Many thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus & Giroux MCD and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this debut collection of short stories by Jonathan Escoffery and fabulously narrated by Torian Brackett - 4.5 stars!
This collection of connected short stories follows the life of Trelawny, son of Topper and Sanya, who flee the violence in their homeland of Kingston, Jamaica, to settle in Miami, Florida, along with Trelawny's older brother, Delano. While they thought this would be the answer to their prayers, the family's struggles are now just very different.
The first story in this book was probably my favorite, as we see that Trelawny is now judged by everyone he meets as being wrong - he's too white, too black, too different. While he considers himself an American, he is viewed very differently and doesn't fit in with any of the "groups" in his school or neighborhood. We see the dysfunctional family relationships between all of them. I felt bad for the pull of Trelawny of wanting to escape yet wanting to be accepted.
I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook and feeling immersed in the language and culture of Trelawny's life. There is so much to think about in this book.
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