Being Amani by Annabelle Steele, #114 review

Publication date: 20 May 2021

It’s been over a year since that night and Amani hopes that starting all over again will help her move on from the past. So, when she moves to a new city, Amani wants to focus on her new life, her best friends and the boy she’s been crushing on but everything is falling apart and Amani finds herself looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Can Amani confront the ghosts of her pasts so she can become the girl she’s always wanted to be?

*Contains sensitive issues that some may find triggering.

Themes: Mental health, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Abuse, Family

A coming of age story about a girl named Amani whose parents were in a toxic and abusive marriage. Now that her mother is divorced, Amani and her mother live with her grandfather. They are adapting to their new life, but with their past trauma haunting them. It is hard to say that the past is in the past. Will letting go break them free of the invisible shackles of a family in tatters or will they sew the tears back together into a patchwork quilt?

Even though Amani is in college, the way this book is written felt very young young adult, like teenage type. Almost middle grade. Why? It focuses very little on her college experience and her classes, the whole college package. It was very centred around her family and their lifestyle, which is like one of the “Sets” in the movie “Being Amani”. The lack of age-related content threw the book off a bit since it can easily be as though Amani is in high school as a normal teenage student instead of a young adult entering the early paths of grown-up society. College age content doesn’t mean – wild parties, irresponsible drinking, unprotected sex, irrational and stupid actions. It can also mean – college assignment stress, deadline workloads, classes and subjects that interest Amani, things that she is passionate to learn about and contributing to society. It felt that her character was still in the developing stage. It was a tad disappointing since I had high hopes for the structure of the book. It was all very predictable. And no, I can’t forgive her father for his misdoings. He can burn in hell for all I care.

Thank you to netgalley for the review ebook.