WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. **3.5 stars**

I picked up this book because I love YA novels, and I find it very hard to find any YA novels with black females as the main characters. I loved the book, loved the writing style, and I appreciated the way the author addressed issues that black pregnant women face in the healthcare system.

So, why'd I rate this as a three-star novel? I mean, if I loved the book, found it entertaining, and even reread some chapters because of how interesting some of the way the experiences were portrayed— why'd I just give it three stars?

I feel like the author is trying to normalize teenage sex, which isn't safe and can lead to contracting STDs and getting pregnant, of course, even with the use of condoms. (I won't jump to conclusions because this might not be her intentions.)

One of the main characters, Erykah, is very supportive of her loser boyfriend, Miguel, and dates him despite him already having a two-year-old at eighteen, meaning he impregnated a girl at the age of sixteen, and despite him selling weed and sagging his pants, which are all red flags about his character. She gets upset every time her mother and Kelly (or Kelaya), her best friend, the other main character, complain about Miguel or tell the truth about how horrible and irresponsible he is.

In the end, after giving birth to her daughter, Erykah still has sex with Miguel again, which is so stupid. Having sex with him was what got her pregnant and made her suffer throughout the entire book, and two months after giving birth to Sierra, Erykah, who realizes and even says to herself that Miguel is good-for-nothing, goes back and sleeps with him? Once again, a normalization of teenage sex.

Kelly, who's government name is Kelaya, is Erykah's best friend and the second main character of the book. Both she and Erykah are straight A students who pay attention in all of their classes, even their sex Ed class, which comes off as surprising because coincidentally, at some point in the book, Kelly gets pregnant by her boyfriend Ray, because she was having sex with him and got on confident to use protection.

Kelly then has an abortion without telling Ray, but with the support of her parents. And Ray never finds out, not even at the end of the book, several months after it happens, because she's not "ready" to discuss it with him. I find it annoying that these girls can have sex with their boyfriends but somehow can't understand that there are cons to having underaged and unprotected sex.

What's weird to me is that everyone in this book seems to enjoy causal, premarital, and underaged sex. And why are these girls so obsessed with their boyfriends? It's very unlikely that someone you're attracted to in high school with become a lifelong partner. The way these girls talk about their boyfriends, you'd think they were married for fifty years or so. They act like no other boy in the world can surpass how special they are.

I liked Ray because he's a responsible and caring boyfriend and loves Kelly a lot. Miguel, I hate, because he's stupid and looks like someone who'll fail in life. Such a loser. I love the way the author made the characters express their feelings openly.

Some parts of the book were unrealistic and annoying, but I appreciate the awareness spread on black women's reproductive health. I'm so glad I read this for Black History Month this year, and I look forward to reading more books from LaLa! ( )