I had heard so many good things about this book, and I kept seeing it on the buy one get one half price section of Waterstones. So when I saw it on Netgalley, I instantly requested it and luckily, I was sent it! As soon as I had downloaded it, I started reading it straight away and it took me three hours to read – in one sitting.

Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn’t really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls.

Just because her mentor is black and graduated from the same high school doesn’t mean she understands where Jade is coming from. She’s tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.

This is 100% a 5 out of 5 star book. Everything was just absolutely perfect apart from one small thing: the beginning was quite slow. However, after the first few chapters, we become really involved in Jade’s life and the struggles that she has to go through on a daily basis: it was the story of a black teen girl, who’s also an artist and also just trying to find her place in the world and be proud of who she is. It’s about her LIFE.

One of the things that I loved about this book was that Jade was an artist who specialised in creating gorgeous collages. Her goal in life was to travel the world, and in order to do this, her plan was to get a scholarship. She is offered a place in the Women to Women group – much to her chagrin – but she learns to enjoy the group and really make it her own.

Some other things that I loved about this book was that there WAS NO ROMANCE, which was brilliant. I think that’s real important to show that you don’t NEED to be involved in a romantic relationship to be successful. Instead, there are views of family and friendship, and it was just really, really nice to see a coming of age story without any love interest. There was also some epic mother and daughter relationship scenes where her Mom was helpful, and then not helpful, and the whole relationship could be frustrating. But hey, who said getting along with parents was supposed to be easy?

I don’t know what’s worse. Being mistreated because of the colour of your skin, your size, or having to prove that it really happened.

– Renée Watson, Piecing Me Together

I also loved Jade’s character development and how she learnt to speak up for herself and talk to the Women to Women group about what SHE wanted to learn. Watson also conveyed the fear of society that Jade had to go through every day because she was black, and I really do hope that other black teens read this story and take on the message that they do not belong in the background and their voice really does matter! Another great matter of representation in this book was that Jade describes herself as thick, showing a body-positive character who is comfortable in her own skin.

Watson does an amazing job of creating a character who stands up for herself, who decides not to give up on what she wants in life and who also has great f/f friendships who love and support each other. This book is very much character driven and the developments in which every single character goes through.

If you haven’t guessed already, I absolutely loved this book and urge everyone to read it!

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review