Jumata Emill

Two and a half stars. I disliked the first book I read of the author's. This one was a much better experience. It was believable mostly. The plot contrivances were there for reasons, you know? And they were...less. I was glad this was a dual POV. It was interesting! The dynamics between the parents and kids versus the stepparents and kids would have...maybe been explored in another novel. The two plotlines were so different from one another. I have no sympathy for cheaters. The dad was pardoned over and over and over and I was so annoyed, and even at the end, he barely took any responsibility for his behavior. The unspoken view the whole family had was "we need to get over this immediately and suddenly because it's been seventeen years". VERILY AND YEA, PLOT CONTRIVANCE. Oh, -now- you're gonna discuss all that stuff and come to a neat resolution? Not realistically, you're not. It's because the author needed to wrap up the subplots in the book so it could end. The last few chapters had them trying to figure stuff out and become a blended family, but it was shoved into maybe fifty pages when that needed to be an entire book. With all the dad's wealth, why didn't he consider family therapy? Selfish, and in denial of the fact that this whole thing is indeed his doing. He is getting everything he ever wanted throughout the book. I did not like the dad one single bit. Nana was basically a twist villain in regards to the family, which I disliked.

I don't know if the slave game was based off a real event. In my mind, it could easily have been. I thought about the consequences the kids faced for awhile. It came off as melodrama really, which, ugh, fine.
And yet, I do wonder what a third book from this author would address.… (more)

A brothers determination to clear his brothers name after the murder of their friend uncovers a racist game involving fellow classmates.

The Trudeau brothers live contrasting lives. Amir and Marcel Trudeau are step-brothers who are not close. Marcel's 16th birthday is attended by many of their fellow classmates. Chloe Danvers encourages Amir to attend his party, not knowing Amir's life is about to change drastically. Chloe's lifeless body is found by Amir after she asks him to stay with her for fear of something bad happening. Amir becomes the prime suspect of her murder after she is found at her home. Marcel's determination to clear his brothers name uncovers a slave game and its ties to a prominent family.

I loved the dynamics of the Trudeau brothers created by Jumata Emill. Step families can be challenging as both brothers discover. Marcel's detective skills were fun to read as he is determined to clear his brothers name. This is a heart warming story of a brotherly bond formed out of heartache and death of a friend. I highly recommend this book.… (more)

efore I even begin, how is it we do not have this cover? I love this cover. It is so much better than the one we have.

Pushing all that aside, I saw this book up on the new releases and the premise sounded so interesting. Set in Louisiana a few years after Hurricane Katrina, African-Americans have integrated into one of the most white schools. Unfortunately, this does not mean the racism against colored people has stopped. It is still there and very real. When Nova decides to run for Homecoming Queen, this seems to upset Tinsley, who believes that since her family has held that title, so should see. The two girls hate each other and one night, everything changes in their lives. Nova has been murdered and her body dumped in a slave cemetery. This is the same cemetery she has been passionate about cleaning up. For Tinsley, she becomes the first suspect after a video comes out showing her saying how she wanted to KILL Nova and dump her body in the slave cemetery.

But there are secrets Nova took to the grave and her friend Duchess is determined to bring the killer to justice and she has eyes set on Tinsley. For Duchess, she believes that the only way she can get Tinsley to confess is by befriending her, but Duchess learns that this will not be an open-and-shut case for her and there is far more going on than she realizes.

This book was an amazing read. I was able to devour it within a few short hours and the twists and turns to this book had me hoping for the most satisfying ending -

And we get one. One of the most satisfying endings I have read yet. I loved Duchess. I loved how she went beyond everything to find the killer that had taken Nova's life. Even Tinsley redeemed herself in my eyes. It took a while but she really became someone I could feel sorry for.

The characters are great. There are some you will hate with a passion and some you sympathize with. This story shows that racism is still very much alive and it has never left. These are affluent white people who don't like the notion of colored people coming into their well-manicured world and disrupting it. They don't like changes and certainly having a colored woman as Homecoming Queen is just not going to happen in this school.

Seriously, you need to pick up this book and read it. It is well worth it. Trust me when I say this.… (more)

I wanted to like this. It turned out to be one of the most boring YA murder mysteries I've read in awhile. The opening comparisons of these original book characters to already-established movie characters is a choice that might make sense if the opening character were planning to major in film in college or something. Instead, this book has multiple POVs, and I was often unable to tell the difference between each. This is weak writing. There are half-baked cliches every other page. The characters are so one-dimensional. The supposed character arc is unearned, plus both heavy-handed and poorly developed. I grimaced every time it was hinted to develop. I was unable to predict the murderer because there were too many characters in this book, none of whom were given enough development for me to make the call. The third act plot twist concerning paternity had me shouting, "Oh, come on!" in frustration. The murderer was just--and how it was revealed! This wasn't a YA murder mystery. It was a fucking soap opera. That's not what I signed up for when I read this.… (more)