I Am Not Your Baby Mother: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

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In her school she meets a plethora of new people some kind and some not so much. However, it is when she meets brothers Thomas and Isaac that things really start to unravel. I found chapters 2 and 5 particularly hard-hitting. It takes immense bravery and courage to be able to speak about such experiences so openly and I really commend Candice for that. I highly recommend this book to everyone, regardless of whether you're a parent or not. It is educational and edifying and there is so much to take away from it. The characters had so much potential, especially our main characters, Cynthia and Issac, but they were underdeveloped and rushed. Their interaction and inner thoughts throughout the book were very amateur and cringe-worthy. It was so evident that this book was written by someone much, much older with not much sense of modern youthfulness and their interaction. It is the story about Cynthia. She is starting a new school and leaving her old life in London behind. The murder of her older brother has had her family moving away from the living memory of the crime but Cynthia struggles when it comes to her new way of life. But I must admit there are certain part of this book is a little bit cringy but I think it was intentional by Brathwaite. I would recommend this book for someone who want to read something different from the normal setting of YA romance book but let me warn you, this book will leave you dumbfounded.

If 2020 was the year the world decided it was time for a proper conversation about racism, then 2021 is definitely the year we need to face up to colourism. Colourism is discrimination against dark-skinned people. It comes from within the community as well as without, and is an issue across many races, including mine. Wow. Where do I even begin with this book. Cuts Both Ways is like an onion. There are layers. On the surface level it is about a boy and a girl who fall in love. On a deeper level it is a Romeo and Juliet tale with a basis in crime. On a deeper level it is about the socio-political and economic values and expectations that the BPOC community face on a daily basis.But I Am Not Your Baby Mother resonates beyond race – and should strike a chord with any mother alienated by stereotypical images of motherhood. When Brathwaite first became a mother, she was more worried about paying the electricity bill than whether her child’s food was organic. “If my child is not crying through hunger, I’m winning. The time to fuss is itself a privilege.” The plot wasn't believable and felt rushed. A pondering question I have upon finishing this novel... What was the message? What can people gain from reading this? Through ‘Cuts Both Ways’, Candice has captured the reality of many young people in London and other cities marred by gun and knife crime. I was drawn into a world I could only imagine before reading this story. Anyways…..I feel like my thoughts are legit all over the place. All in all, I LOVED this book. I rate it HIGHLY and I would recommend this book to ANYONE and EVERYONE. I am personally pretty exhausted. As with racism, combating colourism is going to take a group effort, and some difficult conversations. Commissioners and editors are going to have to make bolder, braver choices. Lighter-skinned presenters and writers will also have to be honest about whether they are really the best person to lead on certain subjects, and if they aren’t, to step aside.

Yep,” we both said. We had already done our research and understood that we would have to wait our turn. Plus, what was 18 months to the 10 years we had already been together? to also know that Cyn undeniably has feelings for Isaac still is heart wrenching, but it’s only natural for her to feel that way, despite the information that was made known to her.

There she is met with microagressions straight away—from teachers who do not bother learning to pronounce her name, to students gossiping about 'gangs killing each other in London' and desribing her natural afro hair as 'unkempt'. These serve as a stark reminder of the casual prejudices that still linger among today's society. Cyn herself did go through a lot for such a young person, and she learnt some things along the way. however the connection that was built between her and Isaac was unmatched. it just felt RIGHT. hence when it all went down, my feelings were shattered. it’s upsetting that it had to end that way for them both, but really what was he thinking??? Thomas was simply doing all of that out of spite. it was all just crazy. Although this is obviously a YA romance book but it carries a heavy message about education. Having to be born in a place where gun and knife crime is something that bound to happen to the youngsters, Cynthia’s father is determine to change their future by moving out. Somehow I do agree with her father’s way of thinking that education can change someone’s future. Brathwaite writes particularly well about the perks and pitfalls of building a career from an online presence. She is candid about her work and how it means “essentially marketing myself full-time”. There has been monetary gain, but there have also been negative effects on her mental health, both from dealing with trolls and navigating how much of her life to share.

However I applaud the author for such an important subject matter, and for exploring all the different ways people can grieve and how a lost loved one can affect a family unit, I just felt like there was so much more space for more.but i’d say in a sense i’m also hurt about her brother, despite being involved in all that, and him being well off - no one deserves what he went through. i never thought he’d be involved in such activities, but it’s why Candice put that in there, it could be anyone and happen to anyone. there was so much life ahead of him :( There were some parts of the book that really made me cringe although this was a good thing as that is exactly what the author was going for in my opinion. The first was when Cyn is at a party hosted by the Goddards and another guest is rude to her for being on her mobile phone because she automatically assumes that she is there to work and so goes to call out "the help". I said ‘I like to think I’m an ally’ because learning about white privilege can be hard to face (not as hard as experiencing racism and micro-aggressions your entire life, but difficult to admit and own up to) and this book challenged me. Candice talks about trying to fit in with the white mummy crowd in the beginning by having the ‘must-have’ buggy despite her finances being really stretched, and as someone who didn’t even dare to consider those options or try to fit in that particular clique I felt a bit resentful of this. Cuts Both Ways was a really powerful read and its ending – whilst not ambiguous – certainly allows for more of the story to be told and I really home that Candice Braithwaite turns it into a series. She doesn’t just mean beige “in terms of skin tone but in personality, in performance, in content being rolled out”. When she started her blog in 2016, “there was no other version out there. If you weren’t white and middle-class with this certain set of mummy friends, it just felt like you were sitting on the outskirts looking in.”