Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ALC of this book!

This book broke me apart. It also gave me nightmares! There are a number of content warnings you should be aware of before you read this book, but if you are able to then you definitely should because it is so important and also amazing. I'll put warnings at the end of the review.

Enchanted is such a dynamic character. I absolutely love unreliable narrators because they always keep me on my toes, and Chantie does not disappoint. All of the characters in this book are very unique and have their own voices, and are very diverse.

This story is absolutely heart breaking, but the topic is so important to talk about! I really loved the way the author explored this difficult topic through Enchanted's story and the way that this story can bring awareness to it. It was beautifully done.

I really loved the writing in this book. It was utterly captivating and drew me in within the first few minutes of my read. I also listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a phenomenal job, so I definitely recommend that!

Definitely pick up this book when in comes out in September!

CW: rape, sexual assault, drugging, withdrawal, assault, abusive relationships (physically, mentally, sexually), date rape drug, police disbelief, murder, unjust legal practices, child abuse, kidnapping, addiction to opioids, mental health

thank you Netgalley for the audiobook ALC! the audio narration is perfect & enhanced the story. content warning: emotional, physical, & sexual abuse. pedophilia & violence. brief synopsis: Enchanted is a competitive swimmer & good student who dreams of being a singer. her dreams come true but quickly spiral into a nightmare of severe abuse & violence. I felt so disturbed by part 2 in particular that it tanked my mood. GROWN sits at the intersection of genres, but it reminded me most of Elizabeth Smart’s memoir. I took comfort in the book’s description’s heads up that the monster would die. GROWN by Tiffany D. Jackson is engaging, thought-provoking, & well-written. Enchanted is an interesting, likable, & sympathetic protagonist. I recommend GROWN — a masterpiece that’ll be perfect for many readers — but proceed w/ caution.

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson is a book about aspiring singer Enchanted Jones who meets a famous (and older) singer, Korey Fields. While Enchanted doesn't pass her audition on a popular singing show, she does catch the eye of Korey Fields who takes an interest in her career and singing. Enchanted soon finds herself on tour with Korey while working on an EP and falling for Korey as well. What follows is a brutal description of an abusive relationship that ends in Korey's murder and the readers trying to figure out if Enchanted was really the killer. This book starts out with the content warnings which is a smart idea as it tackles many difficult issues including abuse (physical and emotional), sexual assault, kidnapping, drugging, and many tough discussions about how rape/sexual assault victims are treated.

This book is different from others in that it doesn't shy away from showing what it might be like as the victim of abuse that Enchanted suffers. As an outsider reading what's going on, we can see all of the red flags relating to her and Korey's relationship and how he is employing emotional manipulation in order to better control Enchanted. It shows the reader how easy it is to make excuses and overlook certain things with someone you love and just how dangerous it can be to get involved with someone like Korey. This story is loosely inspired by the case of R. Kelly and his crimes against many young women but the author explains in the author's note that this is not a story about R. Kelly. This is a story about how black girls and women are not believed and how they are treated within the criminal justice system. It is heartbreaking to read how Enchanted attempts to get police involved and how she and her family are treated. It is also heartbreaking to read how both her and her family's lives change due to this situation. With all of this heavy content it was sometimes difficult to read but I hope it will spark conversations and change to occur around how victims of abuse/assault are treated, but especially black victims.

I really enjoyed the narrator for this book, she brought just the right amount of emotion to the story without making the heavy topics even heavier to listen to. I have not listened to this narrator previously, but I really liked Joneice Abbot-Pratt and her narrations and will definitely seek out more books she has done. I will recommend this audiobook to mature teens or adults who are interested in this powerful and emotional story. This was honestly one of the most powerful books I have read this year and the messages and topics discussed will stick with me for a long time.

This book is a powerful slap of reality. If you read no other books this year, read this one. It is the story of a child’s abuse and overcoming of the abuse.

Enchanted, 17, wants to be a professional singer. She convinces her mother to take her to a contest. There she meets “the” Korey Fields (28.). He is a professional singer and wants to help her on her way. Throughout the book, Korey is grooming Enchanted to become his lover. It all comes to a head when she has the courage to ask for help.
The fight does not end there. Enchanted has an uphill battle. No one, police included, want to believe this young black woman.

