Midnight: A Gangster Love Story

I found that this book was a breathe of fresh air and loved looking at life through the eyes of the man-child Midnight. I am a British-Caribbean, female but this story really had me thinking about my own life, choices I have made and choices to be made, and also choices of others. Also,it made me see, even more so, what is important in life - loved ones and maintaining a sense of your true self, which I had figured out a few years back was just an absolute challenge, especially in the western world. It is true that a lot of us Black folks born in the Western world or have moved here from an early age,are lost and lack a sense of self, I see it in myself and I see it in many others and have always admired people coming from certain countries that are aware of who they are and where they are coming from.I loved the fact that they called their small apartment in the heart of Brooklyn 'little Sudan', because whatever else was happening outside, inside was what really mattered. Inside was love, inside was family, inside was unbreakable faith. Even when Midnight had turned to the 'dark side' for a moment or two, I could not fault him, as he was protecting his family.It is actually one of the best books I have read which I was surprised about. I had read Sistah Souljah's 'Winter' , which I found pretty good and was expecting something written similar but this blew me away. An excellent book is one that actually makes you reflect on yourself, others and life. Or simply one that just takes you away and drags you into that particular world. This did both.I recommend to all, from all walks of life struggling to to be the best that they can and to those of us that need reminding the importance of family, love, faith and self :)

Fantastic book. Midnight is such a strong & powerful character who evokes much emotion, value & honesty.Although he is only 14 you would many a time think him much older. Sister Souljah has done it again for me. Coldest winter was great but this novel really appeals to me as Midnight is talking from a completely different perspective which is understated which is an African in America. Book centers around Midnight and his mother & sister and the intensity of that family bond. Despite arriving to America at a young age he doesn't allow his surrounding to define him and holds fast to the values of his heritage & culture. I would recommend to everyone especially black males of how not to confirm to negative surroundings. The love story is an added bonus.

Again, I am impressed with Sistah Souljah. This book is beautifully written and makes me question and study my own culture. To draw nearer to it and to never forget my upbringing, despite being brought up around western values. This book strips Midnight naked and we come to understand why he behaves and acts the way that he does, especially if you first met him in 'The coldest winter ever'. It does take a while to build up but that is like with any story but when you read the last page you see Midnight as a true African man. A provider and a protector who despite hardship and cultural differences, he always puts his family first. The relationship he has with Umma is one I would love with my future sons. You won't regret reading this.

Every young black man should read this story, there are so many lessons to be learned in here that can sharpen you for the world and refine your heart for your future.

I truly loved this book. After reading Sister Souljah's "The Coldest Winter Ever" I got inspired to read more of her work and decided to buy this book.I was so into it I barely let the book down and finished it in two days.The book is seen by an outsider's perspective and is surprising even though I am not an outsider to the world the character enters I fully related to his views.Sister Souljah is an amazing writer and wish that her work was more recognised and followed in the UK.

I've been really captured by Sister Souljah's writing.I came across this book on the recommendation of a friend and its been sat on my wish list for a about a year now, until a few Sundays back I was bored and in need of some new reading material and couldn't figure out what to buy. So I was going through the ever helpful amazon reviews and ended up purchasing this book by accident before 'Coldest Winter Ever' which I was intending to start with.So far, the book has been nothing short of capturing.Her style of writing is so fluent that you'll find yourself not wanting to put the book down at times. The pace and imagery of Brooklyn is so accurate that I began to see and feel the similarities with life out here in London.I'm only about half way through at the moment, so I'm anticipating how the book ends.My only predicament now is which book to read after?Midnight and the meaning of love, or go back to read up on The coldest Winter ever.

An excellent read , especially if you've read " the coldest winter ever ", where midnight first made his appearance. In this book midnight is a 7 years old who has just arrived into America with his pregnant mother. From here on Midnight had to grow up very fast as his mother spoke no English and now he has to act as the man of the house in a strange land with no family support like back home.

I found it very interesting as the book is based around a teenaged muslim boy coming of age in America. The book gives an insight to muslim and Japanese traditions and customs which you may not be aware of .I was transported to another time and place, through the music ,colours,food and textures that were described.Top read..... and on to the next one!

Powerful. Riveting. Well written. Diverse characters woven through story that connects yet separates lives and actions of characters, both main and secondary characters. Highly recommended to avid book-lovers and book readers.Rated a 12 on the scale...bypassed 10. Great storylines that transitions race, religion, education and class...LOVE is colorblind if you allow and accept it between two people irregardless of AGE

