5 stars
TW: death, sexual assault (on page), rape (on page, explicit), colorism, physical abuse (explicit), slut-shaming

"What we go through ... it meant fi serve us ... and if it cyan serve us, it can at least change us. Mek us betta people. Stronger people. You cyan 'fraid of a likkle rain and breeze."

I'm a simple man—I really am—you give me a book set in the Caribbean and I have to have it.
I'll be honest, I didn't think much of this when I first got my hands on it. I saw that it had to do with Caribbean people and hurricanes, two things I'm well-acquainted with, and thought, "Oh, this'll be an alright book" and man was it way more than that.

This book is an absolute five star from me, which, if you know me at all, you'll also know is a bit like watching a horrible catastrophe go down—not common at all but definitely something I won't shut up about for a while.
I mean, just everything about it is absolute gold to me. I'm having a hard time putting into words what I enjoyed when it was /everything/. Let me take it slow and go one by one:

God, do I love the main character. I was under the impression that this was young adult so I was horrified of Tilla being one of those incredibly annoying YA protagonists but, uh, yeah, this is definitely new adult. (Seriously, somebody change the official age range for this because nothing about this reads like YA) And Tilla is definitely not that. It's actually insane how much I related to her—from her relationship with her family to the way she experiences a culture shock—I genuinely saw myself in her. It doesn't really sound like much, but I never see myself in new adult books. I never see myself in contemporary. I never see my friends and my family the way that I saw them in this book.
The characters in this book felt to me like the people I've known in my life and the people I grew up with. I've known Andre in my life. I've known an Aunt Herma. I feel what these characters feel because to me they're people who've existed in my life.

Speaking of, this book got the atmosphere so right. It's the kind of thing that I can't explain to non-Caribbean people, but trust me when I say that you will FEEL it when you read this book. I was only in Jamaica for a short while, but the descriptions in this book radiate the atmosphere of all the islands. I mean, I genuinely saw my home in this. The smell of the grass, the look of the towns, the fruits, the type of people you see—everything about it felt so right to me.
Even the emotions surrounding the hurricane were real. I've always grown up around the absolute truth that hurricane season is imminent. It could mean some strong winds for a while or it could mean the absolute desolation of everything around me. The plot of the story, while going around multiple ideas and subplots, ultimately revolves around this upcoming hurricane and what it'll do. The attitude surrounding it was just so...Caribbean, ya feel? I mean, there really is no other way to say it.

I'll say it: this book made me downright bawl. I've noticed a pattern where all my favorite books are things that made me cry and, yep, this goes right in. So many things happened that were just so brutal. I think the reason I can usually stomach horrific things happening in what I read is because they're mostly fantasy. My suspension of belief is very thin. I'm aware this isn't real, therefore I am disconnected from it, But everything about this felt like something that I would see myself—like a story my friend would tell or something I would hear from cousin so-and-so. When horrible things happened it felt like it could happen to anyone I know and it made it so much worse. God, this book was so heartbreaking I don't even want to talk about it.

I mean, yeah, there's just so much to say that I have nothing to say at all. Does that make sense? I just feel like this is the first time I've ever seen my people in a book. And not just characters who remind me of them, but characters who are them. Who live like them, who speak like them, who think like them. It really does mean a lot to me. To see yourself, to truly see yourself and the people you know and the places you know to be represented in media is something that can be so life-changing. I think I'll just leave it off with this quote I really like;

"I have learned that when a hurricane passes through, it knows no favor. It takes no precedence. When the time is right and it is ready, it will destroy you. It will destroy everything. Even the good things. Even the things you love."

E-Arc provided by publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.