Margaux Wineman

Had to read this for English one year. I think the idea of the book lends itself well to being a compelling and beautiful story about a black girl who is able to overcome challenges to find who she is and make a difference to the world, but this book completely missed that mark. The biggest problem is probably the main character, Jade. Jade is a whiney little bitch who is somehow so totally insecure but at the same time thinks that she's better than everyone else, she also has a major victim complex and thinks everyone is racist. You look at her the wrong way, you're racist. You give her an important opportunity, you're racist. You don't give her an opportunity, racist. She is very selfish and shallow and seems to only care about herself, completely disregarding her friends and family, and her mentor, Max. I believe that this story could've had potential but was just completely ruined by Watson's inability to make a complex deep character while having a thoughtful conversation on racism and classism, not to mention the book itself is just pretty bad. There are a lot of untied strings and plotlines that just don't go anywhere or don't make sense. Jade has a dad that mentioned in like the first third of the book and never seen again, without explanation. Where did he go? Why was he even mentioned in the story when he has no final effect on the main character? Overall, I see the intentions and I think with a better writer it could have been good, but it was just a pretty disappointing waste of what could have been a good book. Pretty sure if I wouldn't publish this book if I were her. I really do wish this book was good but it just didn't hit the mark. If you want to read a book on racism that goes deeper than the surface level and is truly well written, you should try reading The Hate You Give. It's a beautiful book. PS I forgot that the main character's best friend Leelee is supposed to be this extremely talented poet but the poems Watson writes for the character could be compared to middle school level and feel very forced.