But I Am Not Your Baby Mother resonates beyond race – and should strike a chord with any mother alienated by stereotypical images of motherhood. When Brathwaite first became a mother, she was more worried about paying the electricity bill than whether her child’s food was organic. “If my child is not crying through hunger, I’m winning. The time to fuss is itself a privilege.” I thought this book had the potential to be a good book, but instead, it was underwhelming and poorly written. I am no stranger to Candice Brathwaite’s writing; I'm certainly not a fan, but I do believe she has produced much better work than this without sounding too rude. I do not think fictional writing is for everyone. The thing that causes a lot of Young Adult books to be unsuccessful is that people write for an audience that they don’t already have. Unless you're well-established like John Green, you have to develop your style of writing before trying to put yourself in a box for a specific genre. Cuts Both Ways did a poor job of targeting a particular audience. This book is a must read. The writing is brilliant and intelligent, and it's clear that Candice Braithwaite is a very talented writer and orator. It was a memoir, but also well researched - with statistics about population, health, names, and racism scattered through. Many thanks to Hachette Children's Group and NetGalley for providing me with a Digital Review Copy.

Anyways…..I feel like my thoughts are legit all over the place. All in all, I LOVED this book. I rate it HIGHLY and I would recommend this book to ANYONE and EVERYONE.There she is met with microagressions straight away—from teachers who do not bother learning to pronounce her name, to students gossiping about 'gangs killing each other in London' and desribing her natural afro hair as 'unkempt'. These serve as a stark reminder of the casual prejudices that still linger among today's society. However I applaud the author for such an important subject matter, and for exploring all the different ways people can grieve and how a lost loved one can affect a family unit, I just felt like there was so much more space for more. But then three things happened. First, someone I found entertaining and considerate came into my life; and, surprisingly, year after year, we seemed to be able to compromise just enough, so that we ended up being together for a decade. Second, life – as in me actually giving birth to it – happened, and I now had to consider how not being married could affect my children when it came to dealing with things such as wills and estates. The third and final nail in my “never a bride” coffin was the pandemic, which of course reminded us all of what really matters, and forced us to properly think about the choices we would make once we were allowed to do more than circle our nearest park. There were some parts of the book that really made me cringe although this was a good thing as that is exactly what the author was going for in my opinion. The first was when Cyn is at a party hosted by the Goddards and another guest is rude to her for being on her mobile phone because she automatically assumes that she is there to work and so goes to call out "the help".

Yep,” we both said. We had already done our research and understood that we would have to wait our turn. Plus, what was 18 months to the 10 years we had already been together? I am personally pretty exhausted. As with racism, combating colourism is going to take a group effort, and some difficult conversations. Commissioners and editors are going to have to make bolder, braver choices. Lighter-skinned presenters and writers will also have to be honest about whether they are really the best person to lead on certain subjects, and if they aren’t, to step aside. Cuts Both Ways was a really powerful read and its ending – whilst not ambiguous – certainly allows for more of the story to be told and I really home that Candice Braithwaite turns it into a series.I said ‘I like to think I’m an ally’ because learning about white privilege can be hard to face (not as hard as experiencing racism and micro-aggressions your entire life, but difficult to admit and own up to) and this book challenged me. Candice talks about trying to fit in with the white mummy crowd in the beginning by having the ‘must-have’ buggy despite her finances being really stretched, and as someone who didn’t even dare to consider those options or try to fit in that particular clique I felt a bit resentful of this. but i’d say in a sense i’m also hurt about her brother, despite being involved in all that, and him being well off - no one deserves what he went through. i never thought he’d be involved in such activities, but it’s why Candice put that in there, it could be anyone and happen to anyone. there was so much life ahead of him :( I was not expecting the beautiful depiction of grief at the centre of this story. This is a story about loss, longing and reconciling the person you thought you knew with the reality. Brathwaite has created this really touching and authentic depiction of grief. It is an all-consuming cloud at times, but it also sometimes melts away for a moment. Cynthia is emotionally vulnerable and open in a way that makes it impossible for you to not fall in love with her. Her process of grief is so detailed and realistic, striking a chord with me. Although this is obviously a YA romance book but it carries a heavy message about education. Having to be born in a place where gun and knife crime is something that bound to happen to the youngsters, Cynthia’s father is determine to change their future by moving out. Somehow I do agree with her father’s way of thinking that education can change someone’s future. I loved both characters I just wish there was more of a plot, as this book heavily just felt like a short period of Cynthia's life in which she was trying to come to terms with her brothers death, and if anything the book actually left more questions than answers, so the ending really did bother me.

Later that day, as we got our heads around the fact that we had less than two months to plan a wedding, we agreed that instead of being scared by a date so soon, we were actually really grateful – the sooner the better. The last two years had shown us how much we couldn’t control, and this felt like the one thing we could, to ensure that whoever was left standing between us would be able to have their say when it came to our family and finances. Cuts Both Ways is a riveting mixture of contemporary, romance and mystery that completely captures your mind. It is the story about Cynthia. She is starting a new school and leaving her old life in London behind. The murder of her older brother has had her family moving away from the living memory of the crime but Cynthia struggles when it comes to her new way of life. But I must admit there are certain part of this book is a little bit cringy but I think it was intentional by Brathwaite. I would recommend this book for someone who want to read something different from the normal setting of YA romance book but let me warn you, this book will leave you dumbfounded.

In her school she meets a plethora of new people some kind and some not so much. However, it is when she meets brothers Thomas and Isaac that things really start to unravel. Ever since, she has fought to raise awareness of the implicit racial biases within the healthcare system and how, for mothers, it can have deadly consequences.