This was unreal, truly. Chills after chills after chills and it was so difficult to read but Faridah is an EXCELLENT writer. This book met its pitch of “Gossip Girl meets Get Out” exactly and though the Black trauma was not easy to wade through, it’s one of those stories that felt too easy to be actually real. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t reading a historical encounter but I wouldn’t be shocked if a true story like this popped up on the news one day. I’m really looking forward to Faridah’s future works. A lot of young debut authors struggle to hold their light when compared to other authors in the industry, especially to ones who have been writing for years, so when I found out that Faridah is only 22 and has been on the NYTimes best selling list for 10 weeks already, I was shocked. AOS reads like a third novel of a well-known and well-established author and that just speaks volumes to the talent, to the way she brought Chiamaka and Devon to life in a stand-alone and yet gave you everything you needed to leave feeling unsettled. I cant recommend this book enough.