Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC, out 8/19!

I've been wanting to get my hands on this one since I heard Angie Thomas gushing about it. This book is very closely related to topics that The Hate U Give and On the Come Up deal with, and I felt as though these characters could live in the same world, or neighboring cities. I really liked the split narrative and could see how both authors lent their voices to each chapter. I read this book in less than a day, and wished there had been more to it. I feel like that was my only complaint; that there wasn't enough to this story. I wanted to know what happened after Lena got home, whether she and Campbell became friends through their shared trauma, what the fallout of the riots were. Because of this, I felt that it ended very abruptly, though I liked the last line of the book. Part of me hopes that maybe there will be a sequel, or that maybe the ending is a little longer in the finished copy. Besides that, this book is following in the footsteps of Angie Thomas' work and I think it will become just as important and talked about.

This book doesn't sit right with me. If I was rating this on pure entertainment value, it'd be a 5 stars because this was un-put-downable. But, you know how it's good that some books will make you uncomfortable, because you need that to grow ? It could have been that, but it wasn't for me. We didn't go enough in the subject and I feel like racial discussions were overshadowed by the main action. In my opinion, the authors missed out on having really deeper conversations.

There's a lot of casual racism here emanating from the white MC. What is said out loud is generally called out for (but not always explained why what the character says his bad). But. The white MC sometimes thinks things that she should be called for and aren't, because the conversation is happening in her head. And this work in reinforcing stereotypes. Also, when she has these racist reflexions out loud, she's not regretting thinking that, she's regretting she got CAUGHT saying that out loud. No growth on that part.

Finally, it also makes me uncomfortable to read a thriller about a riot. I feel like it's voyeurism to entertain myself with a book in which the action, violence and death are drawn from a real and just cause. I wouldn't feel that way if meaningful conversations had been added to the text.

Not the masterpiece that is THUG, but a great companion read. At first I didn't feel like I would be able to get into the characters since they both spoke with heavy slang pertinent to their backgrounds, but after a while, they just felt like kids I knew. This book is very fair-handed, giving each girl the chance to discover something about herself, her own upbringing and her companion as they race across town trying to find safety during a riot. I'd love to see Segal and Jones continue to work together to bring more answers and more thought provoking questions to teens with their fiction.

I love books that put things in perspective. The 2 POVs from very different girls, set this book apart from so many.

The overall premise of Segal and Jones’s I’m Not Dying with You Tonight is that two girls from very different worlds collide when chaos breaks out at a football game that they both decided to attend. Before this night, neither of them knew of the other but they find that they must rely on each other in order to survive.

THE CONFLICT
Campbell is the new girl in school. She has just moved to Atlanta and is treated much like new kids usually are– as an outcast with no friends and that feeling of not belonging. Campbell is also white and is perceived by Lena to be just another “rich white girl.”While Lena, on the other hand, is black, and she is popular with a killer boyfriend and knows that she is going to make it big. She sees her entire life before her and is excited for where she is headed.

The two girls do not know each other before the Friday night game. They choose to attend it and are thrown together out of circumstance. A fight breaks out at the game and a police officer is shot. Chaos quickly takes over and a riot ensues. The girls are thrown together in the hysteria and quickly realize that they must rely on each other for survival.

SURVIVING ATLANTA
Atlanta is a tough city as is. My first residency for my doctoral degree took me there in 2015. We were in such a rough area of the city that we were told not to leave the hotel. Which was crazy to me because the hotel we stayed at was the hotel that was used for The Capital in The Hunger Games. We were told repeatedly that if you did not know Atlanta not to venture out.

It seems like that advice was solid advice because Segal and Jones paint a similar picture of Atlanta. In I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, Campbell and Lena are tossed onto the streets of Atlanta as they try to avoid the chaos and the violence that has erupted following the fight and the subsequent shooting that occurred. They realize that their only escape towards Lena’s boyfriend and eventually home is to get through Tilman Park, the “worst hood in Atlanta.”

SURVIVING EACH OTHER
Along with surviving the violence that has overtaken much of the city, the girls also have to address and survive their biases towards one another. Lena is the popular girl while Campbell is just trying to get through school. Lena thinks Campbell is just another rich white girl even though that can’t be farther from the truth and Campbell reveals her own biases towards Lena in their dialogue and decisions she makes towards their survival.

This is a rather short YA read at 150 pages so the novel does not go deeply into the race relations, ideas on privilege and teenage female friendship– but the nuances are there and this could serve as a springboard for much more in-depth conversations with the younger side of Young Adult readers. I will be adding a few copies to my classroom library this fall.

Overall, while in places the book feels very character driven at the start, it quickly turns to plot driven as the girls spend the remainder of the novel jumping from place to place trying to get to Lena’s boyfriend so that he can get them home. The drive to reach Lena’s boyfriend was a little odd to me because he was not answering any of her calls. Why would you put your life on the line to get to him if he wasn’t answering his phone? Why not try to get home without the help of your boyfriend? Ultimately, the girls do each get home and we are left to wonder if a friendship will now develop between the two and if in attempting a friendship if the girls’ biases towards one another would ever be fully addressed and resolved.

BOOK INFORMATION
I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2019, from Sourcebooks Fire with ISBN 1492678899. This review corresponds to an advanced electronic galley that was received from the publisher in exchange for this review.

