Book Review: The Almost Sisters

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Review: After a one night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy and a family scandal calls her back to Alabama, Leia, a 38 year old graphic novel writer/artist, is forced to look at her life and everything she holds dear in a different light.

Having never read one of Jackson's books before, I was not sure what to expect, but I found myself quickly sucked into Leia's life and the goings-on of Birchville, Alabama, and managed to finish the novel in less than 48 hours. The characters were dynamic, with realistic problems and personalities, and the conflicts, while varied and complex, were narrated in a way that made the complexities easy to follow, but also extremely fleshed out at the same time. The comic book and other "nerd" references were pretty fantastic as well, because like Leia, I also love Batman. :)

However, despite the wonderful narration, character development, and plot, the fact that Leia, a woman who has spent every summer since birth in a small town in Alabama witnessing the discrimination that her white grandmother's black best friend encounters on a regular basis, seemingly does not understand racism and race discrimination is either a major character flaw or just flat out ignorant. It is not until Leia is confronted with the fact that she is carrying a biracial child and that her baby daddy essentially gives her a wake up call that she realizes that racism is still extremely prominent in the world. While this could be just be chalked up to the fact that Leia is super naive, the white privilege she exudes in regards to racism does not fit with how her character is portrayed otherwise, especially in regards to the events of the last year associated with race in the United States. This made me extremely frustrated with the book, despite how much I liked it otherwise.

Rating: 4/5