-This- book had one of the themes I was looking for. It was framed unrealistically and not explored at all, but wealth difference was a theme in this book. The novel was a soap opera in book form, and at times it was hard not to laugh. Marcus is a ridiculous stereotype. Wtf, why did the one disabled character have to be like that. Why was Pumpkin even in the book? I hated the dad, and even then, despised how the author completely unraveled his character by the end. Aaaaand the cheesy, convenient, stupid--basically love triangle. Sooo unbelievable. And sure, have a gay couple next door with a son with a rare heart condition. That's not predictable at all. Nooo clue what message the author is trying to convey, no. I wish they had more page time, but no.

The portrayal of anxiety and OCD was good. I have these, and this book actually alerted me to things I plan to discuss with professionals. There was no reason for the Xavier character to even be in the book. He's not even an effective red herring, considering how major a character Anthony is. I did not like or believe his supposed arc. Margaret's reactions were so unrealistic, too. I--just--it--(sigh). The book tried to examine a whole bunch of themes while providing characterization, and it didn't succeed. This would have worked much better without the 'two possible fathers' deal. Just have the one. Nothing about the story would change, and the excess of characters could be trimmed and allow the relationships that were already there, to flourish. The twins could have easily been one character, but the name thing was clearly too tempting. Or, since they were so underdeveloped as characters, just have one sister: London. That's the relationship that's developed in this book above all.

So, there were too many characters and too many attempted themes. Disability rep was annoying at best. Queer rep was aggravating in its cliche-ness. The author was trying a lot of different things and didn't succeed. I'm interested in other works of hers, though, and I'm glad I read this. ( )

This book took me for a ride.

I could not imagine a child being in that situation with a new home, new siblings, a new school, and a new religion on top of it.

If you flip it around, can you imagine how the parents integrate this new child into their home?

It was a great book. ( )

I’m going through lots of feelings right now... I love Tiffany as a character. She is awesome and so relatable. But I’m also sooo angry for her. She’s definitely a much better person... Good for u gal...

Ok now I’m just rambling... I need to think some more before I write something tat makes sense 😊 ( )

diverse teen fiction (African-American 15 y.o. with OCD and extreme anxiety moves from Chicago into mixed-race dad's house in Simi Valley after her mom dies; the family are Jehovah's Witnesses and one of her new half-sisters has autism; her new neighbor, whose moms are incidentally gay, may also be dealing with mental illness of some sort).
Even though her experiences are so different than mine, Tiffany is a very relatable character (what teen doesn't relate to oppressive rules and parental expectations?) and I enjoyed this book a lot. A quick read and a welcome voice in teen lit (with a gorgeous cover featuring a POC). More, please! ( )

Confession: I saw this book on a list of books that “will remind you of the 90’s”. This book was listed because it might remind you of The Fresh Prince if Bellaire. Is that super accurate? Not really, only in the fish out of water storyline. That said, I’m so glad I read that list and put this on my tbr list. It’s a unique, heartfelt story about a strong teenage girl that’s just dealing with too much right now.

Tiffany’s mom passed away recently. They were like best friends. Before she died, her mother told her the truth about her dad. He was not a sperm donor. And Tiffany’s mom has contacted him and made arrangements for Tiffany to move in with him when she passes away.

That’s a lot to take in, right? Tiffany is packing up to move from Chicago to California when a man named Xavior shows up at her door and says he might be her father.

Now, poor Tiffany has only just accepted that she has a father at all. And now she has to question whether the man who has been given custody of her is actually her dad.
He gives her seven days, then he will insist on a dna year. He really wants to be her dad.

When Tiffany gets to California she is shocked to learn that her (probable) father Anthony is married and she has sisters that no one told her about.

The family is incredibly wealthy but incredibly strict and religious as well.
Strict isn’t really a strong enough word. It’s very very hard to like Anthony sometimes. He’s very controlling.

Add in the fact that Tiffany has anxiety issues and Anthony has issues with her medications. And the fact that he doesn’t approve of the boy next door that Tiffany has become friends with.

I really found myself rooting for Xavior to be the dad so Tiffany could get out of that house.

I really enjoyed this. Tiffany had a really clear, strong voice. She felt so real.

Well written. I’ll definitely look forward to more books by this author. ( )