Opinion
This book is so well written. There were multiple points in the book that my stomach dropped over something Korey did. Enchanted responses are what anyone would expect of a abuse victim. It falls me that the other characters close to Korey allowed it to happen. This book is so moving that you will find yourself in tears.
I do not recommend this book to younger teens. While there is sex in the book, it is alluded to with little detail given. The violence is also suggested with little graphic detail. Because of how well the book is written, you still feel like you are there.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator, Joniece Abbot-Pratt, did an excellent job of portraying the emotions of Enchanted. There were male voices as well, which were excellent. Ms. Abbot-Pratt has been added to my list of favorite narrators.
I’d like to thank Net Galley andHarper Audio for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook.

Wow! What a powerful piece of literature that explores the vulnerability of young black women, especially in a male dominated society.
Narrator did a fantastic job!
Highly recommended for all to read, but touches on many sensitive topics.

*I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me a copy of the digital audio copy of Grown. All thoughts are my own.
I love this book. That is all,
In all seriousness, this book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 for me, and I am so grateful to gain an early release of this book. This book is deep, and it explores murder, mystery, sexual assault, fame fortune, and what it takes to risk it all in order to achieve your dreams.
As a middle school educator, I find this book a bit too old for the readers, but I would keep it in my class library for advanced readers.
I would recommend people to give this book a chance and to read other works by Tiffany D. Jackson.

Oh this book. I highly recommend reading this.
It does cover some pretty graphic content that can be triggering to some. It does have a content warning in the beginning.

Loved the narrator. Her voice suited this novel well.

Tiffany Jackson's novel, Grown, is gripping and maddening. The reader witnesses a young girl, Enchanted, pursue her dreams of becoming a singer, while having to make a sacrifice bigger than herself. As a reader, I wish I could have prompted Enchanted to stand up to her abuser, but perhaps this shows the most accurate depiction of what being in an abusive relationship feels like-trapped yet safe, confusing yet crystal clear. Not only does this story provide comfort for others who might have found themselves in a situation similar to Enchanted, but it speaks more broadly on the injustices black women face in America.

Tiffany D. Jackson is the queen of plot twists. I was on the edge of my seat for most of this book, and I loved listening to it. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the main character to life and letting us into her story.

This story itself was INTENSE. The synopsis tells you what the book is about, but it turned out to be so much more. Grown is absolutely worth reading - it covers many heavy and important topics.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this!

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio and Katherine Tegan Books for an advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not an easy book to read (or listen to) but it comes with a very important message. 17 year old Enchanted Jones is groomed and manipulated by powerful musician Korey Fields who is 28 and promises her love and fame.

It is awful how known sexual predators are protected in order to keep the money flowing. And too often women are not listened to and their stories doubted.

I liked Enchanted and just wanted to swoop in and save her. I understand she was brainwashed and terrified but there were multiple decisions she made later in the book I couldn’t grasp.

Excellent narration by Joniece Abbott-Pratt.

3.75. It got a little slow about 2/3 through. As a mom of an 18-year-old daughter this book set off some serious alarm bells in my head, but the author portrayed the 17-year-old main character’s rationalizations so well, I could see clearly how things got to the point they did in the book. Too mature for Battle of the Books, but kids who like Hopkins or A Child Called It will want to read this one..

Author Tiffany D. Jackson doesn’t shy away from the hard issues. In her laest work, Grown, Jackson explores child kidnapping and sexual abuse.

All seventeen year old Enchanted Jones wants to do is sing. When she meets superstar Korey Jones, she believes all her dreams will come true. Instead, her dreams turn into a nightmare.

Korey is eleven years older than Enchanted. He promises her love and a record album but only delivers lies, isolation, and mental, physical and sexual abuse.

When Korey is murdered, Enchanted is the main suspect but she knows she didn’t do it. She must find out the truth and learn to heal.

This is a chilling story of a predator who manipulates his victim and how those around him enable him. Jackson’s writing is crisp and she keeps the story moving. The narration by Joneice Abbott-Pratt is excellent. She makes it easy to distinguish each character. She strikes the right tone for Enchanted, a girl on the verge of being a grown up and yet still a kid.

I would definitely booktalk this to students in grades 9 through 12. It is a compelling and cautionary tell that could help girls see the some of the sings of manipulation and abuse and also give hope to be able to escape and start to heal.

This was my first book by Tiffany D. Jackson, and it won't be my last. It is a young adult book but definitely for a mature audience. The narrator was amazing; this story is full of emotional highs and lows (mostly lows, unfortunately), and her voice really conveyed the doubts and insecurities of the main character. Highly recommend on audio.

