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Rating system:
⭐️ = Did not finish/ hate it
⭐️ ⭐️ = I did not like it, would throw tomatoes
⭐️⭐️⭐️ = I like it, probably wouldn’t double back
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = I would recommend this
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = my soul has healed, I'm enlightened, 10s all across the board!

To find out what else I plan to read this year, check out my TBR list 2024 for some inspiration and conversation.

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kindle Unlimited ❌ | Amazon

 Summary:

     This urban fiction dives into the trials and tribulations of teenaged Winter Santiaga living in the hood of Brooklyn, New York. As the main character she experiences several hardships including but limited to drug addiction, homelessness, theft, sexual abuse and others. As you learn more about Winter and her family, you may find yourself sympathetic of her situation or disappointed in her choices. Can this teen triumph over the hardships her parents laid out for her? 

     There are many scenarios that help give perspective of Winter that begs the question: Is Winter a good person despite the bad people around her? Does she deserve the fate she receives?

     I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I had the pleasure of reading it in a black women's book club, so let's talk about what was brought up in our meeting!

** the following may contain spoilers**

Overall ratings within the group were between 3-4 stars! I'm a huge fan of urban fiction, so I was not surprised that I enjoyed it a little more than others. Some ladies also decided to DNF because of Winter's irresponsible lifestyle, but in general we all agreed that this book provided a very realistic lifestyle and had relatable moments.

Topics of Discussion:

Ricky Santiaga (Winter's Dad) - The vibe towards her dad was a little strange! Winter was constantly obsessed with how 'sexy' he is. His version of loving her was what guided her to make some of the outrageous decisions in her journey. He gave her money and power - something she looked for from relationships as well, which is ultimately what lead to her demise. Some of the book club had made a direct connection of Santiaga to the show Power. Souljah defines their relationship in her character analysis and says,

"Santiaga taught Winter that she deserved the best, but not because she worked for it, or accomplished anything in her life. She deserved it because he said so. She deserved it because she was royalty."

Mrs. Santiaga (Winter's Mom) - It's not perfectly laid out how Winter feels about her mother, but we saw her favor the lifestyle she lived and set the tone for how to present herself as a woman. Beauty and high-end designer items were important to her as well. After getting shot, the care for her mother quickly declined. We would have loved to hear more about the mother and how her drug addiction took over her life! Both parents did a poor job at raising Winter to be street smart...

Porsche, Lexy, Mercedes (Winter's Sisters) - One word: VICTIMS. The loyalty to men was more important and obvious than the three little girls that ended up in the foster care system. Winter pretended they were dead and meant it. There was no desire to save them from their own family. I'll hold off on more information since they have their own stories shared in other books! 

WE LOVEEEEE MIDNIGHT!! (Santiaga's Strongest Soldier)  - He was the voice of reason, and I'm super excited to get into The Midnight Series to get into his background a lot more. There were plenty of moments we feared that he would fold under pressure, but he never did. A real gangsta that stood on loyalty, business, and peace. 

At point did you realize you didn't like Winter? - Very early on you disagree with Winter's choices, but you can give her a couple passes because she was 16-18 going through absolutely challenging things. However, many of us REALLY despised Winter as early as when her mom went to the hospital after the shooting and Winter's first thought was how excited she was to drive the Mercedes mom received. With her having to heal, who better to drive it than Winter? EW. If it wasn't for that, her trying to seduce Midnight in the hotel or claiming that her family was dead to her, it would have been the incident in the parking lot when Winter beat her with a sock full of rocks and stole $200 with no repercussions. She's done a lot...smh.

Sister Souljah, why did you put yourself as a character in the book? Souljah answers the question herself:

"As a literary technique, I thought it was clever to have the protagonist, Winter Santiaga, and the antagonist, Sister Souljah, in reverse positions."

Souljah was very intentional with how she depicted her own character and received thousands of opinions of how they absolutely hated her and absolutely loved her. Our book club came to the conclusion that she had the most depth with being the voice of reason. Realizing that she was only 25 years old was strange because she was very mature and full of the wisdom of a 40-year-old woman. Which begs the question, "Would anyone actually take you seriously being this young? You spoke at a jail, but never grew up in the streets or had a similar path - does that make her character a little unrealistic? Her sister, Lauren, was an interesting character. She was rebellious but calculated. She got what she wanted, but didn't have to lie. She peeped game and moved accordingly - she is what we hoped Winter to be.

Was every male character predatory?!? Bullet showed all the red flags known to man. He was terrible. Will, we only knew him for three business pages but he was also terrible and weird. GS and the whole pageant scene? TERRIBLE. However, their terrible-ness was also a spotlight on Winter's true colors. They helped us see what was really on Winter's mind: money and clothes.

This book was written in the 90s and still has a strong impact on black readers today. It stands the test of time, and it sparks conversation for really deep topics. Souljah desired to write something that shows the downside of drug dealing and the fall of a major king pen. Did you feel inspired? Are you interested in reading? Let's talk about it! leave a comment below!

I'll be adding Midnight's series and the second book of Winter's series to my TBR of 2024!