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A review by inkerly
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book had my attention and my jaw at several points because gyat damnnnn…It is a wild ride. I also took the time to read the post-Character Analysis chapter notes that the author put together. The storytelling, twists and turns, and writing for its time is deserving of 3 stars. But I have a lot of thoughts.
Book Comparisons
This book reminded me a lot of Moth to a Flame, both because of the heroine/heroine family’s fall from Grace due to the gangsta lifestyle they lived, and some of the characters.
Winter
The events of the story take place mostly in Brooklyn, New York from 1990-1995 when Winter is between ages 13-18.
Winter is a certified sociopath, but there is this pity you still feel for her. Every time you hold out hope… it’s snatched away. Or worse, she digs herself deeper. The author did well capturing Winter’s character — a vain, shallow, hood girl who is in over her head with the streets. Who I’ll admit, is also pretty darn funny at times. But also a broken naive individual who is not only the villain in her own story, but a telltale sign of who not to end up like.
Unanswered Questions
Where I will say the book lost me is- it is over 500 pages (in the ebook version at least), and it feels like when one plot thickens, Winter jumps onto the next one and leaves so many questions unanswered. Spoiler How were her sisters able to survive, and how was no one in the streets (not even Natalie?) able to find them? Why didn’t Winter ever consider getting a job (seriously) instead of going to the lengths she did. What happens to the girls Winter met along the way- Rashida, Lauren, etc. and is Winter ever tied back to her crimes when she’s locked up (she KILLED an elderly woman in broad daylight for Pete’s sake!) ?Why didn’t the social worker in the Group Home intervene in Winter's life after speculating she was a Sociopath? Was Bullet’s plan all along to pin his ruse on Winter? And if so, why did she defend him and take 15 years for him?!?—-. Everything just felt like it was moving too fast and Winter was just repeating the same mistakes. Just insanity.
Cons: Homophobia and AIDs -“awareness”
There’s also the bleeding homophobic undertones in this book. From Will’s character (truly a revolting POS) to Winter and even Sister Souljah ‘s, it is abundantly clear that there is a disdain for bisexual/sexually fluid men. The author even implies that she herself avoids bisexual men because of their promiscuity and risk for AIDS. And even the AIDS-afflicted people in this book are looked down on and treated like they’re contagious. Now it’s 2023 and we know that this is not true, but 20 years ago someone vetted, published, and distributed this book to schools and reading clubs at the height of the AIDS epidemic and no one batted an eye . Needless to say it was a hard read.
Con: Misogyny, Colorism, and Self Inserting Yourself as the Hero in your own story
The biggest red flag this book has is its anti black misogyny and … I have so many questions.
Sex at 12? Girls using abortions as birth control? Being proud light-skinned groupies for industry men (who live in the same Ghetto as them)? I didn’t know whether I was reading a book from a SISTA or the mind of a 60-year old white conservative man because that’s what they think of black people, more or less. The author would have you believe every black ghetto girl is a walking Fatherless, unsaved sex Harlot! Winter, by some grace, is treated better by the colorist men in the book because she’s an attractive half-Cuban girl who’s “wifey material” (aka arm-candy) but even that only takes her so far.
I’m still scratching my head at what girl in the hood has a Medicaid card for just getting free abortions because “the d*** is too good, and condoms aren’t the same” or what girls would look up to Natalie and Winter. According to Souljah, plenty of girls do. I get her trying to paint the picture that these shallow and vain aspects of hood culture destroys the community but the disparity in how the girls are looked down on vs the absent fathers/men who create these gang ridden communities in the first place is wild.
And what’s interesting is, in her character analysis of Winter, the author Sister Souljah writes that not only Winter but Modern American Women as a whole are what’s wrong with relationships between men and women today. Quote “they’ll s*** a man’s d*** on the first date or let go of their values for him if it means getting a guy who they think will spoil them”
So it’s not even that growing up in the hood makes you that way. Just being an American women means that you are already a women of degenerate values and lack self respect and worth. Hmm.
But if 99% of the women in this book are Godless, vain, promiscuous, bubble brained Ho’s, who are the 1% of women who should be the aspiration for young girls?
Well I guess Sister Souljah herself.
Yes she is her own character in this book. And the thing is there was no payoff to her cameo appearance in this book. She writes herself as a prominent motivational speaker/activist who is young and “cool” enough to relate to the community, but Winter does not learn anything from her, and when we see her in action we don’t see the true impact she has on the people she claims she helps . The irony that the author could’ve done so much more with her own character!!! But I guess her purpose in spotlighting herself was to plug in her business teach how the choices that people make in their lives have a cascading effect on the quality of life they lead. Midnight, G, the HIV-affected incarcerated women, and more exemplify this. Which, speaking of Midnight…
Midnight
Midnight is the Ethic (Of Moth to a Flame) of this universe. Cool, calm and collected, he is a spiritual man unlike most in his hood who keeps his friends close and Faith and Family closer. He is supposed to be the rare peacemaker who turns on a good path because he knows that the fast life isn’t the long life. He definitely held my interest and I wanted to learn more about how he came to change his ways and harbor his outlook on life. But the weird one-sided love “triangle” that goes on between him, Sister Souljah and Winter just weirded me out too much and didn’t give me any closure about why his and Souljahs relationship was important . It was just weird , like he was one of many male characters meant to be a fantasy of Souljah’s who would lust and pine after her but whom she could reject as she pleased...
It appears there’s a spin-off series that focuses on him and his life so maybe this is the substance that I’m missing.
Final Thoughts
Now I think the book is alright for what it was, which is, a tale for underserved black and Latinx youth living in the projects to see that investing in yourself, values and Faith are more important than any clothes or shoes money could buy; Good for the author for sparking a cultural debate and discussion on these very real things. I just think this type of messaging has aged itself a a bit. For our sake, urban fiction can be juicy and hard hitting without the icky -isms that just tears us apart.
