This YA Novel is more than just angst, young love and a coming of age story. It is filled with feeling, the meaning of black girlhood, untenable bonds, and the “arson” of love. 

Some stanzas were soft like secretly shared kisses, some searing like fire, or warm like the heat of a lover’s touch. Alternating between the present and before the inevitable “fire” makes for a reading experience that helps brings the reader into the fold. This novel is proof that the feeling and affects of love transcend age. There is no timeline on when you will know when to fight for yourself, when you will accept yourself, or let go of the greatest love you’ve ever known. All that matters is that you get to that point when it can no longer be ignored.

Ashley Woodfolk crafts fiction in prose that has a lasting impact that will have you pondering until the last page is turned. You will feel and possibly cry like I did, but a story such as this deserves all those feelings and more. What a spectacular time to live in where black teens can see themselves in the literature they read written by black authors such as Woodfolk.