the coldest winter ever

sister souljah's 'the coldest winter' takes you to the streets of new york city, where you meet winter santiaga, the narrator, and hear her story. 

The Coldest Winter Ever- Sister Souljah (front cover)

she's the princess of the brooklyn blocks; her father, ricky santiaga, runs the drug game in brooklyn and has deals in place with the police ( the real criminals ) so they leave him alone. her mother, the queen, says 'beauty is a full time job' and is referred to as either santiaga's wife or winter's mother throughout the novel; purposefully included by souljah to reinforce how extreme superficiality and authenticity can't coexist, and a life of materialism isn't a life worthy of a title. however, when santiaga's empire is at its height and he moves to a long island mansion from brooklyn, shit goes down. winter is forced to hustle on her own, find places to stay and people she can trust. she's pretty, so people want to do things for her, but winter santiaga still finds herself in many, many dangerous situations in which she has to use the lessons her father, the ex-mastermind behind the drug game in BK, taught her. she knows how to keep her game face on when necessary and isn't afraid to act heartless. winter can be cold.

i'm gunna need you all to read this, so i'm not gunna say too much. just know that i had 0 interests in reading for a looong time until i came across this novel, which isn't a new york times bestseller for no reason. the way sister souljah tells stories is so captivating; you can really picture the concrete jungle as winter tells her story. living in nyc is a biiiiig dream of mine ( if you know me best believe you know that ) that imma make sure to accomplish in the future, and this book only added layers to the picture i have of the big apple in my head. you GOTTA read this book.