All You Have to Do follows the story of two young black men at pivotal moments in their lives. Gibran is facing racism at his prep school in 1995 and Kevin is protesting after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Their lives are linked more than you realize at the beginning, and you get to see how their decisions can bring about powerful changes. The cover speaks volumes on its own and sets a very deep tone.
This read was extremely though provoking for me. Although I have read books centering around these time periods before, I found this to be original in its storytelling. It is very well researched and opened my eyes to a lot of history I was unaware of. Also, two timelines is a trope that I have always enjoyed, and this was no exception. It was interesting to see how similar, yet completely different Gibran and Kevin’s lives were, especially when you started to put the pieces together of their relationship to one another. I would highly recommend this to anyone and I hope to see more books like this in the future.
This read was extremely though provoking for me. Although I have read books centering around these time periods before, I found this to be original in its storytelling. It is very well researched and opened my eyes to a lot of history I was unaware of. Also, two timelines is a trope that I have always enjoyed, and this was no exception. It was interesting to see how similar, yet completely different Gibran and Kevin’s lives were, especially when you started to put the pieces together of their relationship to one another. I would highly recommend this to anyone and I hope to see more books like this in the future.