This was one of the most beautiful novels I have read. The writing style took some time to get used to, but once I did I fell in love. Reading the collective “we” the author uses makes it feel that much more personal, especially being one of the Black & Brown girls she describes. It moves beautifully throughout the lives of us “brown girls” and depicts all of the many emotions we go through. I found myself constantly smiling at the page & taking notes. Palasi Andreades beautifully captures feelings into words that I’ve never quite known how to express. Truly an affirming & empowering story that holds wonderfully articulated truths on every page. I can’t wait for what’s next from this author!

Some sections that deeply resonated:

When the brown girls head back to their “motherlands” in hopes of a sense of belonging & are confronted with the reality that while they are of these nations/reservations and the culture is theirs, they are also American. Being of a minoritized identity and having grown up in the US societies can result in an inexplicable tension within the self…constantly questioning who am I? where do I belong? Especially when returning to these places our ancestors call and have called home.
“The colonized, the colonizer. Where do we fall?
Realize: Whether we like it or not, we lay claim to both.”

Then we are confronted with the mixed emotions that come with departing:
“At the end of our trips, however, the outcome is always
the same: we leave, we leave, we leave. We always leave. It's in our blood to leave. On planes headed back to the U.S. of A., we stare out tiny windows that grow foggy from our breath. Our loved ones' faces flit through our minds people wed met for the first time or reconnected with after years, people we had heard many stories about: our parents siblings, our grandparents, and cousins, whose features we can trace on our own faces.

Aboard airplanes, we're overcome with a strange
feeling. A sensation not unlike déjà vu. That we have
somehow been here before.
But how could this be?
We leave, we leave, we leave. We always leave. It is in
our blood to leave.
But perhaps it's also in our blood to return.
Why did we ever believe home could only be one
place? When existing in these bodies means holding
many worlds within us.
At last, we see.” (136-137)

This one left me speechless. I immediately shared it with my mother and friends who I know have their hearts split in two vastly different places. They too were touched and were moved to pick up their own copy of the book.

It’s also worth mentioning the ways Palasi Andreades writes about gentrification and how both our relationship to our hometowns and the hometown itself are completely transformed. She then follows this by illustrating the sense of longing for what once was and deep gratitude for what still is. A snippet:
“This time around, however, we find that we aren't repelled by the noise, the chaos, in the way we once were. The dregs of Queens, this place we so desperately dreamt of leaving. But who would've thought we'd long to return?” (187)
While not a New York local, having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can relate. Nothing is quite the same as when I was growing up. And yet, I find myself deeply comforted by what still remains. Wondering what it would be like if I came back.

“Never in a million years would we have the courage
to move to a foreign country on a dream, become fluent
in a strange language, raise families on foreign soil, far
from those we love. Raise children who often feel like
reflections in foggy mirrors. Who, from the moment they learn to walk, are running farther than they can see.
Resilient, strong, determined, our mothers carved
out homes of their own.
This, too, is in our blood.” (181)
A beautiful ode to immigrant mothers everywhere.

Nothing but praise for Brown Girls.