Notes on Her Color by Jennifer Neal
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Culture: African-American
Themes: Racism, Family relationships, LGBTQ, Coming-of-Age

Musical Notes of Subtle Color

Notes on Her Color by Jennifer Neal follows is a novel about Gabrielle who comes of age dealing with racism and the complicated relationship with her mother Tallulah and her volatile father. Living in a home devoid of any color, everything in their home has been bleached a cold white, Gabrielle discovers she can change the color of her skin like her mother based on the situation and environment.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me as I read how Gabrielle navigated the imploding relationship with her mother, addressed mental health crisis and her interactions with world around her. There are so many situations the main character finds herself in that echo many of the concerns with racism today. Learning how to control her passing, or temperament during uncomfortable and violent situations hits close to home for the black community.

Although I found this novel a bit slow and at times a bit strange, I appreciated the author using Gabrielle to discover the deep roots of racism through music and how it affects her relationship with her queer piano teacher, who provides her in depth black culture perspectives, and her family. It is imaginative yet challenging and thought provoking, thus I definitely think it is worth reading.

If you liked Notes on Her Color by Jennifer Neal than you’ll love Passing by Nella Larson

~Danielle