Final Rating:
Date of Completion: 27/11/2021
Cover:
This book cover is just stunning! I love the simplicity and link to key parts of the story.
Writing:
There is no denying that the writing in this book is choppy and unfocused. Between the numerous tangents and rapid changes from past to current events, I initially found this writing style jarring. However, as the story progressed, I realised that the informal, conversational tone created is actually very fitting for the story.
If all the heroes in our stories are white, what does that make us?
Storyline:
Because of the choppy writing, the storyline does not have a smooth flow. Despite this, the numerous topics around race, family and identity explored in the storyline kept it engaging.
Main character:
Ashley Bennett is not a perfect or particularly “woke” main character. She is spoilt, passive and impulsive, but she is also a teenager trying to find her place in the world. Her glaring flaws not only made her character’s development more striking but also made her narrative more fascinating and realistic.
We have to walk around being perfect all the time just to be seen as human
Secondary characters:
While the secondary characters lacked as much depth as Ashley’s character, they still felt well developed. Each character had a distinct personality and contributed to the various topics explored. However, none of these characters made a big impression on me as they lacked enough relatability and complexity.
Romance:
This was okay. I liked that the romance did not play a huge role in the storyline or become overly complex. It was really cute to follow but rather predictable as I managed to correctly guess how things would play out.
On the whole, ‘The Black Kids‘ is not a story I would call action-packed or thrilling. Instead, it is a character-driven story that presents a fascinating perspective on the topic of race and other aspects of identity for readers to think about or discuss. These topics, along with the evolving main character and unique writing style, kept the story engaging.
Do you agree or disagree with anything mentioned above? Let us know in the comments below.
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[…] Overall, ‘Blood Debts’ is an entertaining debut, but I wanted more from the numerous themes raised. Still, I enjoyed the mystery aspect and would love to see how the characters and world are further developed in the next book. For another character-driven Young Adult story that explores race and identity, I would recommend The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed. […]
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