There is just something about this cover that let me know I was going to love this book. The amount of raw emotion that Morris put into this novel will take your breath away. I absolutely loved the relationship between Alex and Isaiah and I really didn’t want their story to end. I loved how the story developed with them both, even though I was crying for half of it.

Racism is also a crucial part of this story and reading about characters that look like you, going through things that you could very well go through in actual life, just feels different. I was able to relate to Alex on a whole different level. And this is the main reason why I try to read more books written by black authors with black main characters. There is nothing like reading a book and being able to connect to a character on such a deep level because you share the same culture.

The main point of this book that had me in tears was definitely the grief. The way that Morris writes how Alex handles grief is heartbreaking. I felt like I was there with Alex during every tough scene in this book. Alex tries so hard to change the future, and the unknown will have you anxious and in tears at the same time.

Overall, I need every black young adult and adult to read this book. It is not often that someone writes us so well. If I could forget this book and read it all over again I would.

so, Alex is a young Black teen who has the ability to see into the future (not a spoiler, read the back of the book). long story short, he touches a photo & sees his brother grave. so, before Isaiah’s untimely death, Alex makes it his mission to bond with his sibling & create new memories. in doing so, Alex regrets nothing.

while reading, i couldn’t help but think about the passing of Morgan. it’ll be a year in June & im still amazed at how life has managed to continue without her. i kept thinking back to our outings & discussions of hiking & traveling to Ghana or Nigeria (she had never been out of the country, so what better first new continent than Africa?). although her death was unexpected & the most painful experience i’ve felt in my life… i find great solace in knowing from every interaction we’ve had, we’ve ended it with “i love you, let me know when you’re home.” that is the greatest peace of all.

i highly recommend this book. it most definitely pulls on your heartstrings, however the plot twists are definitely worth it! thank you #partners @coloredpagesblogtours @simonteen for the opportunity to read this & to also reflect on my own experiences💙

#TheCostofKnowingTour #coloredpagestours #TheCostOfKnowing #blackauthor #supportblackauthors #bibliophile #books #bookstagram #instabook #tearjerker

The Cost Of Knowing is a quick read that speaks about black joy as well as black struggles. I enjoyed the way the familial relationships were handled in this book. The bond between Alex and his aunt as well as the bond that developed between Alex and his brother, Isaiah after Alex had seen his grave. I was a fan of how Britney Morris managed to make this story about the struggles that Alex and other black people have to face without making it the sole important aspect of the story. I appreciate the author giving Alex a burden and then made it clear that it was something he could overcome. The pacing towards the end was a bit rushed and I do wish some aspects of the story were more fleshed out, for example Alex's relationship with Talia.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with an e-ARC of The Cost of Knowing in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings: Loss of Parents, Mass Shooting, Body Mutilation, Blood, Gun Violence, Racism

I’ve had a lot of thoughts since finishing The Cost of Knowing & have come to the conclusion that this book is absolutely perfect. That’s it. That’s the whole review. With a bit of reflecting, the things that I thought I disliked (slower pacing, not fleshing certain scenes out) ended up being things that truly made this book phenomenal. Now, I can’t explain why and I can’t explain how because hashtag spoilers, but just know that Brittney Morris wrote another must-read book.

I fell in love with the main characters of The Cost of Knowing — both Alex and Isaiah are so fleshed out; even with the addition of magical elements, these characters are written so realistically, making it very easy to feel for them. And once their relationship kick-started, whew — the love these two brothers have for each other? I’m living for it.

Throughout The Cost of Knowing, we sit inside Alex’s head. We’re introduced to his pain, his anxiety, his grief. We get a lot of wholesome scenes with the brothers, but we also get a lot of heartbreak. This book absolutely hurts; I found myself tearing up multiple times. & in the end, I found my arms covered in gooseflesh.

