Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Citizen by Claudia Rankine is a selection of prose poetry about racism and being black in America. Many of the poems are written in the first person which does give me the impression that those people who racism affects the most have had the chance to contribute towards this poetry. It looks at how people may feeling either when they are in a situation where most people are white or in a situation when they are being racially abused.

I like this book because it highlights a big issue which does not only take place in America but around the world. Racism shouldn't be happening because regardless of your skin colour you are still a human, still a person. I have met a few black people and they have all been lovely so why judge someone on appearance? This poetry also makes the reader think how they would feel if they looked different as we are introduced to how many black people feel.

The one thing I disliked about this book was how it did not make any sense and the plot was not easily understandable. You could pick up the themes of the text but I personally failed to pick up the details of the plot, I only know about the different scenes which are all an example of being different and racism. The reason I was unable to pick up the details of the plot were because the writer kept changing the plot with no warning or reason.

Altogether, I rate this book 3 stars because it is an alright book about a very important issue but the plot is hard to pick up meaning you are just reading words and this takes away some of the enjoyment of reading this book. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin books for giving me an Advanced Reader Copy of the book in return of an honest book review.