Okay, so "Color Me In" by Natasha Díaz is this coming-of-age story that totally hits you in the feels. It's about Nevaeh, this 16-year-old girl who's dealing with some major identity stuff after her parents split up.
So, Nevaeh's got this mixed background - Black mom, Jewish dad - but she never really thought about it much until she moves to Harlem with her mom. Suddenly, she's stuck between two worlds and doesn't quite fit in anywhere. Like, her cousin thinks she's too privileged to get what it's like being Black in America, and her dad's pushing this belated bat mitzvah on her instead of a sweet sixteen. Talk about awkward!
The book does a pretty good job tackling some heavy topics like racism, religious differences, and finding yourself. It's cool how Díaz weaves in stuff about friendship and first love too. You can tell she's writing from personal experience, which makes it feel real.
What's frustrating is that Nevaeh stays quiet for a long time instead of standing up for herself. But I guess that's part of her journey, right? Watching her slowly find her voice and figure out where she belongs is pretty satisfying.
It's not a perfect book - sometimes it feels like it's trying to cover too much ground - but it's definitely an important read. If you're into YA novels that deal with identity and don't shy away from tough topics, give this one a shot. It'll make you think, and maybe even relate if you've ever felt caught between different worlds.
3.75 stars feels right because while it's got some powerful moments and important messages, it doesn't quite hit that 5-star wow factor. Still, it's a solid read that'll stick with you after you're done.

This book was outstanding! I love that it was so well written and handled the topics of race so well! I found this to be one that I wanted to pick up again right after I finished.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At its core, the book delivers and provides us with a unique perspective on finding your identity.

I hate talking badly about books on marginalized groups, being a POC myself. However, this book was simply not for me. Overall, the message of the book is strong and important. I just think that putting a bit more focus on the plot and its characters would make it a lot better.

A great coming-of-age story about a biracial teen who is trying to find her identity while navigating being a teenager. I found Navaeh real, flawed, and honest in her search for belonging.

DNF at 60 pages
This book has too much and too little going on. I couldn't get into this book. A little dramatic for my taste (ugh, angsty teenagers).

Color Me In is a wonderful coming of age story. The book follows a biracial sixteen year old teen as she learns and tries to navigate her way through the world. For a YA, it is written well, and the characters are easy to connect with/understand.

I really enjoyed this read! It was about a biracial girl who really tried to find out how to navigate between both sides of her family who represented different races / cultures

I really wanted to like this more than I did but overall it fell flat. A story of a biracial teen splitting her time between her wealthy Jewish father’s house in the suburbs and her mother’s inner-city neighborhood. A lot of the characters felt like stereotypes and lacked the depth I think people have but I hope to read more stories from this perspective.

I think this story is perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Elizabeth Acevedo. It is the perfect blend of The Poet X and The Hate U Give. Color Me In is a coming of age story about a biracial teen with divorced parents, trying to navigate her Black and Jewish heritage to figure out just who she is supposed to be. Naveah is not always a likable character. As she struggles to find her own voice, she sometimes silences those around her who also need their voices heard. I liked this book a lot, it made me realize that the best thing I can do is listen. Even though I couldn't relate to Naveah's struggles, the author made me feel like I was present and a witness to the hurt she felt. I will read more this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free review copy.

Color Me In was published in 2019 and I am finally catching up on my oldest ARCs. I had my daughter that year, so it’s been a few busy years. 😅

Color Me In was Natasha Diaz’s debut novel, and it was a great one! It’s the story of a young girl discovering her heritage and who she truly is. If you read the authors note, which I usually skip over 🤦‍♀️, she says that she based this novel on her real life. I enjoyed this book from start to finish, and loved that we got to read the journal entries, from Nevaeh’s mom. It helped me understand her father more! Nevaeh’s family and friends really helped tie the story together also, and they were all enjoyable. If this one has been sitting on your shelf, or your kindle like mine, pick it up and enjoy it! I’m glad I finally did.

Between 3 and 4 stars - unique story, quite predictable, but valuable in its perspective on race and belonging,

A beautiful book about family and identity. Characters who are both Black and Jewish are still rare in YA fiction, so this book will be very meaningful to people who are looking for characters who are either. This will be popular with many YA readers.

4/5 stars. This was well-written Young Adult contemporary novel that was own voices and deals with identity. Thank you netgalley for the early copy.

Contemporary look at intersectionality. Authentic character, plausible world building and compelling to read.

Overall I enjoyed Color Me In. Nevaeh's experience being torn between two cultures was really a compelling story, and I loved the stark differences between the two. The story got a little over dramatic for me in the last third of the book - it felt lie Diaz was trying to make a really grand statement that was definitely there, but a bit over dramatic. That said, I do love coming-of-age stories and this one was really unique.

I enjoyed this read…but I struggled a bit with it. It took me a while to get into the story and start investing in it, and I found our main character, Nevaeh, to be way more judgmental for my taste. However, I did love the message the author wraps the plot around. Highly recommend grabbing the audio of this instead of diving into it the traditional reading route.

This was the first book I identified with as a biracial person. It shows the complexities of being not enough to those around you, because they see you through their lens. Nevaeh struggles with her identity & being able to love both "sides" of who she is while also not feeling like enough of either in a world that judges you based on appearance. In that struggle to own a check box identity, she finds her way & hits some hard realities amongst her friends & family members.

Nevaeh learns to be less self centered in her concerns & has to realize how sheltered her life of privilege has been. All while navigating a new life, in a new space with a new understanding of who her parents are as adults. While she gets close Natasha leaves an open door to see her progression in a possible sequel.

Natasha teaches a hard lesson many of us had to learn too. The check box identity isn't to be desired, but let go, because its outdated & oppressive in so many ways. The boxes that say if you're truly black you won't speak good English or if you're truly down with your culture you must participate in foolishness. The boxes that say well if you're biracial how come you don't have the "good hair" check box marked or the nice light Hollywood perapproved skin tone?

I would recommend this book for all adolescents to not only see the struggle of their identity isn't problematic or unique to them, but a lesson we must all learn. Especially when the world around us wants to pidgeon hole us into check boxes.

Although this is a YA book, I greatly enjoyed it as an adult. The teenage characters in this book were all interesting and complex, with varying backgrounds and struggles to understand their place in the world. I thought this was a great coming of age story.

This is a story of a biracial girl growing up in Brooklyn. While I enjoyed that the story included a diverse population, the plot development and writing was weak. I found it hard to finish.

There's a lot to unpack about this novel and the way in which an upper middle class, white-passing, black teenage girl navigates the world, but I felt at times like it was too messy and trying too hard. Some parts are written in prose which I felt like was how the author was tackling hard topics. That's one of my personal pet peeves when YA characters are portrayed as not mature enough to be having serious conversations about race.

I loved the author's note - don't skip over it. It's also narrated by the author in the audiobook.

Thanks to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for a copy to review.

CW: sexual assault