ALLEGEDLY By Tiffany D. Jackson

February 8, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ALLEGEDLY By Tiffany D. JacksonAllegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 1/24/17
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 394
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

Short and Sweet Review

Mary B Addison killed a baby, allegedly. No one really knows what happened that night except for Mary and her mother, Mary didn’t say much to the detectives but she did end up taking the fall for baby Alyssa’s death. Now Mary is 15 and living in a group home, she has a secret boyfriend and she’s pregnant. Because Mary is a ward of the state, when her baby is born she isn’t going to be able to keep it and Mary is determined to keep her baby even if it means finally telling the truth about what happened that night.

When we meet Mary she’s in a group home and she doesn’t really talk to anyone. The girls in that group home are crazy, Mary couldn’t really trust anyone in there especially the people running the home. We see Mary working at a nursing home and also trying to take her SAT and maybe try to go to college. When Mary finds out she’s pregnant she learns that she won’t be able to keep her baby. Mary tells one of the girls in the house what actually happened that night and they suggest Mary gets a lawyer and get her verdict reversed. Mary and her lawyer start the proceedings but things with Mary’s story start to get complicated. We also meet Mary’s mom and she isn’t all there, she’s very spacey. The more we learn about Mary and her indecision about whether she really wants to go through with this it makes us question her story.

Allegedly is such an interesting book and it keeps you reading until the very end trying to figure out what happened the night Alyssa died. There’s a lot of twist and we learn that Mary may not be the most reliable narrator. This book is crazy but I’ve learned to expect nothing less from Tiffany D. Jackson. I love her books and this one was just as good as the other books I’ve read by Jackson. This book will have you on the edge trying to figure out what happened that night and what Mary’s fate will be. Definitely recommend this book!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD By Tiffany D. Jackson

August 29, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD By Tiffany D. JacksonThe Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 9/6/22
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Retellings, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 411
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation . . . Maddy did it.

An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.

But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret . . . one that will cost them all their lives.

Short and Sweet Review

The town of Springville, Georgia is small and doesn’t have a lot of residents and the number of residents is about to get smaller after Maddy is through with them. After prom the only thing that people remember is that Maddy did it, but what led her to cause all of that destruction?

Madison Washington is biracial but she’s light enough that she can pass as white and that’s exactly what her father wants, and her years of hiding that she’s black are about to come to an end when a rainstorm shows the actually texture of her hair. Maddy hasn’t been treated well by her fellow classmates but things get worse after it comes out that she’s black. Madison is mainly tormented by Jules and her friends one of them being Wendy. Wendy has a black boyfriend named Kenny and I think he only fits into their friend group because he’s the star of the football team. Anyhoo Wendy starts to feel a little bad but she still has her own motives to make herself look good so she decides to suggest that for this years prom instead of their usual segregated prom they throw an all together prom and that Kenny should take Maddy. Maddy obviously think she’s being punk’d these kids have been awful to her and all of a sudden they want her to go to prom. Maddy has also been working on learning how to use her telekinesis which usually comes into play when she’s in fight or flight mode. Maddy has had a difficult life, her mother is gone, her dad is super religious and abusive, and she’s been hiding who she really is. So its easy to see why Maddy is the way she is. As the story progresses we see Kenny start to fall for Maddy which I didn’t like because first of all, he already had a girlfriend and second, it just seemed like he was infatuated with Maddy and it got a little weird. Well at prom we see that some kids have one last prank in store for Maddy, but little do they know its going to be the straw that broke the camels back.

This was such a good book! I loved the podcast aspect and the interviews and how Michael the host of the podcast was trying to piece everything together to see what took place on prom night. Maddy is a good character you just want to root for her and see her win because she did not deserve the way the kids at school were treating her. This is a carrie retelling and we all know what happened there and I was just waiting for Maddy to get her comeuppance. The book has a few different POVs but it doesn’t take away from the book it just adds to the story telling. This book had so many layers and the build up had me on the edge of my seat. The Weight of Blood does not disappoint, run to your nearest book store and get this book in your hands immediately!

