Book ReviewOak Knoll is the picturesque neighborhood with book clubs, neighbors that check in when you’re sick, and beautiful trees, flowers, and bushes. Valerie had been raising her biracial son here peacefully for ten years when the Whitman family moved with. With the most the families have in common being a property line, when a budding romance starts, they begin to wonder what it means to be a good neighbor when having to weigh everything from race to class. This was my Book of the Month (BOTM) pick for March, and to be honest, I almost skipped the month. I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for a book featuring interracial relationships, but I knew I wouldn’t get to it right away and that I’d eventually want to read this book. Surprisingly, the interracial relationship aspects ended up being my favorite part of the novel. This review is going to be pretty different from other reviews I’ll typically write because there’s a lot of conflicting feelings for me here. So I’m going to go over each aspect for its positive and negative components. Narration The book is told from a strange combination of limited/nonlimited 2nd person POV “we.” The “we” is someone from the neighborhood talking about things from the neighborhoods perspective of the story. I’m a huge sucker for any type of 2nd person narration; I don’t know why, but it’s my favorite. So that combined with the tone of the narration really worked for me, on a whole I loved the narration style. My only issue was towards the end. There were some comments made by the narrator that made it feel like they were assuming parts of the story they were telling, which I didn’t like. Even if that isn’t the case, it’s almost as if the narration than has all of this intense insight into the character’s thoughts which feels weird. However, on a whole, the narration worked really well for the story. Characters This book has a lot characters and I could take the time to talk about each one, but on a whole, it’s not a likeable cast. Most of the Whitman family is hard to stand, each for their own reason. It ranges from the sister belonging in a Wattpad story to the dad having character flaws that felt like an extreme to make a point. What I liked about Juniper was that she felt more fully fleshed out in a real way. She spends the book rethinking what she thinks she knows about morals and how she reacted to a lot of situations felt true to a seventeen year girl. The Alston-Holt family is much more likeable. The mom Valarie is actually my favorite in the book because she is this strong, independent woman who stands by her values and passions in the face of adversity. Her son Xavier was a more complex issue that I want to really dive into. Xavier is a biracial 18 year old boy raised by his single black mom. He is going to college for classical guitar, has a major scholarship, doesn’t really party, is that overall golden boy. Throughout the novel he faces his own struggles about what he wants in life, what he be lives, how to handle difficult situations. I really liked his character. One of the major critiques of this book that I have seen other people make is that Xavier felt too PC to be “real.” The author is a white woman who spent time researching to try to write an accurate portrayal of a young black man. People feel Fowler tried so hard to make him not your average “thug” that she made him flat. I spent time on this, thought about it, and then discussed it with my significant other—a young black man, also raised by his single black mother. I told him that I was conflicted because the character did feel kind of PC, almost too perfect in some sense, but a reader could assume based on some statements from the mom Valarie, that she raised Xavier to be “PC”. My SO responded by asking if I knew that people have told him he’s “too white.” I was really taken aback; I didn’t understand what someone could mean by that. He said people think the way he holds himself, the way he speaks at time, it’s all considered to make him… not black enough? I’m going to be honest, I don’t understand. So when thinking about Xavier’s character, I think that it’s important to consider, even if it wasn’t the author’s intentions, that some people of color are told that they are too “this” or not enough “that” for their race. And that’s not okay either. Xavier is a complex character for this, and I find it adding value to the story. Plot The storyline was great until the end. Some people found the book to be slow, but a story about people being neighbors isn’t going to be one with a lot of action. What kept me intrigued was the relationships that we were watching unfold. My only issue with the plot is the ending. To not spoil it, and to not be seen as insensitive, I felt like it was an easy way out for Fowler. I would have much preferred a different ending with less resolution. But I understand why in this story she went the direction she did. Messages Obviously, one of the main issues this books focuses on is race. I said at the beginning of my review, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a book about interracial relationships, but it turned out to be one of my favorite points. I’m a white girl, so I can’t speak to most of the racial experiences in this book, but I can relate to the dynamics of an interracial relationship. The relationship between Xavier and Juniper and their families feelings on it were perfectly displayed in my opinion. Valarie’s fears, Juniper’s parents disapproval, Juniper trying to figure out how to tell her parents, all of it felt very relatable to me. But this story is more than just the dynamics of