Midnight

[Carrie]

I was very disappointed in Sister Souljah for writing such a terrible book. It started slow, was slow throughout and ended slow! I do understand what she was getting at in her depiction of African-Americans and Americans in general though. The story lacked the drama that Winter had and no matter what culture he is from I seriously doubt that a fourteen year old boy would be THAT responsible! I mean come on!! It was unrealistic!! I would urge anyone not to buy this book. Borrow it from the library or if you must buy it, get it from amazon at a discounted price. Its not worth the money, trust me!

[Claudia]

To me it's like a diary written in first person on the events about the life of Midnight. It would had been so much better if it was actually a story that you could relate to the characters. Get whet I'm saying

[Shennel]

I enjoyed this book however I found it to be a bit long and drawn out. I didnt want to put it down ...in the beginning. I eventually did. However it will make a great movie....calling Spike Lee!

[Shelverly]

I loved it and if you read the sequel you will appreciate it even more.

[Marilyn]

I loved it! I appreciated that it wasn't anything like Coldest winter ever. It had depth. It told a great story. I loved the pictures that were included. I loved it! Hope she makes a part II for it!

[Claudia]

You can find part II on amazon.com

[Shennel]

Shelverly wrote: "I loved it and if you read the sequel you will appreciate it even more."

There is a sequel!! Do tell :)

[Michael]

I loved the book. very good to me.

[Jevon]

I loved this book. Yes sista does put length in her work but how do we tell a great and complicated love story if not at length. Don't let the number of pages discourage you embrace it as though you were the one she was writing about. A true classic!!!

[Tatiana]

I agree with Carrie about the book being "slow" but because of its depth andmore detailed thoughts I was able to actually picture what the main character midnight was going through. This book had a great since of imagery and I believe that's why I enjoyed it more. I could say that some details were unnecessary and made the book rather long like when she referred to I believe the Quran or some book midnight had bought and had many excerpts from it I believe that was unnecessary and a summary could've been more useful . But overall I really enjoyed this book and I would advise others to read it especially young adults.

[[deleted user]]

Midnight: A Gangtsa Love Story is very culturally stereotypical. I found myself upset at times because this novel made it seem like ALL african american don't have morals and that there're no decent african american young women. Although I did enjoy the book(beside the harsh stereotyping), I felt like the author should have just made up another name for the character in this novel because everybody wants to know about the story of Midnight from The Coldest Winter Ever...

[Jennifer]

When I first read this book (which was when it hit the shelves)I didn't like it at all. I actually got 3/4 of the way through and stopped. I didn't like the fact that this Midnight seems to be a very different person than the Midnight in TCWE story. That was my first objection to this book. I waited quite a long time for this book to come out with great expectations that it would take us into his life with the Santiagas. when I found out that it did not, nor is there any mention of the santiagas I quickly closed the book and put it in my bin of books.

A year or two later I decided that I'd free my mind of Winter's story and the Santiagas and try again to read this book as a stand alone story about a young man. But it failed again! Unlike TCWE story, I had no reason to be invested in this Midnight. I felt like I was just being given details of his day to day life without and reason to care. With Winter we knew what her ambitions were, Where she was trying to go and what she was trying to achieve and I cared about what happened in the end. I routed for her on the sidelines, hoping that she'd eventually find the right path in life, while I got all caught up in her drama and cringed at the enormous audacity she had. I wanted to know what was gonna happen to Winter, which is what drew me deep into her story. With Midnight, I was just reading his daily journal, which I had no reason to care about.

[James]

Shelverly wrote: "I loved it and if you read the sequel you will appreciate it even more.".....hello.whats the name of the sequel?

[Shelverly]

James wrote: "Shelverly wrote: "I loved it and if you read the sequel you will appreciate it even more.".....hello.whats the name of the sequel?"

Midnight and the Meaning of Love

[°BeauutiLovve]

Yes, I fell in love with both in hoping there will be a part 3

[Ms bookworm]

I did like the love story but found it so hard to believe a 14 year old would be that responsible and ready for marriage. I was expecting the same drama and suspense as The Coldest Winter Ever and was a bit disappointed. From the library I've got the 3rd part of Midnight and will read as I'm curious .... One thing that bugged me is that in TCWE the author stated midnight went to prison aged 14 in the actual book Midnight there's no mention of it so it is also a bit flawed in the storytelling and consistency.

[Sidne]

Kelly wrote: "I did like the love story but found it so hard to believe a 14 year old would be that responsible and ready for marriage. I was expecting the same drama and suspense as The Coldest Winter Ever and ..."

I believe in that culture they are prepared for that at 13, just like in the western time of Little House on the Prairie. (sad, i always thought)

[Ms bookworm]

@ Sidne I did try to think like that also as I said in my review , while reading I really had to remove myself from the 'norm' and remember that Midnight's mature outlook was the 'norm' for Muslim young men. Even though I could remove myself and my bias I'm amazed at how mature young men grow up to be from this faith. Maybe this was the author's message to us non Muslims that our so-called everyday norm she portrayed in black Americans (I'm British but could relate) is our down fall! Eg relationship break downs, lack of marriage, slack women and men etc. I did think that she was a little harsh at times but what is it they say.... Truth hurts?!

[°BeauutiLovve]

I loved this book an part 2, after I read this I did some digging into the muslims culture and I was amazed, it made me love book 2 even more. Midnight handle his business for his family and his wives, most men at 30 can't even process what Midnight went thru and done for the women in his life. Imo

[Liz]

I loved this book.

[Camille]

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I admire Midnight's poise and adherence to his beliefs however I did spot a few contradictions. The murder's of the two men were not justified to me. Neither one of them were a physical threat to Midnight (yet) and Souljah already spent half of the book pointing out how great a fighter Midnight was. TCWE gave a better reason for Midnight to commit murder. Also, Midnight came across as extremely arrogant even to his own kind. If all Muslim women were all as perfect as his mother, why didn't he choose Sudana over Akemi? Why didn't he try to teach Ameer the proper way to follow the faith instead of chastising him? The age of the characters were not realistic and made most of Midnight's story border on fantasy.
However on the flip side, I believe this work would make a good read for any GROWN black man to take into influence. What the book should emphasize is that it was Midnight's mindset, not religion that equated to his success. Any man from any religion can and should care for their family.