Filed Under: Reviews

WHITE SMOKE By Tiffany D. Jackson

September 10, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHITE SMOKE By Tiffany D. JacksonWhite Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 9/14/21
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.

But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?

As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.

Short and Sweet Review

Mari and her blended family have just moved from California to Cedarville. Her mom accepted a job with the Sterling Foundation and with that comes a free house, one that seems to be haunted. The construction workers can’t seem to get out of the house fast enough and Mari’s younger stepsister Piper becomes friends with someone named Ms. Suga. The house is in between dilapidated houses and the neighbors surrounding the area are less then welcoming. Things start to get strange when things go missing, voices can be heard through the walls, and there’s a smell coming through the vents. Mari learns that her house isn’t the only thing that’s dangerous, Cedarville is full of secrets.

When we meet Mari her and her family are arriving to Cedarville, we learn that something happened to Mari back in California that required her to need a fresh start but we aren’t entirely clued in until later on in the book. We also see that Mari has a phobia to bed bugs and it’s very extreme. Mari doesn’t have the best relationship with Piper or her stepfather Alec so when Piper keeps going on about this Ms. Suga wanting Mari out of the house they think Piper is talking about an imaginary friend. The hauntings in the house are creepy things are being moved, Mari’s phone is being messed with. After that Mari starts to do some more digging into the town’s history which gets her into trouble because someone in town is watching her every move. A small problem I had was the way Mari talked to Piper, I know Piper was annoying but the way Mari would cuss at her was a bit much.

White Smoke was creepy and held my attention until the very end. I just wanted to know what was going on in that house and in that town. I feel like the ending could have been better, I wanted to see them confront the Sterlings but oh well. Some elements of this book were based off of true stories and I’m interested in knowing what they are because Cedarville was an interesting town. White Smoke was a good book and it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat!

Filed Under: Reviews

GROWN By Tiffany D. Jackson

September 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

GROWN By Tiffany D. JacksonGrown by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 9/15/20
Genres: Contemporary, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields?

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted’s dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey’s charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he’s dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.

Short and Sweet Review

*Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse, Rape, Drug Use, Mental Health

Enchanted wants to be a singer so when she catches the eye of Korey Wise a famous singer she thinks this is her chance. When Enchanted wakes up one morning with no recollection of what happened the night before and Korey dead, all fingers are pointing to her.

Enchanted is 17 years old and an aspiring singer. Enchanted is the older sister so she takes care of her younger siblings, she’s on the swim team, and in Will and Willow. Enchanted is a smart girl but sometimes the fact that she wants to be a singer clouds her best judgement. At an audition she meets Korey Wise. Korey seems like someone who can be like a mentor to Enchanted and help her get her foot in the door. Korey seems like someone who genuinely wants to help but this man is a monster, but we’ll get into that later. After her audition Enchanted starts spending more time with Korey at his studio and this is when we see glimpses of his controlling side and how crazy this man actually is but it gets worse when she decides to go on tour with him.

The things Enchanted had to endure while with this man were horrible it made my blood boil. Like I said earlier Enchanted is 17, Korey is 28! This man is a predator and it’s just heartbreaking to watch Enchanted get trapped in this web. Anyway while on tour Korey convinces Enchanted that he’s in love with her but he would drug her, and abuse her sexually, mentally and physically. The thing is Enchanted is being manipulated and at some points she thinks the way she’s being treated is love, she thinks she can change him. Korey is a sick creep, he likes young girls and thinks he can get away with his behavior because no one has held him accountable for his actions. Honestly reading about his behavior just made me uncomfortable and all I wanted was for Enchanted to do was get away, “run girl!” I felt so bad for her family they were worried about her and Korey just cut off her communication with them.

This book was a rollercoaster ride. I knew what I was getting into when I read the synopsis I was ready to be made uncomfortable, angry, and heartbroken. We follow Enchanted from the beginning of her journey to the present, I like how the book alternates from past and present. Enchanted’s story is not something that is surprising to hear in today’s society but I was upset just reading about how instead of being the victim she was made out to be the monster. I’m glad I got to read this book and I think it’s a great read, it deals with hard topics but these are topics that need to be addressed.

