Review: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson 
Release Date: January 24, 2017 
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary 
Source: Library

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Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

Review:

I've been wanting to read Tiffany D. Jackson's Allegedly for a while now. I have a soft spot for hard, emotional reads, which I could gather from the synopsis and reviews was exactly what Allegedly would be. 

So when I won an ARC of Tiffany's second novel Monday's Not Coming on Twitter, I decided that before diving into that one (which also looks amazing by the way!), I would start with her first book, and I'm so glad I did. 

It's hard to describe my feelings about this one because my brain seriously turned into complete and utter mush after reading it. All I could think was wow....wow...wow. And even though it has been about a week since I've read it, I'm still completely and utterly shook as well as still thinking about the way it ended. 

Allegedly is in fact a tough read. 

It will play with your emotions - you'll feel hope, sadness, anger, horror, and even some happiness believe it or not. 
It will make you think, really think - Is Mary truly guilty? Should she be given the chance to raise her baby? Was Mary truly given a fair trail? Or was the verdict driven by the media attention?  Those are just some of the questions.... 
It dives into a lot of important topics - mental illness, "baby jail," the mistreatment teens often face in group homes, race, and how the media can twist a case. 
It will make you question everything. 
It captures the voice of a character I won't forget - Mary's voice is interesting - it's childlike yet wise beyond her years, it's seemingly innocent yet a tad bit conniving. I was especially fascinated by her relationship with her mother. How much did that relationship, in particular, charge her thoughts and actions? Throughout the book, I was torn. I wondered if Mary was innocent, I wondered if Mary's mother was guilty... what was true about that horrid night and what was false. At times, I even questioned if Mary was an reliable narrator - could I trust her to be telling the truth? 

So yes, it may be a hard read,  but it also is an vastly important one. Tiffany D. Jackson has an incredible debut here. It's well written and it punches you right in the gut. I could go on about this book forever, but I don't think I would ever give it the justice it deserves. 

So I'll live you with this...buy it or borrow it but definitely read it! Tiffany D. Jackson is a new powerhouse in YA, and I can't wait to see how her stories develop and grow as the years go on. 

5 Stars!!