I don’t think I can say I liked this book, but I definitely found it fascinating and for that reason very enjoyable, for reasons that might be taken a bit controversially. I’ve not found, in my quick search, any other reviews that have reached the same verdict as I have, which surprises me a little.At first, like some other reviewers, I was frustrated and disappointed with what seemed like an overly arrogant persona, especially for a 14 year old character, and some rather two-dimensional, flat characters and narrative; everyone was either the best and perfect or the worst, much like a fairytale. The disconcerting bit in that was that it was a first-person narrative, rather than the usual fairytale distance of third person. It seemed a naive writing style. Plus, there seemed to be these small slips in the narrator’s speaking style that kinda jarred with the way the narrator seemed to want to speak, as though it hadn’t quite been edited properly.And here comes the controversial bit but what made me enjoy it. About halfway through, I realised Midnight was actually controlling the narrative. Rather than being simplistic and naive, he wanted it presented that way. He was an unreliable narrator. And those small slips in style, were ‘unconscious’ slips in the persona he wanted to create. And I started to see that this book gave insight into a narcissistic mind. Midnight wanted readers to view him as heroic and perfect and anyone against him as simply bad or incapable and pathetic. And yet he is a deeply, deeply flawed character.There are several scenes that are clearly abusive and manipulative, and yet he presents them as romantic and charming. My only worry is people reading them and thinking they ARE actually romantic and charming ways to be. He very heavily works at making himself seem truthful and likeable and honourable, while he does things that are questionable and outright wrong. He posits his distance from others as a sign that he’s superior to others. He represents his violence as necessary and justifiable and honourable. He makes judgements about people based on their clothing and backgrounds. And he tries to characterise his romantic relationships as ideal and pure, where they are actually controlling and abusive. The fact that he speaks FOR everyone and that our understanding of their thoughts, especially Akemi’s, means that he controls their ideas and responses. He is always interpreting her silence and her looks, creating a relationship that has no real substance, just intensity. Not to mention how he isolates the women in his life, including Akron, from others, representing everyone else as trying to destroy them and himself as the rescuer of virtue and protector of female honour. Classic abuse markers.His mother, as far as Midnight represents her, is a classic enabler, too. And she has no agency outside of Midnight. This is justified by religion and by the “horrors” of American mainstream society which looks to “corrupt” women. And Bangs is represented as a temptation, not to mention the disgusting way her circumstances are judged as though they’re her fault and she’s ruined by them. But Midnight is the ‘noble man looking out for her; his only flaw is in wishing she could be better’ kind of abusive narrative.As I said, I haven’t managed to find in my quick search any reviews that have come to the same conclusion as me that this is purposefully problematic. The reviewers are, much like the dichotomous character descriptions in the book, either wholly glowing about Midnight and his ‘love story’ or completely disgusted at Midnight and his abuse. Yet, I think this book would make an excellent study for schools. I would love (apart from the size of the text) to study it with some classes. There’s so much complexity in the narrative to create this sort of tension of first person narration that you can’t rely on, and a character that strives to make you respect and admire him and yet is clearly flawed and untrustworthy and dangerous. And then to sit inside that mind and feel all those uncomfortable thoughts is very powerful. And it’d drive an important discussion about abusive techniques. Really quite brilliant. I’ve started on the second one. And, while it’s more of the same, am actually enjoying the dive into the twisted, narcissistic mind for what it reveals.

If you love the Coldest Winter Ever, you will love the story of Midnight. He's an amazing example of what a young Black man can really be and how he should treat the women in his life. It a very engaging novel and will make you an addict of the rest of the series. I would say it's a good read for teenagers as well. Even though some scenes are slightly graphic, the message in the story is valuable.

What a read!!! Sister Souljah takes you on a journey you never forget.

This book is no sequel. This book is no sequel. This book is no sequel. Now I have said that three times. No need to repeat. This book is more like a prequel to the character Midnight from Coldest Winter Ever. This book gives us insight on as to why he would never have been with Winter (or will be) she is an abomination to everything he believes in, and everything that he is. After reading this I went back and skimmed over the few passages that contained Midnight and was blown away, like now, his contempt, his aloofness, his strength made sense to me.In Midnight (the book) we get a glimpse at a man named RS, I guess this man will be Ricky Santiaga, Winter's father, but for now there was not interaction between Midnight and RS. The closet Midnight has gotten to RS is playing basket ball for Vega a Capo in RS organization.This was a well thought out, well written book. I must say I was a bit disappointed in that it made all Black Americans looked badly. Yeah we are mixed up, mix guided at times, but we are all not terrible people. This book also brings to mind what I have said for years, I am not an African-American, I am an American of African descent. Because there is nothing African about me. I say this because I WAS married to an African Muslim. Raised in between Chad and Sudan. After living with him, his family and his beliefs, I know there is a BIG difference between us, so call African-Americans and Africans living in American.But back to the book: I guess everyone just Assumed this book was going to be a sequel, because Sister Souljah didn't make it known in well in advance that this was not a going to be one. And almost everyone wanted to see Midnight reunite with Winter, I didn't though because I re-read the ending of CWE and Winter hadn't changed in the last years of her incarceration. She was still defiant, vain, and still blamed everyone for what happen instead of accepting her own actions that led her to her imprisonment. Why would Midnight throw away a wife his children (Winter's sisters), his sister and mother and his beliefs, just so Winter could have him? Nah, I don't see that happening.As for the ending of CWE, he has a wife, we know this, but it was hard now by reading Midnight A Gangster's Love Story to know who that wife is, will it be Akemi, Bangs or Suduna? Will he be reunited with Akemi? Will he return to find Bangs still waiting and take her for a second wife? Or will he end up with Sudana a proper Muslim wife for him? Just who is the "wife" at the end of CWE? And when will the next book come. Sister Souljah don't make us wait another ten years.This book was a good book regardless of it not being a sequel and leaving us with yet more unanswered questions. SS did her thing, she is a very talented writer and her research was evident by the knowledge she expressed though Midnight. Erase CWE out your mind, pretend you never read it first, and then read this, and you will enjoy and respect her story telling skills if nothing else. Then re read CWE, or at least the parts with Midnight and you will see both characters in a different light. I know I do, and I cringed every time Winter used her body to get at Midnight, I was like "oh no you are pushing him further and further away."I loved this book. I just hate that it was more like a pre-pre quell and now I have to wait for a next one. But unlike some authors who simply drag out a character and have nothing to offer in growth development, we still have yet to see, How did Midnight come to work for Santiaga? What exactly did he do for him? And where was he and what was he doing during the time he last saw Winter until her mother's funereal? And how did it come about that he adopted Lexus and Mercedes? Sister S, you got some explaining and writing to do and I don't want to wait another 10 years for it either.