Filed Under: Reviews

MONDAY’S NOT COMING By Tiffany D. Jackson

May 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

MONDAY’S NOT COMING By Tiffany D. JacksonMonday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 5/22/18
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 448
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.

When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?


Short and Sweet

After returning from her trip to Georgia all Claudia wants to do is talk and hang out with her best friend Monday, but somethings wrong. Every time she tries to call Monday’s house the operator tells her that the phone is disconnected and when she sees Monday’s sister April even her answers about Monday’s whereabouts don’t feel right to Claudia. Monday wouldn’t just leave Claudia, and deep down she knows somethings wrong especially when no one seems to give her a straight answer or tell her the last time they saw Monday.

Characters

Claudia: Claudia is our main character and in my opinion she’s pretty complex. Claudia and Monday are more like sisters than friends so Claudia is very dependent on that friendship, its also the only one she has. Though it was strange to me that Claudia only had Monday as her friend, because once Monday was gone Claudia had nobody and it was hard for her to try and find new people to talk to. Claudia is also a little childlike, but we learn more about why later, she also struggles in school which is difficult for her to handle especially because Monday would help her with assignments so she feels like Monday left her high and dry.

Monday: Monday is Claudia’s best friend. Theres so much to Monday’s character that we don’t know about because everything we learn about her is from Claudia’s flashbacks. Monday is struggling with her own secrets and keeps them to herself. From what I read Monday is an amazing friend to Claudia and tries to protect and help her however she can.

Michael: A boy from Claudia’s church that she begins talking to and on occasion hangs out with.

Romance

Claudia and Michael: Michael and Claudia have always gone to church together but she didn’t really talk to him, but they meet up again during Halloween at the church and start talking and things took off from there. Michael tries to make Claudia laugh and help her deal with the fact that Monday is gone. I think they have good chemistry I just feel bad for Michael because sometimes Claudia would get mad at him for saying something that would bother her but he would say these things to try to make her feel better, like letting her know that she’s not the only one with learning disabilities she felt like he was being insensitive.

Quotes

~”Everyone was looking for these girls, while I was the only one looking for Monday.”

My Thoughts

~ So, I finished this book a few days ago and thats how much time I needed to wrap my head around everything. Theres just so many questions I have it just baffles me that no one knew that Monday was missing.

~ Lets start with this, the book is told in alternate timelines: before, after, one year before the before, or two years before the before. At first I didn’t understand the timeline, but after the first few chapters it was easy to understand what was going on. The alternate timelines are a way for the readers to try to piece together Claudias clues about what happened.

~ This book is so captivating, like I said it blows my mind that Claudia was the only one who seemed worried about Monday’s wellbeing. It seemed like once Monday was gone nobody seemed to remember her at all.

~ Claudia, depends on Monday, mainly because thats her only friend. Claudia and Monday would do almost everything together and I felt bad that Claudia only had that one relationship. So its understandable why Claudia is so desperate to find Monday.

~ I can’t say it enough, I’m disturbed that a girl can just go missing like that and no one seems to care… it eerie.

~ Earlier I mentioned that Claudia doesn’t act her age and I won’t give any spoilers but thinking back it works perfectly to how the story is told. Claudia is naive and has an innocence to her and it just makes you wonder why is she like this.

~ I also liked how Claudias parents were so involved and tried to comfort Claudia because they knew she needed to be able to express how she feels.

~ Again the ending just messes with my head so much and it kept me up all night just thinking about how things can go so wrong, and its sad that this happens all the time, girls go missing but how many people are actually looking for them?

~ I like that we can see how Claudia lives her life with and without Monday in it, without Monday she’s just trying to make it through each day, and with Monday she feels safe and has someone to confide in.

Overall

Jackson is an amazing storyteller I didn’t want to put this book down at all. It’s just so crazy how everything unravels and things piece together in the end. Its so easy to becoming engrossed in the mystery surrounding where Monday is and what happened the ending is mind-blowing! This is a book I won’t forget about anytime soon. I will definitely be recommending this book to friends, family, and you guys!

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Filed Under: Reviews