August 7, 2019

Speaking of Summer


"If a secret is in the open with just one other mind besides the one keeping it, then it is no longer a secret. It's a fact." ~ pg. 93

On a cold night in December, Autumn Spencer's twin sister, Summer, walks to the roof of their brownstone and is never seen again. The door is locked. There is only one set of footprints in the snow. More worriedly, authorities do not care about another missing black woman. So Autumn must investigate and search for Summer on her own.

Honestly, I don't know what I expected but it wasn't what I read. While the cover is stunning and colorful, the subject matter is not. The title may include the word "summer" but it is not light reading. Nor is it a simple missing persons case. The blurb is so far off.

"If Summer joined legions of other Black women trying to eek out concern for our lives and became a hashtag, then I would become open to scrutiny and intrusion my fragility couldn't withstand." ~ pg. 15

Less than 50 pages in, I determined I did not like the main character, Autumn. While her search for missing twin sister seemed genuinely desperate, something was off. It took about halfway through for me to figure out the mystery. The first person narrative and background story is what kept me reading.

Author Kalisha Buckhanon clearly put her time, research and thought into writing Speaking of Summer but again, it does not hold true to the synopsis. A fast paced thriller it is not. More like a dark story of victim invisibility and characterization. It is perhaps a call for action about missing black girls/women. Keep this in mind should you decide to read it.

Title: Speaking of Summer
Author: Kalisha Buckhanon
Published: July 2019
Pages: 294
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤

 

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