relationship between Ashley and LaShawn. LaShawn was the best character by far, he was so real, so sincere and true to himself. There were other moments I enjoyed as well, I think the author successfully captured the experience of a black teenager living in LA during that time, there were a lot of horrible, shocking events that occurred which were extremely sad but necessary to know about. Ashley's parents had molded her to be this young woman who was unaware of what was around her, they wanted to protect her from things which is understandable, however this just made her accept things she shouldn't have. They were so judgemental, her sister Jo was all over the place and the rest of her family she wasn't that close to.
The writing felt extremely choppy to me, I felt like so much was mentioned that didn't need to be, it kind of jumped around from here to there without much connecting it. There were a couple of times I thought the story was over, but kept going. It really wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I appreciate the author covering important and difficult subjects, race, sexuality, familial challenges, prejudice, etc., however, the book just didn't stick with me, it was hard to get through.
I had a hard time with this book-it took me forever to get through, despite being extremely excited to read it.
The Black Kids is about a teenager named Ashley, who is living in LA during the Rodney King trial and following riots. Ashley, and her group of friends, are navigating life in LA, finishing high school and hanging out, through all the turmoil. Life gets more complicated when Ashley unintentionally starts a rumour about one of her classmates.
I thought the premise of the book was so interesting-but I was surprised that it didn't exactly focus on the Rodney King riots, that was a side plot. The book focused on Ashley and her senior year, with her friends and family. Let me start by saying that almost everyone in this book, except perhaps Lucia, Lana, Harrison and LaShawn (and his friends) were so extremely unlikeable. Ashley's friends were shockingly horrible people. Ashley herself wasn't much better, she was selfish, never stood up for herself or others until the end and engaged in a lot of wrong behaviour. She forgave to easily and very clearly didn't know who she was, which is fine, but hard to read. I was shocked at a lot of things that were said and done in this book and do think it is important to be aware that people still treat each other this way today.
I really enjoyed the end, despite skimming through most of the book. The highlight of the story was the relationship between Ashley and LaShawn. LaShawn was the best character by far, he was so real, so sincere and true to himself. There were other moments I enjoyed as well, I think the author successfully captured the experience of a black teenager living in LA during that time, there were a lot of horrible, shocking events that occurred which were extremely sad but necessary to know about. Ashley's parents had molded her to be this young woman who was unaware of what was around her, they wanted to protect her from things which is understandable, however this just made her accept things she shouldn't have. They were so judgemental, her sister Jo was all over the place and the rest of her family she wasn't that close to.
The writing felt extremely choppy to me, I felt like so much was mentioned that didn't need to be, it kind of jumped around from here to there without much connecting it. There were a couple of times I thought the story was over, but kept going. It really wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I appreciate the author covering important and difficult subjects, race, sexuality, familial challenges, prejudice, etc., however, the book just didn't stick with me, it was hard to get through.
evarano's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ⭐️
I had a hard time with this book-it took me forever to get through, despite being extremely excited to read it.
The Black Kids is about a teenager named Ashley, who is living in LA during the Rodney King trial and following riots. Ashley, and her group of friends, are navigating life in LA, finishing high school and hanging out, through all the turmoil. Life gets more complicated when Ashley unintentionally starts a rumour about one of her classmates.
I thought the premise of the book was so interesting-but I was surprised that it didn't exactly focus on the Rodney King riots, that was a side plot. The book focused on Ashley and her senior year, with her friends and family. Let me start by saying that almost everyone in this book, except perhaps Lucia, Lana, Harrison and LaShawn (and his friends) were so extremely unlikeable. Ashley's friends were shockingly horrible people. Ashley herself wasn't much better, she was selfish, never stood up for herself or others until the end and engaged in a lot of wrong behaviour. She forgave very easily and clearly didn't know who she was, which is fine, but hard to read. I was shocked at a lot of things that were said and done in this book and do think it is important to be aware that people still treat each other this way today.
I really enjoyed the end, despite skimming through most of the book. The highlight of the story was the relationship between Ashley and LaShawn. LaShawn was the best character by far, he was so real, so sincere and true to himself. There were other moments I enjoyed as well, I think the author successfully captured the experience of a black teenager living in LA during that time, there were a lot of horrible, shocking events that occurred which were extremely sad but necessary to know about. Ashley's parents had molded her to be this young woman who was unaware of what was around her, they wanted to protect her from things which is understandable, however this just made her accept things she shouldn't have. They were so judgemental, her sister Jo was all over the place and the rest of her family she wasn't that close to.
The writing felt extremely choppy to me, I felt like so much was mentioned that didn't need to be, it kind of jumped around from here to there without much connecting it. There were a couple of times I thought the story was over, but it kept going. It really wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I appreciate the author covering important and difficult subjects, race, sexuality, familial challenges, prejudice, etc., however, the book just didn't stick with me, it was hard to get through.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review!
I had a hard time with this book-it took me forever to get through, despite being extremely excited to read it.
The Black Kids is about a teenager named Ashley, who is living in LA during the Rodney King trial and following riots. Ashley, and her group of friends, are navigating life in LA, finishing high school and hanging out, through all the turmoil. Life gets more complicated when Ashley unintentionally starts a rumour about one of her classmates.
I thought the premise of the book was so interesting-but I was surprised that it didn't exactly focus on the Rodney King riots, that was a side plot. The book focused on Ashley and her senior year, with her friends and family. Let me start by saying that almost everyone in this book, except perhaps Lucia, Lana, Harrison and LaShawn (and his friends) were so extremely unlikeable. Ashley's friends were shockingly horrible people. Ashley herself wasn't much better, she was selfish, never stood up for herself or others until the end and engaged in a lot of wrong behaviour. She forgave very easily and clearly didn't know who she was, which is fine, but hard to read. I was shocked at a lot of things that were said and done in this book and do think it is important to be aware that people still treat each other this way today.
I really enjoyed the end, despite skimming through most of the book. The highlight of the story was the relationship between Ashley and LaShawn. LaShawn was the best character by far, he was so real, so sincere and true to himself. There were other moments I enjoyed as well, I think the author successfully captured the experience of a black teenager living in LA during that time, there were a lot of horrible, shocking events that occurred which were extremely sad but necessary to know about. Ashley's parents had molded her to be this young woman who was unaware of what was around her, they wanted to protect her from things which is understandable, however this just made her accept things she shouldn't have. They were so judgemental, her sister Jo was all over the place and the rest of her family she wasn't that close to.
The writing felt extremely choppy to me, I felt like so much was mentioned that didn't need to be, it kind of jumped around from here to there without much connecting it. There were a couple of times I thought the story was over, but it kept going. It really wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I appreciate the author covering important and difficult subjects, race, sexuality, familial challenges, prejudice, etc., however, the book just didn't stick with me, it was hard to get through.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review!
beela's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
zach_off's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
5.0
I've read a lot of books set during the 1992 race riots in LA and I think this one perfectly captures what it must have felt like to be a Black teen during that time. This historical novel explores how wealth, race, class, and privilege intersect against the tumultuous backdrop of the Rodney King Riots through the lens of a Black teen attending a posh private school. This story may be a work of historical fiction, but its relevance to today’s social and political events makes it a must read.