This book wrecked me. I literally laid in my bed and cried for a good five minutes. I read this book in January and in June I am still thinking about this book!

My heart broke for not only Isaac and the struggles he had with his dad accepting his sexuality but also for Jacob and my own ancestors. Jacob truly struggled to accept Isaac being gay and it was so heartbreaking to read about. While I wanted to be mad at Jacob for how he treated his wife and son I couldn’t help but feel bad for him at the same time. You usually get the child’s perspective and their experience with parents who have a hard time accepting their sexuality, but this was from the father’s perspective which was such a unique approach. I love how Daniel was able to draw from the affect’s slavery had on black men, their pain, struggles, and lack of acceptance as they just tried to survive and take care of their families. You could see so clearly in this book how the trauma of slavery was passed down from generation to generation making it easier to understand how or why Jacob was the way he was. This made me think about the struggles and mindset of my own grandfathers and father. As a Black woman it’s easy for me to see and understand how the trauma from slavery has impacted and shaped Black women, so reading this from a man’s perspective gave me an outlook that I honestly never thought about.

This was an unconventional love letter and apology from a homophobic father who died alone with regrets on how he treated his gay son. This was such a heartbreaking story if you can come away from this book not dropping a single tear then kudos to you. I was able to hold on and I thought I was actually going to get through it without crying but when I got to the end and Jacob gave his final goodbye it was over for me. Even though this was an emotional ride I highly recommend this book.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book…