Book Comparisons
This book reminded me a lot of Moth to a Flame, both because of the heroine/heroine family’s fall from Grace due to the gangsta lifestyle they lived, and some of the characters.
Winter
The events of the story take place mostly in Brooklyn, New York from 1990-1995 when Winter is between ages 13-18.
Winter is a certified sociopath, but there is this pity you still feel for her. Every time you hold out hope… it’s snatched away. Or worse, she digs herself deeper. The author did well capturing Winter’s character — a vain, shallow, hood girl who is in over her head with the streets. Who I’ll admit, is also pretty darn funny at times. But also a broken naive individual who is not only the villain in her own story, but a telltale sign of who not to end up like.
Unanswered Questions
Where I will say the book lost me is- it is over 500 pages (in the ebook version at least), and it feels like when one plot thickens, Winter jumps onto the next one and leaves so many questions unanswered. Spoiler How were her sisters able to survive, and how was no one in the streets (not even Natalie?) able to find them? Why didn’t Winter ever consider getting a job (seriously) instead of going to the lengths she did. What happens to the girls Winter met along the way- Rashida, Lauren, etc. and is Winter ever tied back to her crimes when she’s locked up (she KILLED an elderly woman in broad daylight for Pete’s sake!) ?Why didn’t the social worker in the Group Home intervene in Winter's life after speculating she was a Sociopath? Was Bullet’s plan all along to pin his ruse on Winter? And if so, why did she defend him and take 15 years for him?!?—-. Everything just felt like it was moving too fast and Winter was just repeating the same mistakes. Just insanity.
Cons: Homophobia and AIDs -“awareness”
There’s also the bleeding homophobic undertones in this book. From Will’s character (truly a revolting POS) to Winter and even Sister Souljah ‘s, it is abundantly clear that there is a disdain for bisexual/sexually fluid men. The author even implies that she herself avoids bisexual men because of their promiscuity and risk for AIDS. And even the AIDS-afflicted people in this book are looked down on and treated like they’re contagious. Now it’s 2023 and we know that this is not true, but 20 years ago someone vetted, published, and distributed this book to schools and reading clubs at the height of the AIDS epidemic and no one batted an eye . Needless to say it was a hard read.
Con: Misogyny, Colorism, and Self Inserting Yourself as the Hero in your own story
The biggest red flag this book has is its anti black misogyny and … I have so many questions.
Sex at 12? Girls using abortions as birth control? Being proud light-skinned groupies for industry men (who live in the same Ghetto as them)? I didn’t know whether I was reading a book from a SISTA or the mind of a 60-year old white conservative man because that’s what they think of black people, more or less. The author would have you believe every black ghetto girl is a walking Fatherless, unsaved sex Harlot! Winter, by some grace, is treated better by the colorist men in the book because she’s an attractive half-Cuban girl who’s “wifey material” (aka arm-candy) but even that only takes her so far.
I’m still scratching my head at what girl in the hood has a Medicaid card for just getting free abortions because “the d*** is too good, and condoms aren’t the same” or what girls would look up to Natalie and Winter. According to Souljah, plenty of girls do. I get her trying to paint the picture that these shallow and vain aspects of hood culture destroys the community but the disparity in how the girls are looked down on vs the absent fathers/men who create these gang ridden communities in the first place is wild.
And what’s interesting is, in her character analysis of Winter, the author Sister Souljah writes that not only Winter but Modern American Women as a whole are what’s wrong with relationships between men and women today. Quote “they’ll s*** a man’s d*** on the first date or let go of their values for him if it means getting a guy who they think will spoil them”
So it’s not even that growing up in the hood makes you that way. Just being an American women means that you are already a women of degenerate values and lack self respect and worth. Hmm.
But if 99% of the women in this book are Godless, vain, promiscuous, bubble brained Ho’s, who are the 1% of women who should be the aspiration for young girls?
Well I guess Sister Souljah herself.
Yes she is her own character in this book. And the thing is there was no payoff to her cameo appearance in this book. She writes herself as a prominent motivational speaker/activist who is young and “cool” enough to relate to the community, but Winter does not learn anything from her, and when we see her in action we don’t see the true impact she has on the people she claims she helps . The irony that the author could’ve done so much more with her own character!!! But I guess her purpose in spotlighting herself was to plug in her business teach how the choices that people make in their lives have a cascading effect on the quality of life they lead. Midnight, G, the HIV-affected incarcerated women, and more exemplify this. Which, speaking of Midnight…
Midnight
Midnight is the Ethic (Of Moth to a Flame) of this universe. Cool, calm and collected, he is a spiritual man unlike most in his hood who keeps his friends close and Faith and Family closer. He is supposed to be the rare peacemaker who turns on a good path because he knows that the fast life isn’t the long life. He definitely held my interest and I wanted to learn more about how he came to change his ways and harbor his outlook on life. But the weird one-sided love “triangle” that goes on between him, Sister Souljah and Winter just weirded me out too much and didn’t give me any closure about why his and Souljahs relationship was important . It was just weird , like he was one of many male characters meant to be a fantasy of Souljah’s who would lust and pine after her but whom she could reject as she pleased...
It appears there’s a spin-off series that focuses on him and his life so maybe this is the substance that I’m missing.
Final Thoughts
Now I think the book is alright for what it was, which is, a tale for underserved black and Latinx youth living in the projects to see that investing in yourself, values and Faith are more important than any clothes or shoes money could buy; Good for the author for sparking a cultural debate and discussion on these very real things. I just think this type of messaging has aged itself a a bit. For our sake, urban fiction can be juicy and hard hitting without the icky -isms that just tears us apart.