On top of The Cost of Knowing being a story focused on the relationship between these two brothers & having to deal with grief while also having these visions, Brittney Morris’ novel shines light on what it’s like being a Black man in America. The entire story touches on this — from a Karen-esque neighbor (named Karen) wanting to shut down a rap concert to keep the “wrong kind out” to mentions of code-switching. & then we get to that climax which hits hard. I’m still in shock from it, however, it’s so real & unfortunately happens all of the time.

Okay, okay. I know I said this book was perfect, but I do have a small complaint which I’ve seen from other reviewers. When Alex touches something and gets a vision, he’s able to cancel it & in the beginning, it happens so much. I get that this was to explain what’s going on, however, it does get annoying. Thankfully, once the story gets into the juice of the plot, my brain didn’t zone in too much on the vision cancellation.

I strongly, strongly urge everyone to pick up The Cost of Knowing. Absolutely loved it & as of now, is on my top reads of 2021.

A new reader to Morris, I went into this book with no expectations other than a general description of the book. Very pleased to have read Morris! Her voice is authentic to the MC, a young black man struggling with visions of the future, conflicting with his responsibilities and feelings in the present with an overtone of race relations. He struggles with anxiety and the reader has a very real sense of what that feels like. To be clear, if anxiety is a trigger, then consider yourself trigger warned.

There were times I felt we were in a sloshy soup of emotion, anxiety, empathy, fear and concern for what will happen as Alex races against time to save his brother. It felt true to his experience, but also a bit much at times.

On balance, I enjoyed this book and if I were to recommend it, it would be with the caveat that there is a lot to process and one should go into it understanding that. Bravo Ms. Morris!

Would you want to know the future if you couldn’t change it?? This book made me so anxious when we finally reached the moment Alex feared. Could he stop the tragedy? I enjoyed the beautiful writing of Brittany Morris. I enjoyed the relationship between the brothers and their aunt. Read this book.

CWs: anxiety, panic attacks, death/child death/parental death, grief, racism, brief mentions of suicidal ideation and self-harm, allusions to a suicide attempt, police brutality, references to slavery and rape, and mass shooting

Brittney Morris has done it once again. She has written an incredible novel that is very much needed and that offers an outstretched hand to Black youth, especially—one that's all wrapped up in emotion and catharsis. This is a challenging book, and may certainly prove to be a hard one to bear witness to for some readers, but it is unflinching in both its truth and its hope.

This is a hard-hitting contemporary story with a surrealist edge in how its protagonist has the ability to see the future of anyone he touches. While it might seem like knowing the future is an empowering ability, it actually has the opposite effect on Alex and makes him feel powerless under the weight of the future's inevitability, especially when he sees his own brother's death.

To me, this ability was a powerful allegory for how Black youth—and young Black men, specifically—bear the weight of knowing the systemic pain that awaits them in this world. To be a young Black man in America is, in some ways, to accept the possibility of your own death and the death of those you love before it even happens—and what is that if not "predicting the future" based on what's been proven in the past?

So not only is this story an exploration of that grave injustice, but it's also about Alex reconnecting with his brother and his loved ones, realizing that he can either succumb to the despair of knowing that his brother won't survive, or he can try and find moments of joy in the time they have left together. In some ways, it's also about how joy in the face of oppression is a radical act, and a way of reclaiming agency over the right we all have to live and love—a right that is often forcibly taken away from Black youth at too young an age.

The story also challenges concepts of toxic masculinity, especially in how it explores power and powerlessness. When you're not able to control an outcome, where do you draw power from? Does it make us stronger to look away from something we know we're going to lose or to confront the fear that accompanies that loss? Over the course of the story, Alex is learning that there is no power in detaching, disassociating, or even wanting to lash out at the world. Instead the harder work is confronting his own sadness about his situation, learning how to be unafraid in the way he loves and needs the people around him, and extracting moments of connection and joy from the pain and loss. Alex is realizing that it's okay to be afraid of the future, to be anxious, to be hurt and sad, and that doesn't mean he's failed or that he's not a man—it means he's human.

