Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsComing of Age debut
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2024
First off, one thing I was not expecting but pleasantly surprised by was that the main character Diamond was a fat teenager. This immediately piqued my interest. The way the author wrote how Diamond viewed herself as well as other adults around her -"She's like a wise person from the future, come to tell me things I'll need to know, give me things I'll need to fight my way out of here. 'Here' being this town and my body." We really get to see Diamond through a lot in this book including her first time with a boy and navigating friendships and more importantly her relationship with her mother. Diamond is biracial (white mother, black father) and just doesn't know where she belongs.
I was really into the whole mystery of her dad disappearance 7 years prior and honestly thought we would get more of that? But it seemed like we did not get a resolution on where his whereabouts truly were. Could I have missed it? That is very likely. I was very confused through most of this book. I did not think the letters from the relatives that Diamond didn't know about were relevant as I was more interested in the coming of age aspect of Diamond and the mystery of her dad.
These two quotes stuck out to me while listening & made me say wow :
"I didn't know there could be such a lonely laugh. I got to wondering, who is this person without their people? How am I Clumsy Clara, silly and stubborn Clara, Clara with her head in the clouds - how am I that girl without anyone who loves me saying it, seeing me. I think, maybe I am a ghost. Maybe I died with the others."
"Being here in Woodville makes me uneasy, like I'm in between places, waiting to start my life again. Your hometown makes you and breaks you and makes you again. Daddy said that to me. I wonder if that's how you'll feel about Swift River if you ever leave it?"
Even though there was a lot that confused me while reading, I did enjoy the book and will check out this author's future work.
Check this book out if you like multi-generational stories, set in the Northeast in the late 80s, coming of age!