Home and Away by Candice Montgomery

Home and Away
by Candice Montgomery
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟/🌟🌟🌟🌟

Tasia Quirk is young, Black, and fabulous. She’s a senior, she’s got great friends, and a supportive and wealthy family. She even plays football as the only girl on her private high school’s team.

But when she catches her mamma trying to stuff a mysterious box in the closet, her identity is suddenly called into question. Now Tasia’s determined to unravel the lies that have overtaken her life. Along the way, she discovers what family and forgiveness really mean, and that her answers don’t come without a fee. An artsy bisexual boy from the Valley could help her find them—but only if she stops fighting who she is, beyond the color of her skin.

I really don’t know where my rating stands on this one. I’m stuck really at a 3.5 but I’m going to stay at 3 stars. While this book really did touch on some good subjects, I was either confused or annoyed the other times I was reading.

Tasia character needed a pat on the back while at the same time needed a good slap across the face. The way she handled certain situations didn’t really sit well with me. I get her whole world collapsed but that really didn’t excuse her actions. Especially when it came to the way she was towards her mom. Let me talk to you like I would a friend. Ya’ll if I talked to my mama like that she would have beat my ass into next week! I’m so serious! Hell, I’m 27 and wouldn’t take that tone with my mama. 

Now this book does talk about topics that need to be talked about. Race, sexual orientations and sexism. All of these are hard to talk about topics but they are done really well. 

What stood out to me the most was that the author mentioned inter racism inside of a culture. I have never read about in a book, but this is a real thing. Especially in the black community. Now I’m not mixed race like Tasia but I am what you call a “light-skinned black girl”. The stereotype in the black community is that lighter skin girls/boys are more favored, prettier, and get more opportunities. This then causes a rift between the community and you are judged before you even open your mouth.

“You’re black, Okay? You know that, right? Don’t ever let another person tell you you’re not. If I’ve learned anything from my parents, it’s that all it takes is the smallest percentage and the will to stare the rest of America right in the face. You’re Black.”

So while it’s not going to a favorite of mine, it did make me think and it’s going to stay with me for a while. The story was good, I just felt like the execution needed work. Basically, I do recommend this even though I’m so torn about it. 

**I read an advanced copy of this title. The quote was taken from an ARC and is subject to change upon publication.

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