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.

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!