ABOUT THE BOOK
Nikki can’t wait to leave Texas and follow her dreams of a music career . . . After a painful betrayal by her sister and a heated argument with their mother, Nikki is kicked out and finds herself homeless. She decides to go to California to pursue her singing career. When her best friend, Malachai, discovers her plan to flee Texas, he begs her to spend the remainder of spring break with him. He believes that over the course of a week, he can convince her to stay in Texas, or to at least graduate high school. But their plans are interrupted when Nikki’s little sister Vae goes missing.
Nikki is forced to work alongside her difficult mother as they set off in search of Vae, with Malachai’s support. Will Nikki find a reason to stay in Texas, or will this spring break be the last time she sees them? Through her emotional journey, Nikki ultimately finds the love she’s always been missing and discovers the power of her own voice.
- Publisher : HarperTeen
- Pub Date : July 11, 2023
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- Reading age : 13 – 17 years
Shaniqua “Nikki” is a high school senior living with an unbelievably cruel mother and a younger sister. Her mother’s volatile personality has caused Nikki to miss every act of love that a mother and daughter should share. So as she reaches the end of her senior year Nikki plans to escape by running off to a singing audition in another state.
However, there’s one big problem. Though she and her younger sister have had ups and downs, they have always been there for each other. Yet, as the time for Nikki’s audition nears, her sister Vae steps back and allows Nikki to be blamed for something that Vae was responsible for. Nikki denied any involvement. Yet her mother kicked Nikki out of the house. This was one more example of their mother always taking Vae’s side.
Nikki’s best friend Mal offers to drive her to the audition, yet before they make it to the state where the audition is being held they receive a text that changes everything. Vae has disappeared.
The book held my interest and, for the most part, the characters felt believable.
My Concerns
- I’ve wrestled with how to describe this, but it felt like the plot was a bit all over the place. While it almost worked, it could have been so much better if it had delved deeper into issues rather than having so much going on and only touching on certain subjects.
- At various places throughout the book, I would find myself wondering if Nikki’s actions actually depicted those of an 18-year-old. I would have guessed her younger.
- Nikki’s attitude toward Mal and Cynthia came pretty close to turning me off. And unless I overlooked something, I wasn’t all that impressed with how Mal handled his relationship with Cynthia. All of that went by quickly in the story and felt rather overlooked.
Final Thoughts
This is the story of a very dysfunctional family. While I would have liked it to go deeper into fewer issues, rather than barely touch on them, I still highly recommend it.
My thanks to #HarperTeen and #BookSparks for a #gifted book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joya Goffney grew up in New Waverly, a small town in East Texas. In high school, she challenged herself with to-do lists full of risk-taking items like ‘hug a random boy’ and ‘eat a cricket,’ which inspired her debut novel, Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry. With a passion for Black social psychology, she moved out of the countryside to attend the University of Texas in Austin, and has since settled in Houston.
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