I really enjoyed the dual perspectives in this story because they opened windows into wider issues in our society. In essence, two girls, one black one white, are trying to get home from a football game gone wrong. What should be a short and quick journey takes a turn for the worse when a riot breaks out and the girls are caught in the middle. Interestingly, the plot takes a backseat to deeper insight about race relations, societal interactions of black and white people, and even relationship dynamics both intra and interracial. I found it compelling and really liked the character development of Lena and Campbell. This would be a great readalike for the more popular BLM teen novels right now, such as The Hate U Give and Tyler Johnson Was Here.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy!

I recommend checking out this short but impactful YA novel. My full review will be coming closer to the release date.

I enjoyed the writing and how fast-paced this book was. I finished it in a day. Who knew that if you just put down your phone you can get some reading done haha.

I loved this book! We follow two characters; Lena and Campbell. They are both very different and are put into a crazy situation! The whole book centers around a whole night of chaos and craziness in Atlanta in a racially divided community. A fight in the highschool results in a shoot out and the whole town erupting into a full on riot! The whole book is full of suspense and action with the characters being thrown into so many different situations! I was on the edge of my seat through out the entire time!

I don’t think this book was for. It felt very much on the “younger” side of YA for characters- but with an important plot. But that could be the adult in me annoyed that a teenager girl would have her life revolve around a boy who doesn’t deserve it. I also would of loved to see a lot more character development.

This is a profound story, but ultimately I wanted more character development. This is definitely a more plot focused book, so if that's what you like to read you will definitely enjoy this.

This book was fantastic. I read it straight through in a few hours which says a LOT as a mom to a high needs toddler (sacrificed my sleep for it!!) At times it felt just slightly heavy handed with the “clueless white girl who doesn’t understand racism,” but for a YA book that’s probably a better approach - I have to remember I’m coming at it from a jaded 30 something perspective. The complex relationships between the characters and amount of development that occurred in a single night was impressive.

Campbell, the new white girl at school, reluctantly agrees to help at the concession stand at the football game. Lena is a popular African American girl who goes to the game to see her friends perform at the halftime show. A fight erupts between students of the rival schools, and the situation goes from bad to worse in a hurry. The girls are thrown together through circumstance and must rely on each other to survive the violence of the night. The authors deftly weave the narration of Campbell and Lena together to tell two sides of the same story. They reveal the faulty assumptions and stereotypes held by both girls in the midst of their struggle to survive a scary situation. Despite the tense action, the language is clean. Highly recommend.

This book opens with a huge fight at a high school football game. When things go from bad to worse, high school students Lena and Campbell end up together, albeit reluctantly. They don't really know each other, but when times are scary and no one else is around, who are you going to depend on? Fighting, rioting, looting, you name it, it's covered here. The girls make one bad decision after another in their journey across the city streets. A quick read that fans of The Hate U Give and All American Boys will love.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC.

I went into this book expecting something like Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely's All American Boys. What I got was something a little less character-driven, but ultimately tackling some heavy stuff. I think this book could have been excellent, but suffered from too-much-plot, not enough character. At times it felt like our protagonists were making decisions simply meant to move the plot from point A to point B. There were several loose ends I would have liked to see tied up by the end of the book. On the other hand, I loved the contrasting voices of our two main characters and I think that is this book's biggest strength. Not my favorite, but definitely worth a read.

**I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. My opinions are my own. **

It took me longer than I would have liked to finish this book, mostly because it was a book that I felt I needed to devote my attention to, and with a sick baby I didn't have the time to read it like I would have wanted. With the amount of racial tension that is still occurring in America today, I thought this book did a great job of handling the topic in an interesting but educational way.

The story is told in alternating points of view between Lena, a young black girl, and Campbell, a young white girl. While at a football game, the girls get caught in a shooting that incites a riot. Neither of them truly has a way to escape, so they decide to stick together and try to make it to Lena's boyfriend, so that he can take them home safely. Throughout the night they both learn things about themselves and about each other. They do not trust one another, barely know one another, but have to work together in order to survive. Each girl sees people of her own race, that she knows well, behave in ways she didn't think they were capable of.

They both make it home safely, but the reader is left knowing that these two girls' lives are changed forever, and wondering if there is a friendship building between the two girls. I for one was impressed with the writing and the way the topic was handled. We all have our misconceptions of people and this book proves that sometimes it's the people you least expect that you need in your lives the most. I could see this book being turned into a movie, and would definitely recommend it to some of our YA readers.

Campbell and Lena come from completely different worlds. When they are thrown together during a night of rioting and violence, will they be able to bridge the racial divide?

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight does a good job of showing how racial tension leads to misunderstanding and sometimes violence. I think the ending lacks a little bit of depth, but the action makes this a great choice for reluctant readers.

I wanted this book so bad but it wasn’t what I was expecting it was good don’t get me wrong but I feel like the characters got themselves into some of the stuff that they got into and the racial part was deep but I feel like to got thrown in too fast too soon but it was a good book overall

I don't even know where you start with this. As much as I want to say it was a fun read because it was a non stop roller coaster of emotions on crack, it was also brutal and violent and heart wrenching. Lena and Campbell are not friends. But if you can't find a bond with someone after spending 12 hrs together, packed full of rioting and violence, y'all have no heart.
What begins as the story of a new girl in a new town with no friends and a girl coping with a belligerent boyfriend becomes the story of 2 girls trying to survive together, no matter their differences. 2 thumbs up.

This book was really good. Not quite what I expected it to be at the start - it's really more of a 'one night in the life of' type of story. The comparisons/comp reads of All American Boys, Dear Martin, The Hate U Give make sense for sure, and I would hand this book to readers who liked those books. It's a book I'd want in every high school library and I appreciated the alternating perspectives that make this book as strong as it is.