Review: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

Audiobook, Duration: 10:37:09

Published January 24th, 2017 by HarperCollins

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads

Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer's Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn't say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn't a point to setting the record straight before, but now she's got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary's fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

My thoughts…

Mary B. Addison is a black teenager who allegedly killed a white three-month-old baby when she was just nine years old. Mary and her mother were to care of Alyssa but when her parents returned later that evening, Alyssa was no longer breathing.

Mary, now sixteen, has just been transferred from "baby jail" to a group home. She is bullied by the other girls she lives with and the women who work at the group home. Mary wants to take the SAT and go to college. Those in charge of her continually discourage her, pointing out how colleges and employers will not want a baby murderer among them. Mary isn’t discouraged, especially now that she has found out she is pregnant. She wants a family and wants to be loved but the adults decide that her baby will be adopted.

Mary doubts herself and thinks she's a bad person. She still loves her mother and wants her acceptance, but wants to be free from her. She still has the desire to protect her mentally ill mother, and her need to tell the truth.

Allegedly is highly emotional, disturbing and very sad at times. The story was engaging, and I desperately wanted to find out what happened next with Mary. Regardless of the ending, which I wasn’t very happy about it, I did enjoy Allegedly and will be looking forward to the next book by Tiffany D. Jackson.

Happy Reading -J