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(The Delivery System)

Dear Readers,

Some books entertain you.

Some books sit with you.

And then there are books like Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. The kind that make you pause, close the cover for a moment, and ask yourself:

What did I just walk into?

Because this story doesn’t ease you in.

It opens with a body. Blood everywhere. And Korey dead.

And strangely… as the story unfolds, that detail almost feels like relief.

Because the deeper you get into Enchanted’s story, the more you realize just how dark things were always going to become.

At first, Korey feels like the dream.

He’s talented. Successful. Charming.

He notices Enchanted when no one else seems to.

He flirts. Sends messages. Gives attention in ways that feel exciting to a teenage girl with big dreams.

And for a moment, you almost understand why she’s drawn in.

But the age gap never stops whispering in the background.

And slowly that whisper becomes impossible to ignore.

What looks like opportunity turns into control.

Korey isolates her. He takes her phone. Cuts her off from her parents and friends. Controls what she wears. Pushes her into situations she never agreed to. Then the manipulation deepens.

Gaslighting. Drugs. Abuse.

Some parts of this book are painful to read.

Some moments feel almost unbearable.

But Tiffany D. Jackson doesn’t soften the truth — because stories like this happen every day.

And that’s what makes Grown so unsettling.

This isn’t some distant fictional tragedy.

It mirrors real life.

The story loosely reflects the real-world case of (Need I name names?) and the years of predatory behavior that went ignored by an entire industry.

But the book pushes us to look beyond just one man.

Because the real question is bigger.

Who allowed it? Who ignored the signs? Who protected the money, the fame, the image… instead of the girls?

This story reminds us that we’re not just talking about victims. We’re talking about children.

And too often, the children who are dismissed first are Black girls.

Poor Black girls. Dreaming Black girls.

The girls society tells to grow up too fast while also refusing to protect them.

That’s the quiet rage sitting underneath this book.

Not just one predator.

But a system that makes it easier for predators to exist.

And then…That twist. Whew.

Tiffany D. Jackson has a gift for emotionally investing you in her characters and then shifting the entire ground beneath the story.

The twist in Grown isn’t exactly like the ones in Allegedly or Monday’s Not Coming. (I have letters for those coming up in a few.)

But it still lands.

The kind of twist that makes you pause… and rethink everything you thought you understood.

And honestly?

That’s exactly why I keep coming back to her books.

Because Tiffany D. Jackson doesn’t just tell stories.

She exposes the ones we try not to talk about.

Get into it!

From Love,

The Letters

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From Love,

The Letters