This is a powerful story about resilience, joy, and brotherhood in the face of extreme pain and loss. As Brittney Morris writes in her acknowledgements, this is very much a "Black-boy-joy despite" book, for all the Black men who are trying to be joyful and unafraid despite the world proving itself to be inhospitable to their joys and hopes. Their lives, their experiences, and their feelings matter, and this is a book that beautifully, brilliantly, and painfully makes space for those complicated feelings to exist. I can say with every confidence that this is definitely a must-read book, right alongside Brittney's stunning debut, Slay.

I loved this author's debut, Slay, and was so excited to be granted the e-galley of her latest, The Cost of Knowing.

In this novel, author Morris explores themes of racism, ancestral trauma, power, and grief. Two brothers struggling separately with the aftermath of their parents' sudden deaths finds strength and power they didn't realize they posses when they unite.

There is unique storytelling here and I recommend going in blind. I highly recommend reading the author's notes at the conclusion of the book. That information helped me better understand the choices and storytelling devices she utilized. This story is powerful and in many aspects, one making headlines all too frequently. The author made some interesting choices in how she delivered the story and I am anxious to hear other readers viewpoints.

At times I thought this books could have benefitted from tighter editing. I am anxious to read more from this author as I find hers a unique voice in young adult literature.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder Children's Books, Simon & Schuster, Beth Parker PR and author Brittney Morris

This book was so compelling and ALEX ugh , Brittney Morris is an amazing writer. At first, I was actually kind of annoyed by how consistent and descriptive his visions were. Eventually I did realize that this is exactly how Alex has been living since the visions started so I have to applaud the author for really making that experience realistic for the readers. Another thing I noticed was how often I wanted to yell at Alex for some of his decisions and when he would hold back from explaining what was happening to the people in his life. I would get so frustrated but realized that Alex is a high school student who has gone through so much and has had to deal with some really heartbreaking visions and events and did not know how to handle this stuff on his own, let alone how to explain and share this with people he loves. Alex was an amazing MC to read about and it was great to see that he wasn't perfect, and how he evolved throughout the book. I was also really glad to see the relationship between Alex and Isaiah and how the author makes it a point to show readers how both brother coped with their parents death differently. Overall, this book hit me right in the heart and I definitely urge you guys to buy this book.

The dedication reads, “To all the Black boys who had to grow up too early.”

The Cost of Knowing is the sophomore novel from Brittney Morris and fans of Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not and They Both Die at the End will positively ADORE and MOURN this book.

Brief Summary:
Alex Rufus is trying his best, but it’s hard to be entirely present and focused when every object you touch triggers a vision of that object’s “future, if you will. Each time Alex touches the same same object (car keys for example) his visions propel farther and farther into the future.

Alex’s life is also complicated by the fact that he and his brother, Isaiah, are orphaned after his parents die in a tragic accident. With his brother withdrawing more day by day, it’s all Alex can do to hold it together for the both of them.

Unfortunately, Alex accidentally foresees his brother’s death, and even though he knows his visions cannot be changed, he’s racing against the clock to change Isaiah’s fate regardless.

Things I Loved:
Speculative Fiction is a new genre for me. It’s like a blend of Sci-Fi and Contemporary Fiction, and it has taken me a bit to really immerse myself.

HOWEVER, the elements of this novel demand your attention, respect, introspection, and ultimately offer a reflection and criticism of our time.
I’m writing this review shortly after Daunte Wright’s murder and he, along with countless other lives senselessly lost, are all I can see in my mind.

Goodreads Summary says this book is Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End and I couldn’t agree more.
Read this book. Feel this pain. Then do something about it. For all the Black boys who keep having to grow up too soon.

