I was extremely surprised by this book. I'd actually give it 3 1/2 stars if I could, as I think it does an excellent job of doing what it set out to do ("clean" urban fiction for teens). In an attempt to further put off starting the 2nd Octavian Nothing book (I did read its summary of the first book...), I picked this up last night, and was shocked when I couldn't put it down again until I finished it at 2am! The plot is actually very well done and compelling. The main character is fairly well drawn, and the supporting characters aren't badly done, either. It's a Romeo and Juliet plot most of the way through, with a typical romance "fairy tale" (happily ever after) ending. I'd say that anybody who likes urban fiction lite will love this, and even fans of the more hardcore stuff will appreciate it, if they can deal with a teenaged protagonist. I had a library assistant at another branch complain to me about this when it came in (mostly due to the cover, which I agree isn't great, but urban fiction covers aren't meant to appeal to me), so I wanted to read it myself. I'm glad that I did, because I'm now prepared to defend it to the death (I won't mention the LA by name, but I do want to thank you for getting me to read this!)! I'd much rather put this in the hands of the middle schoolers who are asking me for Zane novels, and I think that they'll actually like it (as opposed to thinking it's stupid and too watered down--there is sex and violence, just not as much as in the titles for adult). I even enjoyed reading the discussion questions at the end of the book, and it made me want to have a book discussion of it! Actually, if I was a fan of urban fiction, I'd have to rate this 5 stars, but I'm not really. I've mostly enjoyed the ones that I've read, but I don't often seek them out. There were many, many typos and mis-spellings, but that's true of my #1 top love of a book this year, too (HUNGER GAMES), and I'm willing to overlook them. I completely get the literary black women writers' objections to urban fiction titles in general, but I still think we need to provide the books for teens that they're asking for! Completely unrealistic on every level to me, but then again what do I know about the extravagant lifestyles of underworld rulers of the ghetto? I think they're trying to be like a Romeo/Juliet setup here with the star-crossed teen couple. I also found parts of the book to be racist towards whites, but then again, I don't think I got any more offended by this story than a black person would be by racist literature directed at blacks. Whatev.
Do You like book Ride Wit' Me (2009)?
I love this book i would read it over and over lol
—DSalva
Recommended in LJ Core Collection for Urban Lit
—HukdNFaniks91
