This book needs to be on the top of everyone’s tbr list. I’m Not Dying With You Tonight is heartbreaking and so culturally relevant. When two students are faced with escaping their school and navigating home amidst escalating race riots they’re forced to deal with more than just the physical effects of racism.

What started as two girls with vastly different backgrounds attending a high school football game quickly turns into an all out brawl after a racist comment is made near the concession stand. The rival school the Jonesville Panthers football team have a known habit of being openly racist after dressing up in blackface at a Halloween party. An incident that should have resulted in the team being forced to not participate in any games for the rest of the year at a minimum instead instigates a night of complete destruction.

Lena is struggling to get her older boyfriend to show up and get her out of the area during the initial riot; Campbell a recent transfer student must rely on Lena to get her home after she’s left by her teacher/ride home at the school. From one riot to a sketchy neighborhood, to another riot despite their unfamiliarity with with other the girls refuse to leave each other. Not without bumps in their travels both girls are confronted with biases and prejudices they have and those around them. The penultimate event being the looting of Campbell’s dad’s small hardware store and fallout.

A powerful little story! Kim Jones spoke in a video at the beginning of June and it was so dynamic! Her knowledge and passion just resonated with me so strongly. I will include a link to the video at the end of this review, I strongly encourage you to watch it till the very end. Anyways after watching the video and finding out Kim Jones was an author I knew I had to read her book. This is the story of Lena and Campbell. A black girl and a white girl who find themselves facing a night of racial unrest together, even though they don’t even know one another. The violence started at the football game, then spread into the girl’s town. The story bounce between the perspectives of Lena and Campbell and I thought that was so impactful. These girls saw the situation so differently for the most part, but at the core of it all they wanted to make it out alive. They both also feared for the safety of their loved ones, friends and family. I think this would be a great book for discussion especially in the classroom, the book was engaging and extremely thought-provoking.






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A timely book, the story of Lena and Campbell, who end up thrown together as they try to escape a violent riot, feels as current as the news after George Floyd's death. The outcome of the story is somewhat predictable - of course the two girls will forge some sort of friendship in spite of their differences. More intriguing to me was the character of Lena's boyfriend, Black, whose actions ended up surprising me. The book ends rather abruptly, leaving important, unanswered questions: will Lena and Campbell still be friends, even after life gets back to "normal"? Will anything have changed? Timely questions. Definitely a book that can begin discussions. Recommended for ages 14+.

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight is written from 2 points of view during a riot. One character is Black and one is white. It's interesting to see how each character understands/misunderstands events throughout the book. The characters are not friends, but become allies in order to survive the night. I think I would have enjoyed this even more if I had read it when I was in high school like it is marketed towards. The story was fast paced and interesting, but seemed slightly unrealistic (to an adult. I may have felt differently and understood Lena & Cambell's choices as a teen.).

An amazing book in two voices. This is a book that really needs more attention on it, particularly now, because it's beautifully done and incredibly topical.

What an incredible book! I was not familiar with Kimberly Jones until I saw the viral video, "How Can We Win" on the John Oliver show. She has a powerful voice. Written in two voices - those of Lena, a black high school student and Campbell, a white high school student. They are not friends, but they develop a bond through the trust they have for each other during a night of terror when riots and looting erupts in their town. The two vastly different viewpoints of the girls show how the history of one person can contrast so greatly with that of another while experiencing the same event. Through the eyes of Lena we see the fear of the police and being accused of a crime, while at the same time we see Campbell's trust in the police to make everything better, an example of her white privilege. Ms. Jones words could have be describing the recent events following the murder of George Floyd, which is so very sad since this book was published in 2019.

First, I have to say that the novel grabbed me and dragged me along because it was all action.

But, in between the action of the riots and police, and protests we have two teenagers who are dumb. I love them, but they are dumb. Campbell, the White girl is naive beyond. I kind of get that, if she has been sheltered all her life, and never talked to another Black person. Lena is love dumb. She thinks her boyfriend has her best interests at heart.

But other than those two traits, where you want to grab them and shake some sense into them, the action keeps the novel going. Writing in alternating view points, by a White and Black author, who initially wrote each character separately, but then, when they sat down to see what they had, collaborated to write them together.

Some reviewers have said they think that a situation should not have blown up that quickly, but having seen the recent protests, I would say, yes, it can.

Good novel, even if some of the situations could have been avoided if the girls had thought things through a bit more, which is kind of hard to do when the world is going crazy around you.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This book will interest fans of The Hate U Give and other contemporary race relations novels. This book is fast-paced and more plot-driven than similar books.

