I’m not a big verse reader, but something about Samira and her story immediately drew me in.

If a book is powerful enough to make me cry, it’s automatically a five-star. That’s exactly what Bright Red Fruit did. I was initially drawn in by the cover, but I quickly found out that this novel has way more beautiful, heartbreaking layers to it. I can’t wait to see what’s next from the author.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of books in verse and I loved how this novel wasn't just in verse but about poetry as well. Sometimes I have trouble connecting to characters in verse books, but this one, combined with the texts and emails really captured the voice of Samira. The story revolves heavily around Samira's religion and culture and of her relationship with her seemingly strict mother and another accidental love in her life, that doesn't turn into what she thought it would be. As a mother myself, it made me appreciate the hope that my kids can come to me when they feel like they are in trouble. The relationships are heartbreaking and realistic. Solid four stars for me (as a middle school librarian, the content is a little old for my students.)

This was heartbreaking and left me with the biggest book hangover. Idk how ima recover from this. Like ouch.

I had the pleasure of reading “Home is Not a Country” and when I saw Safia Elhillo had a new book coming out, I knew I needed to read it. This book is amazing and deals wonderfully with being a teenager so “protected” they start pushing boundaries to the point they end up in unhealthy situations. For Samira, she ends up meeting a man on the Internet who praises her poems and calls her beautiful, and especially after her community has shamed her for behaviors she didn’t do, being seen positively makes it hard for to see the ways Horus is hurting her and isolating her. The experiences with Horus were too real and really hit me, but I couldn’t put this book down because I needed to see how Samira would reconnect with her friends, her family, and most importantly, reconnect with herself. This was such a satisfying, emotional read, and I cannot recommend it enough!

A solid four. I love novels in verse and have read every one that I can lay hands on. I love the rich texture and sensory imagery of this poetry. The voice of a young poet and a forming woman are captured here. However, the neatly tied up ending is one I’m not sure of. I do think it’s what teens are looking for and that our sophomores will love it. It’s perfect for young high school or 8th grade. Well done contribution!

“but ever since i was small i’ve wanted to be loved”

Wow. This blew me away. Samira’s voice is so raw and real. I felt every emotion.

I know novels told in verse aren’t for everyone, but for me, the sparseness of the words force the writer to hone in on feelings, to use the tools of poetry to pack a punch. It resonates.

Samira is a Sudanese-American living in DC, trying to navigate being 16 in a country so different from her culture, with a mom who doesn’t seem to understand what being a teenage girl in the US means. Her mom tries to hold her close, sometimes too tightly, to keep her safe from the unknown. Samira relies on writing poetry and her two best friends until one night while posting on a poetry website, an older man, Horus (25), reaches out to her, impressed by her poems and making her feel seen.

“…it’s intoxicating, to be cared about like this
to have someone want so badly to know me”

This attention is what Samira has been craving, wanting, wishing for. To be seen and understood. And soon this secret relationship grows and festers, Samira desperately trying to be the adult she isn’t and Horus playing on her insecurities and needs. There were times where I wanted to shake Samira and say “girl, here’s what’s really happening.” But so many other times I saw why she did the things she did and it was her self-discovery and coming of age that made this so beautiful.

Loved the lyrical manner of this book. Was short and fun read. Would recommend to everyone who loves poetry.

5 stars. Obviously.

This is fantastic. I came into this with a lot of expectations and knowledge of Elhillo's work. In addition to enjoying it personally, I teach it frequently. Still, this exceeded.

Samira is the ideal YA heroine, and even moderately informed readers will be hard pressed to read her and not think of her literary maker, Xiomara. There are some undeniable similarities between them (along with some critical distinctions, which makes them a fun comparison versus a dangerous replication, to be clear), and that's most likely how I'll teach them and bill them to my students. It made me feel better to see Acevedo in the immediate list of Elhillo's acknowledgements. In a novel with so many references, this feels like a wise and even necessary implication.

Samira has an extremely protective though well-intentioned single mother whose home culture deeply impacts the choices she makes for her daughter. Modern readers are going to want Samira to have more freedom and will sympathize (if not empathize) with the measures she feels forced to take to give herself some breathing room. But then, the slightly more seasoned among us will be dying for every restriction to fall upon her as those mythological connections she's busy making start to really evolve.

Like all great YA, this one is packed with *the issues*, and Elhillo hits them responsibly and not didactically. Some readers may find the predatory nature of a particular character (you'll smell this from so far away) especially triggering, depending on their own histories and even contemporary experiences, but wow if that material isn't particularly well drawn and vivid. Also, this kind of creep is ubiquitous, so Elhillo hits the *important* in addition to aesthetically pleasing and generally engaging points of reference.

This is another absolute winner from Elhillo, who exclusively produces these, as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to recommend it and teach it with the right (and fairly warned) audience.

This book is just amazing. The story follows Samira as she finds her voice. This story deals with so much. But yet never do you want to scream at her. You want to comfort her and tell her everything will get better. This book is amazing.

Samira is a gifted young Sudanese American poet with a strict mother. After posting her work in an online poetry forum, she attracts the attention of an older man who then begins to groom her. This coming of age novel in verse was beautifully written with important lessons.