One of the greatest things an author can make in order to connect with the reader is to tell the truth, and Natasha Deen does exactly that, by showing a “watered down” reality when it comes to the discrimination, emotional bullying of “Brown” girls in school driven by ignorance, narcissism and white-privilege, and how it affects them both emotionally and academically, while also, letting us know that many times, this is but a reflection of the perception of people towards themselves and their own worth and Natasha Deen does so in a non-violent, hilarious and well put narrative filled with sarcasm, and nuggets of wisdom in each page.
The humour is EXCEPTIONAL all the way and it only gets better as the book progresses, stealing hard and long laughters and amused eye-rolls from us readers with the abundant and witty remarks that sometimes boarder the dramatic and many times touch the hyperbole standards.
“But the sandwich squishes in my mouth. Mom hasn’t figured out the correct ratio of mayo to tuna. It’s either dry enough to use as a desiccant or so wet, I think it could bring the fish back to life.”
It’s fantastic to read this book.
The emotional display of anxiety and sometimes despair on our main character as she is facing the “white-dominated” environment of school and the feeling of isolation and unimportance is palpable and very well portrait by the author, and that’s important because it allows us to better understand these situations and grow in compassion and alliance towards the struggles of other “Brown” girls and people, allowing us to check ourselves and the consequences of our behaviours towards other people in general.
We have been talking about “brown” girls, but our main character is, and this is a very interesting fact, Guyanese! YES! She is Guyanese, and that onto itself reveals a lot and makes this book very interesting into itself, adding a layer of diversity and taking off a layer of the expected story. I mean, how many times do you read about the Guyanese culture and their people? Super cool.
The book rolls off smoothly as our main character, Nira tries to get along school, handle her chaotic family life while trying to prove herself on school and make a stand for herself at house towards her… strict parents and takes refuge of a hard life in music, and the musicality of dreams through Georgia and imagination and the want to be acknowledge as a person with value by peers, sometimes for the wrong reasons, but still, we can understand the human instinct of socialisation and belonging to a group at all costs, and the anger of not having the financial means to do so.
And then we have Emily, a girl with LOADS of self-esteem, confidence, love and humour although she would be considered as “fat”, which is a breath of fresh air as a character because she defies the norms of the cliché of “fat loser” as she is actually a great and highly interesting character with depth and shine! Impressive and a very nice touch by Natasha, but her the BIGGEST Gem, and THE #1 Reason you will remember and drool over this book is GRANDMA! OH MY GOD! She is THE soul of the book and one of the BEST characters ever written in modern literature, you have never seen a character as funny, as loving, as human and as smart as her. The Master Puppeteer and the Grand Master of jokes! You will LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE her! No doubt.
There isn’t much description of the environment, but that’s totally fine because Natasha grips us in the narrative, the simplicity of the characters, the plot and the humour so intensely that we completely forget about it and one of the coolest things about this book are the chapter titles. Yes, we pay attention to that too, and we have to tell you that there are some mad interesting and captivating chapter titles in this book such as “Isolation is an organic compound”, “Fortune is a two-headed snake”, “Envy is the new black” and much more, each giving us a sliver of the story before the story even begins!
This book deserves a deep and long read, as it is calling upon the facts that must be acknowledged and dealt with such as the conflicts on family, homosexuality, the love of and independence of children from their parents, the need of understanding and being honest to oneself, the need for standing your ground when all seems hopeless and I love the audacity of the narrative of Natasha Deen on this book, as it is a laughing and humorous punch on the gut, and even more that for the fact that Natasha pulled it off with such grace and without actually risking offending people, as this book is filled with love and humour all the way through. I love it!
There are statements so profound that simply take the breath out of you like:
“That’s the problem with being in this country. I see all the things I could be and do. Everyone and everything, from TV to school and books, encourages me to shoot for the moon. But I’m a poor kid who wasn’t even born here, and every day is a struggle just to get people to see me. Reach for the heavens? I’m busy trying to stay upright on the ground.”
Yet the humour makes it aaaaalllllll worth it! OHHH THE DRAMA!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAH, I mean: “He asks the question like I’ve not only confessed to being pregnant but admitted that the father in question is Satan and my child will bring about the end times.”
How Amazing is THAT?
Besides heavenly humor, this is a book that shows the courage of a Guyanese girl that dares to defy the principles of her parents in order to strive and adapt to a better life and have a chance at her own life, of an intelligent, non-conformist girl that actually fights her way up, mostly on her own to have the independence that she needs and overcome the conflicts with her parent, and show them that they aren’t wrong, but they aren’t right either and reality is just different. This is powerful and beautiful in so many ways.
This is one book you cannot miss to read, or unread. It is so gripping that it will suffocate your heart with its message and tattoo itself onto your heart and mind through its deep, sarcastic and highly poignant narrative and story. Highly recommend this book, it’s a rare gem that you DON’T want to miss out on. Trust me on this, this book is a MASTERPIECE! Priceless!!!!
Pros:
- EXCELLENT Humour and sarcasm. EXCELLENT!!!!
- Characters with great depth and colour
- A very rich and accurate cultural portrait of the Guyanese people
- Great and poignant portrait of the bullying and discriminatory aspect of European Canadians, towards “brown” people
- Very strong messages throughout the book
- Grandma is a GREAT character, OMG, LOL
- Nice examples on how to discuss and put your points across
- Lovely, funny interactions, reactions, internal thoughts and perceptions of the characters, specially our main character.
- The exaggeration is ON POINT! LOOOOOVED IT!!!!
Cons:
- No complaints on the written part, I LOVED IT, yet the new cover felt “white” and rosy and didn’t really make justice to the story, the yellow and brown cover was better.
Scribble's Worth 