Review: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Goodreads rating: 4.09/5

My rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Mary B. Addison, an African-American girl, was convicted at the age of nine for killing a white baby girl. She does her time in baby jail and then moves into a group home under house arrest. She's 16 and is also pregnant, but who will let a baby killer keep a baby? In her efforts to retain custody of her baby after birth, she decides to fight for herself and clear her name. Did Mary B. Addison really kill a baby when she was just nine? The only other person who knows the truth of what happened is her Momma but she claims that Mary is guilty of the crime.

I'd never heard of this book until I decided to search up YA books by black authors. I wanted to read something in light of BLM, in case that wasn't obvious enough. I don't know how I've never heard of this book before, it is both simple and complicated. How is that possible? I was so engrossed in Mary's life. I felt her pain, her anger, her fear, her depression and her care, among other emotions. Jackson did a good job of allowing me that opportunity.

The first few lines of the book was an excerpt from a book or article called, "Babies Killing Babies: Profiles of Preteen and Teen Murderers". The first line of the excerpt read, "Some children are just born bad". For someone who grew up believing that everyone is born good, I was taken aback! That was the explanation for the crime that Mary was being accused of? That some children were just born bad? Doesn't that make you angry? It made me angry, most of the book made me angry on behalf of Mary! I wanted to drown Ms. Stein (the group home caretaker) in bleach, poison Ms. Reba (group home caretaker) with her own shit, and slit Kelly's (group home inmate) throat with the knife that Mary kept hidden. Don't worry, I'm okay. The characters that bullied Mary relentlessly, even while she was pregnant, just enraged me. But the character I hated the most, was Mary's Momma. She was mentally ill and yet, I could not feel bad for her. How could I? She let Mary rot in jail and in the group home and when Mary needed her the most, she denied Mary was her child. I hated her with a passion. And then there was Ms. Cora and Ms. Claire. Oh man, the care they gave Mary and the way they stood up for her, touched me to tears. Ms. Cora is the lawyer that takes up Mary's case pro-bono and Ms. Claire is a teacher that helps Mary with the SATs. That's what's amazing about Mary, despite her circumstances, she's extremely intelligent. When she was in grade 4, she was approved to skip two grades but her Momma held her back. Also, when one is depressed, all they think about is suicide and negative thoughts but Mary does the opposite. She dreamed of taking the SAT test, getting into college and getting a job with her boyfriend Ted once she's out of the group home. She dreamed of a future and strove hard for it, it was admirable. But it was also heartbreaking having to read about her detailed plans with Ted, knowing it would be much more difficult than she imagined it would be.

I found Jackson's writing style unique in the sense that, instead of telling the story from the beginning, when Mary was nine, to the present, she decided to tell the story from the present while inserting bits of news, deposition excerpts and interview transcripts that give the reader an idea of what happened before the present time. She was able to mesh the past with the present seamlessly without confusing the reader. Other writers choose to do this by using flashbacks of memories or writing from different time periods so to read the way Jackson wrote it, was refreshing. She was also able to incorporate urban slang and different accents that was easy to imagine coming out of the characters mouths, adding personality to the characters.

The story was fast paced so when I had reached the last chapter, I was confused as to how the book was ending so quickly with the court case just starting. Unfortunately, this book is not perfect. I was so close to giving it 5 stars until I reached the end. It ends rather abruptly with so many questions left unanswered, ones I can't mention without ruining the story for people who haven't read it. Upon reflection, however, I reminded myself that the story was fictional and although completely possible in reality, the way the story ended was not completely impossible. I've read other reviews and I've noticed that some people actually prefer the way it ended while others felt the same way I did. When I finished reading the book, I literally shouted out loud, "THAT'S IT?! NO WAY!". I immediately Googled if there was a part two to the book, I would actually love it if Jackson wrote a second book and picked up where she left it.

Nonetheless, it was a great story. Jackson's writing had me repulsed every time I would read about Mary puking, enraged whenever someone bullied her and sad whenever things didn't go her way. It was an emotional roller-coaster, one that I enjoyed. It also covered the injustices of being black in a white man's world. Would I recommend it? Definitely, it's a read for all.