Color Me In by Natasha Diaz / Review + GIVEAWAY!!




Color Me In by Natasha Diaz REVIEW



Synopsis:
Debut YA author Natasha Diaz pulls from her personal experience to inform this powerful coming-of-age novel about the meaning of friendship, the joyful beginnings of romance, and the racism and religious intolerance that can both strain a family to the breaking point and strengthen its bonds.

Who is Nevaeh Levitz?

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins can't stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh's dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. Even with the push and pull of her two cultures, Nevaeh does what she's always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

It's only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom's past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces that she begins to realize she has a voice. And she has choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she find power in herself and decide once and for all who and where she is meant to be?


Review:

Color Me In made me go through so many emotions. Sympathy for Nevaeh who is caught in not only in the crosshairs of her identity but also in the divorce of he parents. Anger for her as she is unjustly punished for how she looks like. Happiness when she finds her voice through her poetry. Natasha Diaz wrote this story beautifully and in times where one's racial makeup is even more under a microscope, it is a story that is much needed for many who struggle in terms with who they are and who they want to be. The story also made me realize how tough we as daughters can be with mothers. As Nevaeh gets frustrated with her mother for not moving on from the impending divorce (unlike her sleazebag of a father honestly), she becomes harsh and cold towards her. But when she reads her mother's diary, she learns of the woman that is her mom. One thing I took away from this is that change is inevitable. It is one thing that is constant. But like Nevaeh, you must let go in order for yourself to move on.

I cannot recommend this book enough!


About Natasha:


Natasha Díaz is a born and raised New Yorker, currently residing in Brooklyn, NY with her tall husband. She spends most of her days writing with no pants on and alternating between E.R. and Grey’s Anatomy binges. Formerly a reality TV producer, Natasha is both an author and screenwriter. Her scripts have placed as a quarterfinalist in the Austin Film Festival and a finalist for both the NALIP Diverse Women in Media Fellowship and the Sundance Episodic Story Lab. Her essays can be found in The Establishment and Huffington Post. Raised by a first generation half-Liberian/half-Brazilian mother and a Jewish-American father, Natasha writes stories about people who don’t fit into the boxes society imposes, and instead, create their own as they search for their places in the world. Her first novel, Color Me In, will be published by Delacorte Press/Random House August, 20 2019.


Find the book on: GoodreadsAmazonKindleAudibleB&NiBooksKoboTBD

Giveaway Details!



3 winners will receive a finished copy of COLOR ME IN, US Only*. 
GOOD LUCK!

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2958


Thanks so much for reading! Check out other awesome blogs for this tour!


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