Gilly Segal

Kimberly Jones

Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot.

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

Sarah Sammis

** spoiler alert **
           I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal is set over an evening that begins with a football game and ends with rioting across the neighborhood. It's told from alternating points of view, Lena, a Black teen who has lived in the area her entire life, and Campbell, a white teen recently moved here after her mother leaves the country for work. When they are trapped together in the concession stand after a white boy incites a fight through his repeated racist comments, the girls team up to get to safety.

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666633 - marginalized home Blue Highway

Alexa M

Heather

1 Star ⭐️
I read this for my library’s bingo and would’ve DNFed it if not for that. It really wasn’t for me. I don’t think I can say one thing I really enjoyed about it. The ending was bleh and not worth the read.

Alexa Jade

Tatiana Alvarez 

I was extremely excited to read this book. I’m not a huge realistic fiction fan at all, but this book seemed like the type of realistic fiction book I would love. Unfortunately I was wrong. 

The trouble started with a fight breaking out during a football game. The MC’s were stuck together and heard gun shots. Obviously I thought this would be about a mass shooting / school shooting but it wasn’t. In fact, this wasn’t even a huge plot point. 

The girls went from this crazy situation, to rioting on the streets for some reason, to the MC’s fathers shop being looted, to friends pulling a gun on each other and then finally reading a relative safety. 

Then it ends. It was rushed, little to no character development, and too much. The one positive thing I will say is that the writing, objectively speaking, was good. The story was not.

Tiffany Robinson

I really enjoyed this book. I liked that it was told through two different point of views. I think the fact that it was written by two authors helped the voices of the characters sound different. This was a tense book all the way through so it never got dull.

Rochelle Ferguson

DNF at 40% 
I did not like this book. I disliked the stereotypical characters and language for the two main characters. The plot was intriguing but the execution was bland and I could not connect to the characters or the story.

Samantha Seeman

3.5*
This was one I really wanted to like. It’s a new release with a dual perspective. Two teenage girls who couldn’t be more different encounter a series of terrible events which pushes them together and has them holding on to each other, literally as if their lives depended on it. Campbell is a new student, recently moved from Connecticut to Georgia because her mom took a job in Venezuela and left her behind with a mostly absent father. Lena is an outgoing, fashion-forward teen who knows exactly what she wants. She doesn’t care that her friends and family are voicing their negative opinions about her dating a locally infamous older man because she believes that she could be the one to tie him down. It had all the makings of an urban classic contemporary like The Hate U Give, but fell just short for me. The events were tough, and parts did leave me on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen. However, getting to the end felt like hitting a wall unexpectedly. I’d give it a try if you are into tough subject matter contemporaries like Dear Martin and Tyler Johnson Was Here, but don’t go in expecting a blockbuster.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought TWO copies of this book cause I’m weak. Support your authors, especially your local ones!

Authors: Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: August 6th, 2019

Diversity: Lena (one of the main characters and one POV character) is African American, as well as a many of the characters in this book. 

Recommended Age: 16+ (riots, violence, guns, and unlikely friends)

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Synopsis: Lena and Campbell aren't friends.

Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.

When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.

They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night.

Review: Holy cow this book was a rollercoaster of amazing emotions and full of thought-provoking text. The characters were all very well developed, I felt for each of them, and the plot was something that has and could happen again. The writing is amazing and the text doesn’t read like two different people wrote it. The book is one of those that you should read, I highly recommend it. I also recommend getting the B&N copy with the extras at the end.

There’s not an epilogue that wraps everything up with the regular version (and neither is there with the B&N version really, it’s just set a couple of weeks after the event), but is there ever one with life? Sometimes things happen to you and the next day you wake up and have to go to school. 

Verdict: Definitely a must read.

Makayla Reed

I read along with the audiobook to this novel and I just am not too sure about this book.

From the very beginning, I felt the stereotypes of an ignorant white girl and a loud angry black girl. It felt like they didn't have any other characteristics to them besides that. They weren't multifaceted characters and yet they still became somewhat friends even though Campbell was ignorant as hell and kept making comments that were racist. Lena wasn't a terrible character but she just seemed to be the stereotypical black girl and I felt like she should have had a lot more to her. She didn't even have a good monologue to explain the reasons for the protests or why she had to fear the police and Campbell didn't. For the most part, Lena easily glossed over shit Campbell was saying that was just ignorant and should have been challenged.

Also the relationship between Black and Lena was literally the most annoying situation. So much could have been avoided if Lena just dumped Black. Black sucks so much and is just terrible to Lena. The authors try to redeem him at the end of the novel but there is no way to do that because he just sucks so bad.


Emily C Peterson

2.5. this was just so meh and underwhelming

Leelynn Brady

I listened to this one as an audiobook. Wow, This was such an intense novel and it really only took place in the span of a couple of hours. Maybe 5 hours or so. I don’t remember how long exactly but it was one night. I loved that they had two different narrators to represent both characters, which I felt was really important in this case. I was really moved by this novel, and I could understand the ignorance and point of view from both characters and why each of them couldn’t understand the other’s viewpoint. Or at least, why it took a while for them to see it. I could understand why Lena was frustrated with Campbell’s ignorance, and I could sympathize with Campbell’s lack of knowledge when it comes to certain racial stereotypes. I feel like this novel showed both sides of the story really well, and a lot of people should give this one a chance if they haven’t already. I recommend listening to it. It felt more emotional, and it made the experience more intense in the way that I felt the book should have been.

Sunny Song

This book was something out of my comfort zone so I wasn’t expecting much of it, but seeing two sides to the same story was really eye opening. Lena and Campbell were such a great duo even though they had their ups and downs and I loved how they both surprised each other when push came to shove. An easy read with a powerful message I just wish the novel didn’t take place over the course of one day I would have loved to have seen what happened afterwards.

Ocean

What an incredible book! I really enjoyed watching the friendship grow between Lena and Campbell. Campbell clearly doesn't understand how different life is for people of colour and it was good to see Lena calling her out on it. This book is up there with the likes of The Hate U Give. The events in this story seemed realistic and reminded me of similar events that happened in real life a few years ago. I got caught up in the story and didn't want to put the book down. I highly recommend!

Ariana Burgos 

The New York Times Bestseller! "An absolute page turner, I'm Not Dying with You Tonight is a compelling and powerful novel that is sure to make an impact. " —Angie Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give An NAACP Image Award Nominee, I'm Not Dying with You Tonight follows two teen girls—one black, one white—who have to confront their own assumptions about racial inequality as they rely on each other to get through the violent race riot that has set their city on fire with civil unrest. Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school. When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together. They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night. This book is perfect for: Sparking conversations about prejudice and the racial tension that exists in America Parents and educators looking for multicultural and African American books for teens Fans of Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, and Jason Reynolds Additional Praise for I'm Not Dying with You Tonight: "A vital addition to the YA race relations canon." —Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin "An astounding achievement. This novel is an incendiary experience, one that does not shy away from difficult questions about privilege and violence. But Jones and Segal don't hold our hands to provide us easy answers; this is a book meant to be devoured in a single sitting and discussed for years to come." —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift "I'm Not Dying With You Tonight is a powerful examination of privilege, and how friends are often found in surprising places. Jones and Segal have penned a page-turning debut, as timely as it is addictive." —David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

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