The Cost of Knowing
by Brittney Morris
This book was not what expected. Using powers of premonition or prescience, and hindsight or seeing historical events was unexpected. The two brothers have a curse, one can tell the future, the other can see the past as far back as the beginning of this family curse. I was blown away by the radical nature of the gifts. How the two boys find out the mystery of their ability, and their shared events. I got more of the internal look of culture, family life, and historical nature of African American families. There are a number of tragic events and many things the family faces. The book is about learning to accept your past and responsibility for the future. In the larger part facing fear.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris was such an emotional read. From our first introduction to the main character, Alex, you are immediately drawn to him. Alex has had a rough childhood, losing his parents a few years ago, and now lives with his Aunt and brother. Alex was also cursed with the ability to see the future of things or people when he touches them, and unfortunately saw the death of his best friend before it happened and was unable to stop it.

Now riddled with anxiety, and not wanting to see what may happen with his family, Alex has pushed everyone away. When he unknowingly touches something showing the imminent death of his brother, Alex decides to do everything he can to change the future, despite that never working in the past.

Navigating racial tensions, anxieties, and grief, this book takes you on a very real and emotional journey, one everyone should take the time to read.

Thanks to Alex's power you know what's going to happen almost right from the start and yet I still kept thinking it was going to go a different way which I think is an example of the power of Morris' writing. <i>Slay</i> was one of my top ten books the year it came out so I was very excited to see another book from the author. This one didn't pull me in as much as her first and I think that might be because the other books is from a female POV which appealed to me more. Despite that, Alex is a great, tormented character and the reader can feel all his pain and emotion throughout. He loves his girlfriend but the strongest relationship explored is with his younger brother and boy, do you really feel the conflict and love there! The bigger analogy between magically seeing his future and the ability to predict the future for Black boys in the United States is obvious. It might not be as obvious to other readers, but the integration of systemic racism into a fantasy is so smooth that readers will leave the book with a deeper understanding of the societal persecution of Black men and boys.

After reading the epilogue for this book, I understand the intention behind the story, but I feel like there was just way too much going on in the plot. The basic storyline is of two brothers, Isaiah, and the narrator, Alex. After the death of their parents in a car accident several years earlier, Alex developed the power to touch an item/person and see into their immediate future. He foresaw the death of his best friend the year before and now has seen himself standing over the grave of his 12-year-old brother, Isaiah. The story follows Alex as he attempts to help Isaiah live out his final days, happy and carefree all the while trying not to touch him or anyone else so as to not see the future. I found a lot of the story convoluted with way too many working parts. I feel like there was an attempt to include too many big events/details into the plot and so it took away from the whole thing. Parts of the story were never really finished and the ending felt rushed and not authentic. I think that the main story of Alex and his power could have been an interesting one but it became too bogged down by all the events the author tried to include.

I loved this book. I think they author did an amazing job with the world-building, and mixing the realism in with the fantastical. I felt immersed from the start, and never lost interest.

This book was framed as a letter to black boys who have to grow up too soon. Society places a LOT of pressure on black boys to grow up and provide for their families. This is one aspect of toxic masculinity that has to be analyzed intersectional, and this book does a fantastic job of that.

I loved how this book portrayed masculinity in a new light, the development of Alex and Isiahs relationship, and the beautiful writing throughout. I would highly recommend this to anybody who needs to fill. a "They Both Die at the End" void in their heart.

Disclaimer: I received this earc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Cost of Knowing

Author: Brittany Morris

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Black main characters and side characters

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: YA readers, sibling relationships, slight sci-fi readers

Genre: YA Sci-fi (more contemporary than sci-fi)

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Pages: 336

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, anxiety, slight romance, slight language)

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.

And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Review: Oh my goodness I am a huge fan of Brittany Morris now! I absolutely loved this story and I loved the premise of it. The book did well to develop the characters and with the world building. The book was equal parts heartbreaking and equal parts rallying as you cheered for Alex to fix the timeline. I also loved the message of this book and how Brittany Morris wrote it as a love letter to Black men that had to grow up too young. The book expertly shows the struggles Black men go through and I hope this book will be used in classrooms within the next decade to teach students the reality of our world for Black men. The atmosphere of the book reminded me a lot of They Both Die at the End with Long Way Down and Dear Martin mixed in.

The only issue I had with the book is that in some spots the pacing slows down, but overall I loved this.

Verdict: Highly recommend!

