Title: Better Must Come
Author: Desmond Hall
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 336
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Review Copy: ARC by publisher
Availability: Available now
Summary: Deja is a “barrel girl”—one of the Jamaican kids who get barrels full of clothes, food, and treats shipped to them from parents who have moved to the US or Canada to make more money. Gabriel is caught up in a gang and desperate for a way out. When he meets Deja at a party, he starts looking for a way into her life and wonders if they could be a part of each other’s futures.
Then, one day while out fishing, Deja spies a go-fast boat stalled out by some rocks, smeared with blood. Inside, a badly wounded man thrusts a knapsack at her, begging her to deliver it to his original destination, and to not say a word. She binds his wounds, determines to send for help, and make good on her promise…not realizing that the bag is stuffed with $500,000 American. Not realizing that the posse Gabriel is in will stop at nothing to get their hands on this bag—or that Gabriel’s and her lives will intersect in ways neither ever imagined, as they both are forced to make split second choices to keep the ones they love most alive.
Review: Just by reading the synopsis I learned a bit more about Jamaican life so I was interested in the novel. I had never heard of the concept of the “barrel girl” before so learning that aspect about Deja intrigued me. And as I learned more about Deja and her point of view of being a “barrel girl” I was actually saddened by it. Deja’s mother had only recently left her and had only sent one barrel home so Deja was still learning how to be on her own. Deja as two younger siblings, so despite being a child herself still in school, Deja is also essentially a parent. She has to use the money her mom sends her to pay the bills, which unfortunately is often not enough, so she goes out fishing with her Uncle (and sometimes by herself) to make extra money. I hated this for her, but it did show how resilient Deja was so when the action of the story really begins, you know she will do what she can to succeed.
Better Must Come starts off a bit slow as Desmond Hall is giving a bit of backstory to establish both Deja’s and Gabriel’s desires for their lives and to show their first meeting. This bit threw me as I had thought the two had already had a small romance going, when in fact it was the opposite, so to me, the “romance” angle feel a bit flat. They didn’t have enough time to really interact before the main action of the story so the supposed tension between the two didn’t come across on the page. Essentially, Deja is running from Gabriel throughout most of the novel. When they do eventually meet up, both are truthful about their intentions which was refreshing for a novel. The actually communicated with each other – granted they were both fighting for their lives at that point, but because they were so honest with each other they were able to team up together and “save the day.”
Overall I can’t say whether I loved the book or not. I just had this feeling of….melancholy (?) when I finished because even though the book ends on a good note, both Deja’s and Gabriel’s lives are completely upended and I felt so sorry for them. They “won”, so to speak, but it did come at a cost which made for a realistic ending and is probably why I feel the way I do about the book.