Desmond Hall (2)

This was a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally, at least for me, because I was so upset to see Frankie pulled into some gangster-mess. It’s frustrating but also sad with Frankie dealing with his father, his wanting to study in the US, and keeping an eye on his friend Winston.

There are some sparks of romance, but ultimately, it’s in the background until the latter half. The love interest is an artist, but she’s no manic-pixie girl. She does political art and social commentary in her work and is very focused. I also loved that Frankie wanted to be an engineer. The few moments we see Frankie’s analytical mind work is well-done.

In this story, the familial relationships drew me in. I loved learning about Frankie’s Uncle Joe (who I want to stomp out!) and his Aunt Jenny. The relationship between Frankie and Samson, his father, was so interesting to me. I just wanted to know more about their strained interactions and how things were before Frankie’s mom passed.

Overall, I have had my fill of street-life and/or drug culture media, but I read this because it was set in Jamaica. A lot of mainstream books are in the US or UK, so it’s a welcome change of pace. I wasn’t aware that political parties got gangs to back them. I thought this was a good page-turner because you know everything’s going to go off the rails, it’s just a matter of when. I couldn’t put this down, so I had to finish this with sleepy, tired eyes in one night.

at times, Frankie seems hard on Jamaica, but I understand, when you're a native of somewhere, you judge it harsher because you live there and understand the nuances … (más)