Allow Me to Introduce Myself

I knew I would like this book based on its description, but I had no idea that it would be one of my rare 5-star reads. Onyi Nwabeineli's voice is beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking. She takes what is already a loaded issue, mommy bloggers who make bank by putting their children's lives online, and raises the stakes with racism and cultural differences. Things I loved:Our MC Anuri Chinas, with all of her understandable flaws and amazing gifts. Her crippling self-doubt resulted from a childhood in which her stepmother loved her as long as she performed for the webcam as requested, and her father remained emotionally distant because he never recovered from the tragic loss of Anuri's mother. Anuri's relationship with her two ride-or-die BFFs, especially their physical closeness and emotional honesty. The promising romance arc that is never portrayed as more important than Anuri's friendships. The resolution to the dilemma of how Anuri can save her little half-sister from being exploited without destroying both of them in the process.*The occasional peek into the heads of Anuri's stepmom and father, just enough that I didn't completely despise them (maybe 95%). My only caveat is that Nwabineli's style includes a LOT of POV hopping, but considering the incisive characterization, it feels like being at a noisy party where everyone has a lot to say. I can't believe that this is only the author's second novel. Normally I would immediately search out her debut( [b:Someday, Maybe 59952176 Someday, Maybe Onyi Nwabineli https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1667569085l/59952176.SY75.jpg 94336308]), but the subject matter, a loved one's death by suicide, is too painful for me to handle right now. But I will definitely keep her on my radar. A few sample quotes to whet your appetite (hopefully): Anuri was aware, as most people who practice the art of avoidance are, that running from yourself requires the kind of stamina that can only be fueled by self-destruction. The truly gifted can manage it forever. She would know. The unique thirst for alcohol lived like an unruly tenant in her mind, refusing to be evicted. She was thankful [her therapist] had taught her how to sit with her emotions, the most insistent and unwelcome of companions. At night, Simi (BFF) would plead with Anuri to abandon the laptop, discard the phone and lie beside her on the bed. “You don't even have to sleep,” she said, but Anuri was afflicted by the thing inside us which wrongly asserts that if we can only keep our eyes on something, then we can put our arms around it and contain it.