I’ve never written a negative review. I am always able to find the positive aspects of nearly every novel I read. I could count on one hand the books I would not recommend to my students and I will add this one to that list. The first issue is I didn’t care about the characters. So much time was spent on the visions that the characters were just annoying. I skimmed the family history...because I didn’t care. There was no emotional attachment to Alex or Isaiah which made it a difficult read for me.

3.5 Stars

Alex Rufus is trying to do the best he can in his life. He tries to be the best employee, he tries to be the best boyfriend for Talia, and he tries to be the best brother for Isiah. But Alex always manages to come up short. For Alex, it’s hard for him to stay in the present when every object he touches shows him the future. When he touches his car, he sees it totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the edge of breaking up. When Alex touches a photo of his family, he sees Isiah’s incoming death and everything changes.

Everything about this novel was so authentic. In this book, we see issues addressed that are currently going on in our world. We see the realities of not only being black but what it’s like to be a black man. We see how African Americans get profiled and how many assumptions are being made about them off the bat. I love how the author isn’t afraid to put this issue on blast and show people what it is like for African Americans.

Going off what I said in the previous paragraph, we also see this book emphasized toxic masculinity that is placed onto black men. In this book, Morris allows the boys to act like kids instead of having them grow up so fast. We see Alex struggle with this feeling like he needs to work to be a provider for his family and that if he did not, he wouldn’t be a man. By the end, Alex realizes that he doesn’t need a paycheck to provide for his family, but he can do it in other ways. He learns that the family doesn’t just need financial support, but also emotional support and that is what makes him a true man

One of the things that bothered me while reading was that every time Alex had a vision; he had to cancel it. After a while thus became annoying because each time he cancelled it. And every time he cancelled it, we got the details on how it worked. Like for example, whenever Alex was working at his scoop’s visions popped up. It did bring down my reading experience, but It also helped me to understand what Alex was going through.

My favourite thing about this novel has to be the relationship between Alex and Isaiah. Throughout the story, we see that at the beginning of the book that they really don’t know each other. Isaiah stays in his room all day while Alex is out at work and hanging out with Talia. Once Alex finds out about Isaiah’s imminent death, he tries to make his relationship better before Isaiah is gone. We see them bond over a rapper called Shiv and see them hang out together. It is such a sweet relationship, and you can see how much they care for each other.

I love Alex as a character, and the author did such an accurate job portraying his anxiety. A great example of this is when Alex worries every second of ways Isaiah could die. Based on this, you can tell his anxiety is focusing on Isaiah’s death, and it’s hard for him to take his mind off the subject. You could tell that Alex cared so much for his loved ones and was willing to do anything for them. He had so many regrets about the things he could have done. As time passes, he learns to make peace with past regrets. Isaiah was so young but had such a burden on his back. He was a twelve-year-old kid, that has to deal with many problems that no kid that age should have to deal with. I loved how he would eat pizza bits and fruit loops. I loved how he wanted to be a rapper and when it came down to his death, it made it even harder to deal with.

The last act of the book feels rushed. The entire story makes it clear what is coming next. When I was reading it, I got confused about what happened. It went by super fast, and it quickly became misleading on what was happening. When it really shouldn’t because we know what happens. In the last act, there is so much that has to happen that everything feels cramped within the few pages. But there is a scene at the end of the book dealing with past ancestors that is so beautiful, so it made the ending somewhat better.

Overall, this was a good book with a few problems here and there. I would recommend you to check it out if you think this will be up your alley!

TW: Blood, Mass Shooting, Gun Violence, Racism

Thank you to NetGallery for providing me an ARC of The Cost of Knowing in exchange for an honest review!

Review will be available on my blog, The Reading Fairy, on April 10th, 2021 in part of the Coloured Pages blog tour

CW: Grief, Anxiety, Death of Parents (mentioned), car accident, death of a friend (mentioned), death of a sibling (mentioned), shooting, self-harm

Rep: Latina Prominent character, Anxiety Black MC, Black side characters

Disclaimer: I received an eARC via Netgalley for the blog tour. This does not affect my opinion. All thoughts are my own.