A solid 3 star read.
I really enjoyed listening to this. It was an exciting read and I enjoyed the twist and turns that happened throughout the story. I love that 2 girls from different backgrounds helped each other and became closer throughout the situations they were put in. if you're looking an intriguing, meaningful, light read, this book is for you. I hope I'll get to see new releases from these authors in the near future :)

Taking place over the course of one night, Campbell and Lena are forced to find a way home after chaos erupts at a school event. Campbell is white, Lena is black, and both are forced to examine and justify their perspectives on life an racial bias as they work together. The beginning is slow going, but it picks up once the teens are on the road. It's hard to say what the message was though. Unlike 'Dear Martin' or 'The Hate U Give,' I didn't walk away from this book with any feeling of it trying to say something. I could tell it was trying, but it didn't quite make it.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this ARC prior to the book's publication, but we did end up buying multiple copies it for our library collection. It's slated to be a Fall 2020 book club book.

Incredible YA about finding a connection when you never expected it. The entire store is told in just a few hours and it's a fast-paced ride through the lives of 2 teens. I loved seeing the story from each girl's perspective. The writing was superb and these authors have long careers ahead of them. Give this one to fans of Angie Thomas, Lilliam Rivera, and Nic Stone

I’m not dying with you tonight is a great story with an interesting premise. Two teenage girls (one black, one white) have to rely on one another when they get separated from their families and friends during a race riot. This especially had a lot of really good dialogue as the two girls get to know each other!

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. This was a beautiful tale of an unlikely friendship. It was nice to see these two girls overcome together.

“I’m Not Dying With You Tonight” is “The Hate U Give” meets “This Is Where It Ends.” Two girls, from two different backgrounds, with very different personalities, have to work together to get out of a bad situation. But while “I’m Not Dying With You Tonight” is reminiscent of those books, it lacks some of the appeal of the former two. It lacks the sense of urgency the others have. So many of the decisions that are made - decisions that take the girls into “danger” - are decisions that don’t always seem logical. And even the danger never really seems to be anything too worrisome.

One thing I did really like, though, was the relationship between the two girls. It seemed rather organic and never forced, unlike others elements of the plot.

While this book wasn’t bad, there are a lot of other books along this time theme that I would pick instead..

Two high school girls, who only know who each other is because they have a class together, are thrust together when a high school football game turns into a riot with a shooting involved. They escape together only to wind up in another riot as they attempt to locate Lena's boyfriend.

A fast moving story about two girls who most definitely aren’t friends, but are thrown together when a fight breaks out at a school game and end up in the midst of a riot on their way home. Reminiscent of Ferguson and Charlottesville, Jones and Segal write a moving story about trauma, survival, racism, and friendship. #netgalley

This book was an incredibly fast read--I think I devoured it in 3 hours. The chapters are short and alternate POV in a way that keeps the momentum up. It is set in Atlanta and does a good job of placing it physically within that location. We read it with my book club, and it left us wanting to know more about what happens to the characters next.

When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos

They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night.

The characters were very well developed, I felt for each of the girls and the plot was something that has and could happen again. The writing is amazing and the text doesn’t read like two different people wrote it. The book is one of those that you should read, I highly recommend it

First time reading from this author, I really enjoyed the book.

I received an ARC for an honest review from Netgalley, and I actually bought the book also.

Hello!


Somehow (and honestly I am still not even sure how) I have been like a reading machine. I am reading like a ton of books lately and killing my TBR piles both virtual and physical. I am really hoping whatever this mood is does not go away anytime soon because I am absolutely loving it. As I mentioned in another blog entry I recently got a new kindle and I have just been wanting to use it all the time and read all the books on it. I remembered that I had a copy of this book on my kindle but I kind of wanted to try a new function! So I tried using my Libby audiobook app with my kindle to listen to this book (which was highly unnecessary because I could have listened to the book any other way but it was lots of fun)!


SPOILERS AHEAD


Lena and Campbell both go to the same school but have never really meant before. Campbell is new but not that new, she moved in with her dad after her mom got a new job and moved out of the country. Now Campbell finds herself working roped into working the concessions stand on a Friday night, knowing no one but she figures whatever at least its something and its kind of familiar. However, mass chaos begins at the game when a fight breaks out that soon turns to rioting in the streets. Lena and Campbell are thrown together and are forced to work together to try to get away from the chaos and home safely.


I enjoyed this book so much! I started the audiobook and almost finished it in one day (I stopped with like 15 minutes left because dinner was ready and I had plans with my husband). But I finished listening to it like as soon as I got up the next morning. The story of Lena and Campbell trying to make it home and hearing bits and pieces of their life stories at the same time was very interesting. I did not want to stop, I wanted to see if they would get home safe, and who would be involved, and if they did not make it home safe I wanted to know why. I also wanted to know more about both girls and their lives. I am giving this book five stars on Goodreads and I highly recommend this book! It was available via my library on the Libby app. Also, one last point but I love this cover!





***Thank you to the publisher for a netgalley E-ARC