A review by booksrlush_
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

5.0

I intended on picking up The Black flamingo because I wasn’t that tired and still in the mood to read before bed. I haven’t been able to put this book down. I feel like I’m seeing into Mikes soul. Every character and interaction is well written, the narrative makes you question along with Mike, it makes you stand up and root for him.

We follow Michael as he loves for the first time.
As he confuses attention and love.
As he deals with vitriol and hatred.
As he gets continually shamed for being him.
As he struggles with his mixed race identity and not being either white enough or black enough.
As he finally finds himself through drag performance.

I Wanna Be Fierce

I’ve been friendly.
I’ve been frightened.
I’ve been fake.
But I’ve never been fierce.

I’ve been frustrated.
I’ve been forgotten.
I’ve been forgiving.
But I’ve never been fierce.

I wanna be fabulous.
I wanna be flamboyant.
I wanna flaunt what I’ve got.
I want to be fierce.

Absolutely amazing, insightful, honest raw and passionate. A must read with all the feels. Trust me you’ll want to pick this up and get to know Mike and walk with him through his life. Beautiful prose, glittery language and everything I wanted it to be!