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 Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert Published by Balzer + Bray on 10/3/23
Genres: Contemporary, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name.
Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything.
Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford.
Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.
Short and Sweet Review
The Blackwoods follows a famous family and we follow their beginnings with Blossom and how she got her start in the acting industry and in the present we see her two great granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, and how life is for them in the spotlight.
When I first started this book I wasn’t sure if I would even want to finish it, mainly because I thought it was slow, but once I started to get invested in each characters story I couldn’t put this book down. Blossom Blackwood is the one who started it all, she worked hard to get her foot in the door and she wasn’t going to give up on her dream to become an actress. In the beginning of the book we see the other characters at Blossoms funeral, but while we read we get to go in the past and read from her point of view. We see her go to different auditions and some that were successful and others that would send her on her way, but she never let that discourage her. We also see during that time that there isn’t a lot of roles for black people so for Blossom to even make it was a great achievement. Blossom was a relationship with Michael Babinaeux which doesn’t work out mainly because they want different things in life, they end up having a baby together, I’ll explain more of this relationship later. Blossom is what I would consider complex, she’s in the industry trying to make a way for herself and her family which she eventually does but its interesting to see the things she had to do to get there.
Hollis and Ardith are the modern day POVs. Hollis is in school and she goes to a fancy academy where most rich kids go, but there are some scholarship kids and one of them in particular seems to hate her. Hollis spends most of her time wondering what she could have done to receive this treatment and also hanging out with her best friend Dwayne who is also her love interest. Hollis also has to deal with the fact that a nude picture of her gets out and that pretty much rocks her world for a majority of her story. Ardith is not only the great granddaughter of Blossom Blackwood but her mother Kimberly was also an actress, unfortunately her mother got into drugs and died from her addiction. Ardith is also an actress and we see her deal with the pressure to be perfect and be a good girl. Ardith and her dad are also trying to figure out if they want to take part in a project about Kimberly’s life. We see Hollis and Ardith go through the pressure of trying to keep the Blackwood name out of a bad light. I do wish that Hollis and Ardith spent more time together because I did like scenes when they were both there. The whole family is also dealing with the fact that Blossom never told her son, Abe, who his father is so they end up finding a family closer to home then they thought and they’re all trying to navigate what its like being a family especially when they seem to be on different sides of the wealth spectrum.
I really did enjoy this book once I was able to get into it. I think Ardith may have been my favorite character POV to read from but Hollis’s nude crisis is what really made me want to read on, and learning more about Blossoms life was fascinating. This is a book I would definitely recommend, it was interesting to see how a household name in Hollywood goes on to affect the younger generation in that family and how much pressure they have to live up to it.
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