Title: Color Me In

Author: Natasha Diaz

Publisher: Ember 2020

Genre: YA Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - October

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but because she inadvertently passes as white, her cousin thinks she's too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices African Americans face on a daily basis. In the meantime, Nevaeh's dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. But rather than take a stand, Nevaeh does what she's always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

Only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom's past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces does she begin to realize she has her own voice. And choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she decide once for all who and where she is meant to be?

I was very underwhelmed by this book. I loved the premise and was hoping for another The Poet X or Clap When You Land. Instead, we get a book with virtually no plot with underdeveloped characters and bad poetry. I wasn’t a fan of how other women were portrayed (very stereotypical villain types). I hated the father and mostly the mother. The ways in which Nevaeh oppresses others while whining about being oppressed really got to me. Overall, this was a very immature debut novel. Lots of interesting topics but not well executed.

Next up on the TBR pile: