Sariyah is determined not to let her missing friend become just another statistic, one of many vanished Black girls. But despite her talent for ESP, Sariyah is struggling, even when the clues point surprisingly close to home.
When Sariyah’s birthday celebrations at a music festival turn sour with the disappearance of one of her friends, she knows she can’t rely on the police to find her. The authorities are no more help than they were when her friend’s twin sister, another young woman of colour, went missing five years earlier. Sariyah feels guilty that her uncanny ability to predict people’s needs didn’t help to keep her friends safe. She is determined to find out what’s happened to Deja. But the more she cracks the clues leading to her, the closer she gets to home.
*This book was sent to me by Bloomsbury YA, please read our disclaimer policy for more information.
The Review:
This is a really enjoyable magic realism/speculative fiction novel following a young girl called Sariyah as she navigates friendship, family issues, love and the dark secrets behind her friend’s disappearance.
Sariyah and her friends attend a music festival. Everything is going well until her friend, Deja, disappears. Suddenly, it’s a race against the clock to find Deja before she becomes another statistic.
Whew – does this book take you on a journey. There’s a lot that is covered within just over 300 pages from magic realism, sickle cell, depression, racism and more. And I must say it’s impressively woven altogether – a testament to a great writer! But in order to start this review, I think it’s only right I talk about Sariyah as our main protagonist.
“Life happens for you, not to you,”
Sariyah was a brilliant protagonist. She was clever, thoughtful and incredibly loyal to her friends and family. She was every bit of a teenager, which I greatly loved. Her gift – the ability to know what someone else needs – was seamlessly woven into the book and I was thoroughly impressed. I loved this extra layer of tension it caused within her family, friendships, love life and even navigating this disappearance.
According to Statista, Black women and girls under 20 make up more than 15% of missing persons, even though they only make up 2% of the U.S. population – Statista.com
That’s an insane statistic.
Mind-boggling.
“The country may be talking more about how race, and sex, and socioeconomics affect how missing persons are handled by the police and media, but there’s a gap between talk and action. A gap worth getting angry over.”
And this book does a fantastic job at highlighting how missing young Black girls/women don’t get the same media coverage as other races when this does happen. Or how the police don’t really help so it’s left to those that love them to advocate and raise awareness for them. They refuse to let them become another statistic.
Therefore it’s no surprise that these Black teens became furious. Now do I agree with the way the plot ended? Not entirely. But I can see how it got there. How anger can lead to uncontrollable feelings and a need to punish people. How if left unchecked these things can escalate into the extremes…
Because how do you process your grief over someone who isn’t dead, but missing? How do you navigate the hope, the anger and the pain of them not being there? Three conflicting emotions inside someone will drive anyone crazy.
“I just want someone to care. I want the police to care. I want the country to care. I want the world to care…”
I liked how Sariyah and her friends were doing absolutely everything in their power to find their friend, Deja. The friendships were probably one of my favourite bits about the book. I did feel there was sometimes SO much going on that the plot sort of bounced around a little bit. But then I wondered if that’s just a reflection of how life is in general? You want life to stop whilst you deal with one thing but then a 100 million things pop up at the same time.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the awfulness around you. To ride it like a raft down the Chattahoochee and let it drop you off wherever it wants. But you have oars, Sariyah. You have oars to force your life in a different direction to the current. You have a life vest to keep your head above water… Those rapids that bang you up and try to throw you off course – they are shaping you. But the final product is up to you.”
I can appreciate the author wanted to cover some important conversations. And I really did love the sickle cell representation and I’m seeing SO many books now that are mentioning it within YA and Adult. It’s a disease that greatly affects the Black community across the world. More conversation is needed! It means sickle cell is seen. More is done to help those with sickle cell. I’ll always be an advocate for this sort of representation, not just for those who have it, but for those who don’t!
Also – hello that last page? Sorry, is there meant to be another book???
All in all, this is a great read as it covers so many important topics of conversation within the Black community.
Let me know if you’re thinking of picking up this book!
That’s a terrible statistic. I mean, you see the outcry when a White woman or girl goes missing and the silence when it’s someone from a Global Majority community, but percentage of Black missing people in the first place is shocking.
It’s so scary! Hopefully more is done and awareness can be raised with books like this!
I love the plot of this book. I can understand how experiencing such injustice could lead to the characters seeking retribution.
Yes! It is really a welcomed read!