So let's caveat this review by saying that I am definitely not the target audience for this book, it being about an 18 year old, Black, American girl.
However I did find it an easy, well paced read which covers a raft of different topics (aside from the romance thing).
Nikki is a talented singer who has a very difficult relationship with her "mama". She has a half sister and the family dynamic is definitely fractured, with her mother emotionally absent and threatening to kick Nikki out of the house.
Meanwhile she has a close relationship with Mal, a seemingly privileged kid, with highly supportive parents.
Nikki's talent means she has secured an audition for lead singer of a girl group, which could provide her way out from her, less than perfect, life. But leaving her hometown would also mean leaving Mal behind...
I liked that this book covers lots of issues that teens can face but I feel like a lot of them were skipped over and conveniently tied up and, whilst this is primarily a romance, I also wasn't entirely convinced by Mal and Nikki's relationship.
I also kept being distracted by the cover - the illustration of Nikki makes her look like a middle aged woman, rather than a teenager!
However I did find it an easy, well paced read which covers a raft of different topics (aside from the romance thing).
Nikki is a talented singer who has a very difficult relationship with her "mama". She has a half sister and the family dynamic is definitely fractured, with her mother emotionally absent and threatening to kick Nikki out of the house.
Meanwhile she has a close relationship with Mal, a seemingly privileged kid, with highly supportive parents.
Nikki's talent means she has secured an audition for lead singer of a girl group, which could provide her way out from her, less than perfect, life. But leaving her hometown would also mean leaving Mal behind...
I liked that this book covers lots of issues that teens can face but I feel like a lot of them were skipped over and conveniently tied up and, whilst this is primarily a romance, I also wasn't entirely convinced by Mal and Nikki's relationship.
I also kept being distracted by the cover - the illustration of Nikki makes her look like a middle aged woman, rather than a teenager!