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shinespike's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This mystery was a mystery that I couldn’t solve quickly . Usually I could see what’s going on by the beginning or middle of the book but this one I was just like HUH and HOW the whole time which was fun for me. It’s interesting that the main protagonist is a white passing light skin apparently and it’s just like hello?? the characters I kind of like but not really. I feel like rachel being the reason for everything happening in the book was interesting though I didn’t really care for David but I did like his development. It was just like seriously this would’ve been a 3 but since I couldn’t figure out the mystery quick I gave it a 4.
snowdrowsey's review
1.0
I got this book because it appeared to be a mystery set in the 1920's in Harlem, so it sounded interesting. Instead there wasn't much of a traditional mystery in the story. It turned out to be about a black man who was from the upper crust of Harlem. He had been away working for the 1920s civil rights movement, and had secretly been living as a white man working as an attorney in Philadelphia. He returns home after one of his sisters died mysteriously determined to find out the truth about her death. As I was reading this I began to wonder when the actually solving of the mystery would take place. I came to believe that the main characters sisters who were twins switched places. His twin sisters seemed to be polar opposites of each other and I believed the wild twin had switched places with the "normal" twin. The wild twin then was murdered and the "normal" twin who had been a writer had disappeared in order to get the book she'd written finished and published. Unfortunately, the only thing I was right about was that the twins had switched places. However, it was the wild twin who had murdered her "normal" and assumed her identity in an effort to steal her sister's life and husband, she secretly desired. Her plan failed and she was drugged and murdered by the husband. Then a series of horrible events befell the main character. He ended up being wrongfully charged and convicted of murdering his brother-in-law and was sentenced to death row. The truth did come to light before he was executed, and he was able to regain his freedom and live out a happy life in Harlem.
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