Hot on the heels of White Smoke, I did something I rarely, if ever, do, and that's pick up another book by the same author. I don't even do that with series books, but someone told me to check out Tiffany D. Jackson's The Weight of Blood. They warned me this was a different take on Stephen King's Carrie, so I knew what I was getting myself into going in.
The catalyst for the events in Jackson's book is race and the fact that Madison Washington is biracial but has been passing for white. Once her secret has been revealed, she becomes the target of both the white and black students, as both sides believe Maddie lied because she's ashamed of who she is. They don't realize there's a reason why Maddie has kept her secret all these years, but they don't ever give her a chance to explain. And, as expected, the privileged white students are more open and brutal in their response to Maddie's deceit. It isn't long, however, before the adults in town are also looking at Maddie in an accusing way, as, thanks to social media, the town's racism is exposed for the world to see. For those familiar with King's Carrie, tensions continue to rise until the powder keg is ignited at the prom, with deadly results.
As I said at the beginning, I knew this was going to be a spin on Carrie, and reading the jacket copy, I knew race/racism was going to be the focal point, so I was prepared for similarities. What I wasn't prepared for is the fact that actual scenes are lifted from King's novel and transplanted into Jackson's, changed just enought to reflect the central theme but still obvious as to the source: from the prayer closet to the drenching at the prom. Margaret White, Carrie's overly religious mother, has been replaced by an over-protective father who seems to be lost in the past, and while religion does come into play, the need to shelter Carrie comes from the need to cover up his own sordid behavior. At the time, inter-racial relationships were a BIG NO-NO, especially in the south. This is the one thing in Jackson's book that doesn't work for me: the relationship between Maddie and her Daddy. Daddy wants her to be white, so she is white, and they go through great lengths to maintain the facade. And in Maddie's room (and the prayer closet), photographs of all the Hollywood starlets stare down at Maddie day and night. There's no escaping it. So when she's getting ready for prom, she's basically turning herself into one of these starlets, modeling herself after Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, complete with black dress and pearls. Dad says she looks like a harlot even though she's turning herself into one of the women staring down at her. It appears there's no winning with this man.
Overall, though, I did enjoy The Weight of Blood. It's a quick read, and it's so easy to get caught up in the lives and relationships of the characters, so even at the points where I was pulled out of the story by an eye roll when I recognized a transplanted scene, it was easy enough to lose myself in the story once again. I just wish the author and put a little more effort into creating scenarios that weren't duplicates of the novel it was modeled after. Despite the issues, though, I would still definitely recommend it. 3.75/5 stars
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