Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn

Thanks to @PenguinTeen and @netgalley for the eARC.

Sugar Town Queens was an interesting look into a life I don’t often read about in young adult books. It follows Amandla, a biracial teen from South Africa who comes to terms with the family she never knew and the deep-rooted secrets that come with them. It’s a wonderful coming of age tale that explores the complex themes of growing up, family, love, independence, and what it means to be mixed race. It’s interesting to see this all through a non-American lens, which is how I usually see stories involving discussions of being part of a mixed family. It’s a great read for any teens or young adults looking to gain new perspectives on life.

SUGAR TOWN QUEENS is a beautiful, powerful story following Amandla as she is thrown into the heart of her family secrets. I haven't read a book this powerful in ages; it is a real tear jerker but so hopeful and heartwarming. This book takes place in a township in South Africa and discuss the themes of poverty and racism in the country. These were so powerful to read about and experience through Amandla's eyes and I feel like it will be eye-opening to every reader. I don't want to speak too much on the plot or themes because it's best to read and discover it for yourself, but wow was it so well done. The prevailing theme in this book is family and there are so many instances in which it is explored. The characters are so well written and endearing and the book was an extremely quick read but so impactful. The prose, too, was lyrical; Malla Nunn told a beautiful story. I cannot recommend this book enough. The story is hopeful and heartbreaking and will make you look at the world in a completely different light and I hope you will pick it up for yourself.

*Special thanks to Penguin Teen for providing me with an eARC of this book!*

I didn't really know what to expect going into this book, but it turned out to be a pretty good read. The plot was compelling and I didn't want to put it down! The pacing was a little odd at times and the characters were pretty undeveloped, but overall it was enjoyable and had a nice mystery element.

I loved the main character, Amandla. She was brave and strong, and she didn't let other people push her around. She was protective of the people she loved, especially her mother, and was willing to fight to discover the truth about her family. Her character arc was wonderful; you could really feel her coming into her true self. Her mom, Annalisa, was an interesting character too. Her presence was important, but she was more of a catalyst in the plot. I didn't feel much of an emotional connection to her until the end when we learned more about her past.

​Amandla's friends, Lil Bit and Goodness, felt a bit one-dimensional; however, I liked how they were always there to support Amandla. I'm still interested in learning more about Lil Bit, and I think another book starring her would be great! I feel like there's a lot more to her story. The romance was a minor plot point, but it was cute! I do question how old the romantic interest was supposed to be, though; the book made it seem like he was around 18 or 19 (he was seemingly done with school and working), but Amandla just turned 15 at the beginning of the book, so that would be a pretty wide age gap.

In order to keep this review spoiler-free I won't mention any other characters specifically by name, but let's just say that one of them annoyed me throughout the entire book, I wanted to banish two others to the depths of Mordor, and the others were just bland. Overall, I wasn't very impressed with the characters in this book.

I did enjoy the mystery in this book! The mystery vibes were subtle, but they added a lot. However, I would categorize this as more of a coming-of-age contemporary than a mystery. This book was very heartwarming, too, and I liked the focus on friends and family. The descriptions were also really vivid and made me feel like I was with the characters in Sugar Town!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookish First for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sugar Town Queens is a YA Coming of Age about Amandla, a biracial South African teenage girl. On her fifteenth birthday, Amandla wakes up to her mother giving her a blue sheet dress and saying she had a vision about Amandla's father. Later that same day Amandla finds a mysterious address and a lump of cash in the bottom of her mother's bag. Amandla is determined to find out what her mother is hiding and when she does it changes her life in unimaginable ways.

This was simultaneously a heartwarming and heartbreaking book. It's all about family and growing up. I loved Amandla, she was such a strong character with a clear voice. She knew her world was small and she was ready to explore more of it. When she finds out her mother's mom wants to reconnect, Amandla jumps in feet first. However, her grandfather, Neville, constantly tries to stop her and keep her from visiting Mayme.

I loved getting to know the Sugar Town inhabitants and see their lives. Amandla's best friend Lil Bit was my favorite. She was a genius and super snarky (my favorite combo). Plus there was definitely some attraction between her and Amandla's new friend, Goodness. These two were so cute and I was immediately shipping it from the beginning.

The ending of this book felt like it went from 1 to 100 really fast. So much happened at the end that I was not expecting one bit and my heart was IN PAIN. I definitely cried at the end and like why did the author make me feel all those FEELS. Very much loved this story and would pick up another of the author's books immediately.

