Notting Hill Carnival, Candice Carty-Williams

A west side story 

It’s like Romeo and Juliet being played in the local streets of Brockton, where the kin of Two gangs called Red Rose and Gold Teeth, fall for each other. But unlike the mentioned tragedy this one starts and ends with a lovely summer carnival. After all stories about the summer are always beautiful and with happy endings! Reminded me of teen lovers and enemies, how small things became big through rumors and ego fights. Seemingly petty now, they were the big deal back then. 

It was a 100 pages and a breezy read. Still some lines stayed with me- 

Summer gives life to things the other seasons can’t fully nourish.

It’s fair to say that nobody could really remember what happened at the beginning. But when you throw hormones and the stress of school and peer pressure into the mix, fiction becomes fact. Rumors and gusto become truth. 

Zoe’s had become so used to bring the only girl in the group of boys that she had incredible confidence. One people wanted to bottle and sell. 

Apollo and Zora didn’t look especially similar, either, and that may have been something to do with how they were as people. While Zora was driven by power, Apollo was driven by knowledge. Zora was a doer, Apollo was an observer.