love. Fowler touches on the reality of race in the criminal justice system, the way black people are expected to act older at all times, the choices between facing a prejudiced jury or pleading for a deal far worse than a white man would get. Reading about these things chilled my blood and boiled my bones. I felt frustration seep out of me. I can’t personally relate to this, but I can say the stories are all too familiar. There was one incident in particular that felt overly actively racist to the point I questioned it’s level of realism. Two days later, social media was flooded with the story of Ahmaud Arbery, bringing a sombering realization that what I originally thought was dramatic, was still life in America. Some people found the book to be too preachy in its messages on racism. That it was a book with an agenda that out to tell a woe is me tale for POC in America. I didn’t feel this way. However, I also read this book at the same time as reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, which I think had a large influence on my reading experience. There were interesting points made on feminist issues, such a purity vows, the role of women in modern day America. I will go into detail on these thoughts in my feminist analysis section below, but will say on an overall, this was dealt with in a way to present standpoints and not tell someone how to feel, which I enjoyed. To wrap up, I really enjoyed this read. I’m giving it 🌳3.5/5 oak trees for the messages, narrations style, and general plot. It did lose stars because my issues with the ending and some of the characters were too much to move past at times. FEminist AnalysisSo, this book presents some ideas that are great when considering feminism. Purity vows? The church’s standpoint on women’s place? Yes, I’m ready to get into this!
One of the main characters is Juniper, a 17 year old high school student. She took a purity vow at her church when she was 14. For those that don’t know, a purity vow is a promise a girl makes to stay abstinent until marriage. For Juniper, this also seems to mean no dating. Her parents say it was one of the best things they did to educate and protect Juniper; Juniper hates it for causing her to be bullied but doesn’t think too much into it’s meaning until she starts developing feelings for Xavier, and the neighborhood gives a negative vibe towards it. I really love that they had all the different perspectives. It gives us space to really analyze the issue. Juniper’s mom, Julia, pushed the vow because she basically the exact opposite when she was young. She felt giving her daughter those boundaries would create a better life for her than Julia had before meeting her now husband Brad. What I see from this is that Julia represents this idea of safety in performing a role. If she can fit the role the church gives, dutiful at home wife who cares for all domestic things, she can stay safe in the world. She pushes this a step farther with the vow with Juniper. This idea of pretend safety is discussed in Audre Lorde’s essay Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, (not discussed on my theory page) where Lorde says “For white women there is a wider range of pretended choices and rewards for identifying with patriarchal power and its tools… it is easier once again for white women to believe the dangerous fantasy that if you are good enough, pretty enough, sweet enough, quiet enough, teach the children to behave, hate the right people, and marry the right men, then you will be allowed to co-exist with patriarchy in relative peace.” This statement really fits Julia Whitman and her ideals, showing that she has not reached a type of freedom from patriarchal ideals. Juniper’s uneasy towards the vow as she realizes she doesn’t want to be the stay at home mom, and that she’s never heard of a 14 year old boy taking a purity vow, shows a hopeful future. The neighborhood seems to wonder how Juniper feels about all of it, giving me the vibe of “okay, seems weird but if you’re cool with it… I guess.” I will always view the questioning of sexist things as feminist because it will always be one of the first steps in change. Juniper starting to form her own thoughts on the issues and pushing for her dreams is why I consider her a feminist character. The other major feminist character? Valarie. She is unapologetically herself, out spoken on issues everyone tells her to sit down on, respecting herself too much to let them silence her. I love it. She’s a single mother, but it doesn’t dominate her personality. One could argue she is written into an “angel” role, but I feel the push back on her in the book takes away that label. She’s strong, independent, feminist and amazing. Honestly, I love this character. I know feminism wasn’t the main goal of this book. I don’t even think racism originally was. But it’s something to still look at because (and I will never say this enough) literature helps shape our world. Because of an aspect of this book I can't discuss due to spoilers, I can’t say this book is feminist. I can say it’s trying to move in the right direction, and that the characters have feminist attributes; if it weren’t for this issue, I would probably love this book on a whole—novel itself and feminist analysis—a lot more.
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Hello, love! Please, don't mind the cat hair. I'm a lover of all genres (except romance, ironic, I know), and potentially --accidentally-- obsessed with feminist literary theory. Feel free to scroll around, hopefully see a few cats, and find a good new book or two!
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