Rep: Black/biracial South African female MC, white mother with PTSD and memory loss, white grandmother with heart failure (chronic/terminal), Black South African male love interest, two Black South African sapphic female side characters. MC and her Sugar Town friends are all poor.

CWs: Abandonment/forced institutionalization of MC's mother in the past, blood, chronic/terminal illness (heart failure), death, death of parent, emotional abuse, grief, medical content, medical trauma-forced electroshock treatment, misogyny, mental illness (PTSD/memory loss), racial slurs, racism, suicide, adult/minor relationship & rape, sexual harassment, gun violence, violence, religious bigotry, homophobia.

“Too black. Too white. Never quite right.”

Living in the Sugar Town slums of South Africa, Amandla is turning 15, but bears a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. As a mixed race teen with a white mother who isn't quite all there, Amandla is doing the best she can to succeed in school to better her life. But when an address in her mom's purse leads Amandla to her lost (and very rich) white family members she never knew existed, she will be forced to fight for what is hers in order to find the truth about what happened to her mother 16 years ago.

Sugar Town Queens is a beautiful book. It tackles tough themes, such as racism and poverty. Living in post-apartheid South Africa, you are broken down into black, mixed, or white, with whites having privilege and vast opportunities. Being mixed leaves you at the bottom of the food chain. The author does an amazing job shining a light on Sugar Town and contrasting it with the demographically white city of Durban. While Sugar Town is a slum, filled with poverty, drugs, and crime, Amandla's story juxtaposes it against the good side of the township - her neighbors, the school, friendships.

Amandla is a fighter and quite honestly, I am not sure I would make it living the life that she does. Fiercely loyal, she protects her mother, despite viewing her as crazy and is loyal to her friends. Fighting for what is right, Amandla has a strong moral compass, even though she does not feel like she truly fits into a box in her life. The letter at the end nearly broke my heart, but gave me hope for Amandla's future.

As a history teacher, I have a vast background knowledge of South African's apartheid history, so this story touched me deeply. The author does a great job giving the basics of the dynamics of South Africa, that makes it easy and digestible for younger readers to grasp.

Thank you Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of this book through NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

CW: Racism, homophobia, forced institutionalization, chronic illness, emotional abuse, misogyny, gun violence, violence, death of a parent, death of a child, sexual harassment, mental illness, descriptions of blood

Sugar Town Queens follows mixed-race Amandla and her white mother Annalisa, who live in a small South African township called Sugar Town. Amandla has long wondered about her mother's past and where she comes from, but Annalisa has gaps in her memory that prevent her from sharing her story with her daughter. When Amandla finds a large amount of money bound with an address in her mother's purse, she decides to investigate and see what she can uncover about her family history.

This was a wonderfully written, engaging novel that explores some very serious topics such as racism in South Africa, generational wealth, and more (see CW above for other sensitive topics). It is short and fast-paced with a strong willed protagonist and fun side characters that I think everyone would love. This is definitely more of a character driven novel, which is something I personally love, but keep that in mind when you get into reading it if you aren't used to reading books in this style or if it's something you don't normally gravitate toward.

Overall, I encourage everybody to give this book a chance when it comes out on August 3rd. You won't regret it!

Thank you, Penguin Teen, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Sugar Town Queens is about 15-year old Amandla, a mixed-race girl from South African. Amandla lives with her single mother, Annalisa, a white woman suffering from memory loss and past trauma. Amandla and her mother go on a journey to find out about Annalisa's family.

Overall, I had mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the beginning. It was engaging and fast-paced, but once I hit about 50%, the story started to slow down. The reader gets enough information about Annalisa's past early on that you can infer the rest of the story. Once that happened, I began to lose interest in the book; because Amandla is still searching, even though you have the same information. Personally, I was more interested in learning about Amandla's father ad Annalisa's relationship with him, but that was just squished in at the end.

There is also a small romance plot in this book, but the age of the male love interest is never shared. Lewis is written as an adult. Maybe 18 or 19. It appears he is no longer in school and works for his wealthy family. I didn't like that. Amandla turns 15 at the beginning of the book; the author should have a clearly established teenager for her love interest, not a possible adult.

I rate the book 3 stars. I enjoyed some parts of it, but I wouldn't purchase it.

I feel really bad saying this but... I didn’t like this book at all!
And it kills me to say such because I felt like it held so much promise. It was everything that I look for in a book and it let me down. It was a struggled to finish reading. There were parts that I felt were too fast, parts that I felt were too slow.
Sorry!