June Book Review: Allegedly

My Reasons For Reading This Book

While scouring the Internet in search of an online book club, I discovered the YouTube channel Candiland and I saw that she had a video titled March and April Book Reviews and June Book Selection. Without watching the video I looked at the description of the video and found a list of the books she was reviewing. I used her links to read the descriptions of the books and chose Allegedly due to the wide range of excitement and high praised reviews that the book had. I had also never read a crime mystery that was centered around a child and was intrigued to read the perceptive of a child who lived through and survived the prison system. The raving reviews surrounding this book made me place high expectations on it. 

Content of the Book

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson's tells the story of Mary Addison an 'alleged' baby killer. Mary was 9-years-old when she was convicted for the murder of 3-month old Alyssa Richardson. The book picks up with Mary living in a dump of a group home with girls who treat her like the supposed killer she is. When Mary becomes pregnant she is faced with the question of whether or not the state is going to take her child from her or not. Will her efforts to better her life make any difference?

Secrets, everyone has them, some worse than others, but it doesn't matter what the secret is, what really matters is who you choose to share your secrets with. This book questions the role of a mother. Does Mary have what it takes to be a good mother? Will she even get the chance to raise her baby? Allegedly also asks the question of forgiveness- can you forgive someone when they do something terrible to you or your family?

What I Liked About This Book

A part of the story that kept me reading was that the murder of baby Alyssa was slowly pieced together was the story progressed. I also enjoyed and appreciated the vivid descriptions of the group home because it painted the picture of what life was like in the home.

This books brought to light the topics of foster care, groups homes and juvenile detentions centers in a raw, realistic and entertaining way.
I found the inclusion of interviews, investigation notes, and doctors' notes to be a unique way to write this particular information into the story. These sections were especially interesting and aided in putting the pieces of the murder and Mary's life together.

What I Disliked About This Book

There were a few parts of the story that I felt were not explained with enough detail, which left me with questions and caused me not fully understand the dynamics of that part of the plot. Without giving away too much about the ending of the book, I have to say that I disagree with how the author chose to conclude Mary Addison's story. The ending of the book generated more questions for me than it answered. I guess you are supposed to create your own ending for Mary and her unborn child. I took a look at the author's blog and as far as I can tell it does not look like she is planning on writing a sequel for Allegedly. I was hoping she would. Maybe it is better this way.

Would I Recommend This Book?

I think this book is the perfect summer read. Its not too long and is an easy and entertaining read. Sadly, I would not give this book high praises. I would only recommend this book to someone who is in the market for a young adult mystery. The reviews of this book made me really excited to read it and led me to have high expectations for it. I would have to say that for me this book did not live up to the raving reviews and I would not recommend it. If you have read this book let me know what you think about it!

Check out the other books I have reviewed

May Book Review: Wonder

April Book Review: Columbine
March Book Review: Gone Girl 
February Book Review: The Woman in the Window
January Book Review: The Worst Hard Time



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