“Because just like back home, people think different means less. Less capable. Less competent.”

Trigger/Content warnings may be considered spoilers about certain themes or plot twists in the story
TW/CW: Death of parent(s); Casual use of “niggas”; Themes of police brutality/neglect; Gangs; Drug abuse; Gun violence; Brief mention of child neglect; Use of racial slur; Themes of colonization; Racism

Rue, a half-human half-god, is taken from her home to a place called Ghizon after her mother is murdered; except in Ghizon her existence is a crime in more ways than one. And in Ghizon an evil is brewing, the same evil that threatens the streets she once called home. I loved so many things about this book: The non-formal writing, Rue’s character development, the serious themes hidden in this fantasy world. I’m so happy to see a character that looks like me, that grew up in a place other than Happily Ever After Land, that views the world in something other than rose colored lenses. The twists were done in a way that all the hints were there, and some you could put together, and others hit you like a walrus from the sky in the middle of the city.