Let Me Hear a Rhyme

4.25 stars - this was the book I didn't know I needed! Absolutely loved the 90's vibes, the music, the nod to the movies, the lingo, the Brooklyn vibes, love love love. The charachters were great and funny, Quadir's corny jokes had me laughing and Jarrell was also funny, and I loved Jasmine's vibe. I even liked Ronnie. The pace was perfect and the story/plot was amazing. Steph has some awesome friends, but I had hoped there were more repercussions for his murderer (the audacity, tuhh). What a beautiful love letter to hip hop. A great palette cleanser too! I feel like growing up in the 90's was a "you just had to be there" moment/era, and the vibes translated through this book so well and it had me singing along with the Biggie songs. This book is just *chef's kiss*

Your girl loves alternating POV's, and Jackson does a great job of giving each of them a unique feeling voice and perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Lovable characters that I was rooting for quickly, a plot that keeps you turning the page, and a conclusion that left me a little teary eyed. Loved it.

I ended up liking this book and the themes it addressed.

What a phenomenal story this was. It’s truly a love letter to Brooklyn, rap and hip hop and black teens everywhere. We follow, Quadir, Jarrell and Jasmine as they turn their murdered best friend/brother, Steph, into a rap star by pretending he’s still. All with the goal of making Steph’s dreams come true and to seek justice for him. This book seems like it would be a dream for rap enthusiasts. There are so many references to 90s rap and it’s clear that Tiffany D. Jackson has a passion for it. There are also actual raps in this book and I listened to it as an audiobook, which really brought the story to life. I loved all of the characters so much. They are by no means perfect, but are still so loveable as you know that it all comes from a place of love. The characters’ motivations were also extremely clear which made them feel even more real. Even if you don’t agree with a character’s actions, you can always understand them. I think Jasmine was probably my favourite though. She lets nothing get in the way of her mission of finding out who killed her brother. Now this is more of a side thing, but I loved her character arc of not becoming so judgmental. She seems to think she’s better than other girls at the start of the book and doesn’t understand why female rappers rap about sex. But throughout the book she’s called out on her behaviour and I just loved that little arc. This book also talks about important and relevant topics. Police brutality, against POC specifically, is touched upon. The cycle of poverty and how hard it is to break was also quite a big theme. The pacing and plot was also highly engaging. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. I think having this in three POV was a really great decision. It felt more personal and also showed three different experiences of Brooklyn in the 90s. The ending was the biggest let down for me. I won’t spoil anything, but it ended way too quickly for my liking. I also found it to be very unrealistic and too perfect for what the rest of the story was. Basically, if you were a 90s kid and want to read about important issues that were particularly prevelant during the time, this is the perfect book for you. I cant wait to check out more of Tiffany D. Jackson’s work.

I was really looking forward to this, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to. The concept of a group of friends trying to get their deceased friend's music signed to a label was really intriguing to me, but the way the book focused what felt like 90% on the music and only 10% on discussing their grieving processes, and I wish it had been a bit more balanced. I also would have enjoyed the book more if I had more background knowledge on rap music from the 90s, but I can't blame the book for my own lack of knowledge. It felt like all the conflicts at the end resolved way too easily and that didn't feel satisfying to me. For all the messiness that the rest of the book was (but messy in a good way!), it didn't make sense for everything to be all hunky-dory at the end.

Jasmine was a very well written and developed character. The other two.. I do not think they weren't well written but if I didn't read the name at the chapter header, I would not be able to tell the two male point of views apart. Cool setting, it is cool to see what Brooklyn was like before the gentrification process. The writing was not special, at the start it was choppy but it did not get better as the book went along. I love books about music and the love for music, this did not disappoint there and then the fact that we had that underlying mystery made this an even better read. I was not a huge fan of one of the main twists and thought it was a bit out of the blue. This was a good read and went by fast. I enjoyed my time reading 'Let Me Hear a Rhyme'.

Tiffany D. Jackson has done it again. Jackson always knows how to successfully make me fall in love with her characters and break my heart at the same time. Going into this one, I was unsure if I would enjoy it because I don't really like books dealing with music, but I was completely taken aback by this novel. Although it was about music, it was about so much more. This novel is about friendship, grief, senseless death, injustices, knowing where you come from and knowing that you must do what is right even though there may be consequences. I also found this book filled with facts about black history and New York that you won't find in your history books. This is not just a book about grief and what black people are subjected to because of the economic wealth gap but it is a story of the ways in which black people are more than their struggles and grief. This is a book about building a community that no longer will stand for senseless crimes. A community that no longer lives by a set of rules that decides whether you live or die. A community that will hear a new and upcoming artist and dance together...freely and without fear.

Review to come

3.5* Although I didn't love this as much as I've enjoyed Tiffany D. Jackson's previous works, I still thoroughly appreciated it and the narrative it explored. The audiobook production was fantastic, too.