Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson is a book unlike any other I have ever read. Following Enchanted Jones, a young talented singer who gets swept up by Korey Fields, a superstar who’s older and adored by millions, she’s offered a contract to go skip out on school for a year and go with him on tour with the possibility of even recording her own album. The story chronicles her life with him on tour, and as young Enchanted moves further and further away from her parents, Korey shows his true colours, becoming possessive, angry, and abusive, and there is no way for Enchanted to escape. Keeping her close to him, Korey plies her with false promises of a recorded album, psychological manipulation, and affirmations of love that turn Enchanted’s dreams into a living nightmare…until Korey is brutally murdered a few months later.
I hesitate to rate this book at all because it was incredibly hard to read but for all the right reasons. There is a lot of triggering content, but it has a lot of impact behind it. Grown discusses grooming, a phenomenon so often glossed over in our society that I have never read about in quite this way before. Jackson’s account in the front of the book about how it seemed all too normal to have older boyfriends when she was younger, not to mention her girlfriends doing the same, set the tone for the story that was to follow. It’s a story that was inspired by R. Kelly’s case and while I don’t proclaim myself a connoisseur of that case, I still felt completely entranced by this book and it made my skin crawl so much I felt like I constantly needed a shower. Alternatively, a match to burn down the patriarchy would work, along with everyone else who condemns girls for having older boyfriends when they really should be asking themselves why it’s okay for someone who is at least four years older than the girl to flirt with them. Or be in relationships with them. Or to groom them to become the girlfriends they want them to be. Again, this was very hard to stomach but literature exposing truths we don’t want to face usually is.
But what hits home most of all is the discussion of how Black women are treated by men and by society at large. It is a sad truth that women are often not believed when they bring forward allegations of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and misconduct towards them. Black women are even less likely to be believed or taken seriously. Too often, excuses are made, flimsy justifications on the accused party’s side are taken for full, and no one helps the real victim. Grown finds Enchanted bombarded with messages after she reveals what has happened to her, not only from strangers on the internet but people she has known at school, wondering whether she didn’t ask for that ‘special treatment’ because of the way she dressed or the way she ‘threw herself’ at Korey Fields. Instead of going after the real perpetrator, everyone blames the victim, a young Black woman who has been essentially kidnapped, cut off from her family, roofied, and forced to do things she doesn’t even remember, all while being the money maker for Fields. Tiffany D. Jackson paints a cruel picture of our society, of the way people hide behind anonymity on the internet and how they feel it is easier to point the finger than to listen to a voice that’s telling the truth. It’s painful to read, but it is honest. Brutally so.
Capturing the mistreatment of Black women in a mesmerising, no-holds barred narrative, Jackson explores and exposes the phenomenon of ‘grooming culture’ and appeals to (especially younger) readers to reflect on their own romantic entanglements with a keener eye.
Grown is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 15th 2020.
Will you be picking up Grown? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Korey Fields is dead.
When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.
Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?
All signs point to Enchanted.
