Book Title                   Don’t Fail Me Now (Standalone)
Author:                         Una LaMarche
Number of pages:  288

Synopsis:

Michelle and her little siblings Cass and Denny are African-American and living on the poverty line in urban Baltimore, struggling to keep it together with their mom in jail and only Michelle’s part-time job at the Taco Bell to sustain them.

Leah and her stepbrother Tim are white and middle class from suburban Maryland, with few worries beyond winning lacrosse games and getting college applications in on time.

Michelle and Leah only have one thing in common: Buck Devereaux, the biological father who abandoned them when they were little. After news trickles back to them that Buck is dying, they make the uneasy decision to drive across country to his hospice in California. Leah hopes for closure; Michelle just wants to give him a piece of her mind.

(re: Goodreads @ Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

– A road-trip book brimming with intersectionality/diversity
– Slow-paced writing and feeling of being disengaged from the cast and their conflict made the experience a bit of a drag
– Romance in this book is off-center of incest (not actually…but the half-sister’s brother is the interest)
– Raises awareness to racial discrimination and microaggressions, economic disparity, gender roles, physiological concerns (diabetes), privilege, etc., but doesn’t cause its importance to resonate

Initial Thoughts

Someone needs to explain to me why road trip books are so wonderful because I’m all “¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Don’t Fail Me Now from the Book Blog Ontario Meet-Up. I extend thanks to RazorBill for providing me with the opportunity to review this book.

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