Bright Red Fruit

Thank you so much to randomhousekids and netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc. 
I got approved and finished the book in the same day! 
I truly have a soft spot for books written in verse. There's something very powerful and beautiful about books written in verse, and Bright Red Fruit is THEE perfect example of this. 
Samira was a great character. I sympathized and empathized with her character wholeheartedly. Being a young girl who is yearning for love, and once given an inkling of such latches on for better or worse. Shutting out those who are her backbone thinking she is mature enough to understand the complexity of being manipulated, and used by a man much older than her. I felt those moments where the desperation for the attention, to be seen, and to placed as special superseded her rationality. 
We also get to read Samira's poetry, my favorite one that I keep going back to is ‘What I've Learned' it's a heart wrenching piece that we see Samira truly reflect on her position on love as it pertains to her experience. Ugh it was amazing. 
My absolute favorite part of reading was the parallels of Samira's story being told with bits and pieces of the story of Persephone (bright red fruit! Get it? It's a pomegranate!!). 
YES! It was so beautifully done. The comparisons of how both are seen and how their actions are scrutinized , the relationships between both of their mothers, and the men they fell for.  
I'm going to also read Safia Elhillo's other books Home is Not A Country, and Girls That Never Die. I have high hopes for them since this was so good.

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