“Joy in the midst of oppression is its own kind of bravery.”

Ever since I read, SLAY-a book I deeply loved and just felt the love for Black culture. I was really curious on what Morris will write next. While The Cost of Knowing has probably disappointed me in some ways, but the brotherhood, the Black boy joy despite, and Black boys having a power that often times feels like a curse depending how you look at it. 

I wished more people have talked about Morris's book. It was something so underrated, and very interesting. You don't see much of Black boy joy or even Black boys on covers too much-so it was really interesting to see Morris tackle that and I feel like it was well done.  

The Cost of Knowing follows Alex, a Black man who's just working at an ice-cream shot, who has a girlfriend but he has a gift- a gift where he could see the future with every touch of an object. HIs parents died when he was four and he is left trying to protect his little brother, Isaiah. 

This book is blurbed as Dear Martin meets They Both Die at the End and it's just so accurate, considering the situation. This book explored the disguised racism from neighbors such as, "trying to keep them out", and "Rapper Shiv Skeptic's past" and honestly it's interesting. It's still racism if you say those things and it'll probably seem harmless. It'sstill be racism and it will get someone killed. 

I think what's interesting about this is that while the neighbors try to deny their racist. There are a few instances where I just wanted to smack the neighbors because seriously though, after all of last summer. Would you trust an ex-cop or a cop in general to protect the neighborhood not to kill someone who looks "suspicious"?

This book is about family and that what it makes it feel special. I have always clung to books that is focused on family because I come from a dysfunctional family, so I try to latch onto something I can't have. The brotherhood between Alex and Isaiah was probably one of my favorite things. I loved how when Alex saw the vision of Isaiah's funeral in a weeks' time-he tried to spend all his time with him. 

Alex even realized how similar he and his brother have in common especially when it comes Shiv Skeptic. The bonding over it was just something special and probably made me shed a tear in the process. Like here we have two brothers who have never spent time with each other, discovering that they have more in common they thought. 

It isn't just about brotherhood, ancestors and the intergenerational trauma plays a huge role in this book. I found it interesting that we were able to meet some of the ancestors and hear their stories especially because they share the same curse that both Isaiah and Alex has (different powers of course). 

I think it was really cool going back through the family tree. It's something that I can not do and I know many others have, but this made me have a craving with what Isiah have with his powers. Like I could actually know my ancestors and their stories. I just want to know some of their reasons on why my family is the way it is. 

I think it's important to mention in The Cost of Knowing, this book has a conversation about mental health. It's super rare to find books that deals with mental health and even rare to find for young Black boys. The conversations about anxiety, grief and toxic masculinity was really well done. There are some spots that just felt really meaningful to me especially when it comes to the anxiety. 

Alex suffers from anxiety and it's mentioned quite a bit in the story. I felt oddly touched because here, Alex is describing what I go through in almost a daily basis.  I literally can't relax with some personal reasons and seeing that Alex also has the same reason was just perfect.

I feel like what made it enjoy it was the repetition. The "canceling" and "vision" are probably a few things that quickly got annoying because it's everywhere.

4 stars - Great! Might re-read.

Wow. This is the sort of book that will stick with me. I loved Alex and Isaiah from the start. The early parts of the story were hard to enjoy - Alex's anxiety and the burden of his visions is a LOT. Once he shares that burden with one person, it lightens the load, both for him and for the reader.

There was a moment near the end of the book where this clicked for me in a whole new way, where I understood what the author was going for at a new level. (The author's acknowledgements are worth reading, too!) And from that moment to the end, I was captivated.

This is a heavy story - racism, grief/loss, gun violence - but the fantasy element of the visions gives this a different flavor than other books I have read in the last few years that have explored those same topics. Don't miss this one, thinking it's like the rest. It's really not. Tons of great material to dig into here. (Language, TW: anxiety, grief/loss, racism, gun violence)