So unbelievably good! I had high expectations for this and it definitely lived up to those expectations. This is for sure going to be in my top books of 2020 because of how much it resonated with me and made me feel. This book discusses so many important topics including how we need to protect Black girls and believe them when they say something happened to them rather than questioning them on it. It was so frustrating to see how Enchanted was treated and to know that happens and is happening to real people right now. This was difficult to read at times but the conversation is so much more important than feeling uncomfortable for a while. I think if you can handle the triggers in this book (listed below) then I would highly recommend this to you. Every twist/reveal was done so well and at the perfect time that it took me by surprise. I love Tiffany D Jackson’s writing style and the narrator of this did a beautiful job conveying the story along with the emotion of it.

TW: sexual abuse, rape, assault, child abuse, kidnapping, addiction to opioids, grooming

Wow. This is the second book I've read by Tiffany D. Jackson and it seems that her books are consistently difficult to read but impossible to put down. I stayed up WAY too late finishing Grown and I don't regret it.

Enchanted Jones dreams of being a singer and she has the voice to prove it. After attending an audition in Manhattan, she unexpectedly meets Korey Fields, a world-renowned superstar musician. Korey is 28 to Enchanted's 17 and while her gut sometimes questions Korey's motives, she is happy to be caught up in Korey's whirlwind. Enchanted starts taking singing lessons with Korey and with promises of recording an album, she goes on tour with him. Their relationship turns intimate, but Korey becomes more and more controlling. He cuts off contact with Enchanted's parents, takes her phone, and drugs her on a regular basis. Eventually she loses all sense of self and is completely trapped in Korey's nightmare world. The book begins with Korey's murder and Enchanted having no memory of what happened to him. We then flip back and forth between 'Then' - the time leading up to his murder and 'Now' - the aftermath.

Jackson is masterful at building tension and suspense. I really couldn't stop myself from reading on and on into the night. She tells a story that I haven't seen before in Young Adult fiction that is both compelling and heartwrenching. However, her writing does have weak spots. The dual timelines have a few points of confusion and time jumps that weren't quite clear. I also found the confusion around Gab's character to be unnecessary and unrealistic. I think the narrative fell apart a bit during the final third of the book - it's reflective of Enchanted's mental state but not in a way that works for readers. Overall, however, this is an important book that will absolutely draw readers in and keep them. I would recommend Grown for slightly older teens as the depictions of abuse and assault were intense even for me.

I've heard this narrator before and I liked her quite a bit! The audio was an enjoyable experience.

This was hard to get through at times because of the subject matter, but wow was it worth the listen. It is inspired by the allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct against R Kelly, and it deals very, very heavily with grooming, sexual assault, and emotional manipulation. If you're at all sensitive to those things, I would recommend treading with caution as it explores those topics very deeply on page and doesn't really pull any punches as it does so. However, I think that if you can handle the subject matter, this book is a must read. I listened to it via audiobook and I LOVED the narrator's portrayal of Enchanted and I thought it was extremely well done. Overall- this book was just incredible and I highly, highly recommend.

TW: grooming, emotional manipulation, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape, child abuse, kidnapping, addiction, revenge porn, suicidal ideation

Wow.
There is so much incredible stuff going on in this story.
The main character is instantly likeable and relatable. We all remember being a teenager with big dreams. This is a girl with talent and the drive to succeed.
She finds herself in a terrible position but the story makes you understand how she got there. It is such a great portrayal of the abuse of power and celebrity. I think this story is so important for teens of today and I think every teen will be able to connect with this book. The book is very timely. Celebrities are more accessible than ever because of social media and teens are more at risk because of it. The book does a great job of showing the red flags while still showing why a young girl would fall prey this type of abuser.
The book tackles a huge, depressing issue and handles it with care. It also has a mystery element that starts to get a bit excessive near the end but I think that it might help keep teens interest.
The narration was really wonderful. She really did a perfect job. I listened to it all in 1 day which is something I never do.
Compulsively readable while delivering an important message.

My most anticipated YA book and it lived up to the five stars as I thought it would be! I loved this audiobook so much, it definitely told the story, I listened to it in a day. I ate this book up! I loved the story and characters as a whole. Men truly do take advantage of young girls especially rich ones that know they can buy silence.
I loved everything about this book, the only compliant is I wish it was a little longer. However I still enjoyed this real story through the work of fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley & Harper Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook! I also did already preordered this book a while ago!

Even though I just finished this, I instantly want to re read, annotate and listen to the audiobook again.