Great Read!

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Yolanda Vance's life is defined by struggle. From struggling with the death of her father and struggling with her mom's constant new boyfriends to struggling through school all the way through Harvard Law and struggling with her work post graduation. At this point in her life, she really thought she had planned things better than the way they seem to have worked out for her. Now, she is working for the FBI, just a way to make ends meet until she can return to her work in corporate law. That was the plan anyway until the FBI assigned her to be an undercover operative in a radical organization aimed at empowering black teens and saving the environment. Only then does Yolanda stop struggling when the plan she has is completely thrown out the window.

I was immediately drawn to this book with a main character who is a female in the FBI. I was a bit cautious that the author is known for her feminist and black-empowerment storylines. However, I was constantly impressed and moved at her ability to present the perspective of so many characters and so many sides of a very complex issue with such grace and respect to all people's opinions. The novel was able to focus on the struggle of feminism and being a black woman (and a black person in general) without being pushy or offputting. I really liked Yolanda and to be honest I hope the author considers writing another book with her in it. The reason I gave it 4 instead of five was the somewhat abrupt and confusing ending. There were a lot of moving pieces and I found myself really struggling to keep track of who was doing what.