Am I the only one who didn’t know New York Times bestselling author Sister Souljah released a new book this month? If I am, oh well, better late than never.
MIDNIGHT is the follow-up to Sister Souljah’s successful 1999 debut, The Coldest Winter Ever. Following the popular character MIDNIGHT, it’s more of the background story of his life. FYI: As reviewer mentioned, if you are looking for a sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever, you will be very disappointed. Though the story is about the character Midnight from the Coldest Winter Ever, this book is about his life before the Santiagos. As a matter of fact, the oldest he gets in this book is the age of fourteen.
Atria Books launched MIDNIGHT on November 4th with a major national publicity tour and a multi-media promotional campaign. MIDNIGHT hit #7 on the New York Times bestsellers list after its first week on-sale.
Even though this not my midnight on the cover, she is a very talented woman
WTF?!?!?! LMAO @ #60!!
#16 was on point with that review
#25 Preach on!! I cosign with you!!
The book was okay. It wasnt bad and it wasnt good. I read all different kinds of books and I have a lot of respect for Sistah Soulja but this just didnt work for me. I dont know if I was expecting more drama, a better plot or just an overall purpose but I must admit I was disappointed. Someone on the comments mentioned that they didnt want to read a sex scene between 14 year olds and thats real shyt. I will say that it was informative because I had no idea how muslims think and behave but I was a little hurt by the portrayal of black women. I dont wanna sound too negative and if you like to read you will enjoy the book for the simple fact that you can tell she did her research and you will learn so much about the Islam culture.
Overall C -
I’m reading this book now and I really like it so far. sister souljah is a very good author and she has a very fluid writing style that gets you caught up in a rapture of curiousity and mystery…I also think she promotes a deeper message in her writing and this book speaks about male responsibilty and to have a certain pride about your culture and respect for your own people…sister souljah is brilliant in my opinion!
I’m gon have to go Barnes and Noble and get it.
Thanks to all those that liked my book review #16. I am a “reader” I will stalk barnes & noble, amazon, and the library to catch a good read. I had realistic hopes for this book. I am not too sure if this book was written in haste but it is lacking some very important features. I hope that Sista Souljah will correct this with her next book. Usually reading the original (Coldest Winter Ever) can spark much needed direction and clarity.
I believe the deeper message in her writing and this book speaks about male responsibilty and to have a certain pride about your culture and respect for your own people…sister souljah is brilliant in my opinion!
I read all the time and it normally takes me no longer than 2 days to read a book. However this book too a full week for me to get through and I was determined to read it since I had spent my hard earned $20 on it.
To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I was very disgusted by the references made about black women and men. Although in some instances they may have been true statements, they do not apply to us all. And while I do know that this is a work of fiction, art does imitate life. The book lacked movement and momentum that was felt while reading Coldest so many years ago. By itself the book could be considered a decent (and I use this term loosely) read. However, by connecting the book to Coldest and using that as a marketing tool, Sista Soulja basically set me up for failure.
It is extremely hard for me to believe that a 7-15 yr old boy did all of the things that Midnight did plus did them for the reasons that he did. It is also equally hard for me to believe that this young boy who has been in America for several years is not majorly influenced by things that he sees or hears that go against what he was taught in Africa. Also, the communication gap between him and Akemi was not realistic to me. Sorry
Last but not least, there is a cliff hanger which means that she must plan to have a sequel. WHY??
Wow, I’ve wanted a sequel to “Winter” for so long
I am disappointed indeed
Reading it right now… so funny I was gonna post about it after I was done….
Good Read so far
Wow, I just noticed someone is now posting under my screen name….I mean, not that I’m the only Mrs Jones lol But yeah
coldest winter was a masterpiece
I wanted to run out and buy this book. But I am glad I didn’t. Reading the inserts, there is nothing there about TCWE. I’ll wait til someone loans me the book. I will read it though because what MIdnight is saying (Amazon) is deep. Barack may be in office, but if it not in a MF to do anything positive, then it’s not in them. I don’t care who’s in the white house. I wish people realized this and stop putting so much pressure on Barack’s name.
OMG. CL is bout 2 weeks late. Lol. Here’s my story. I bought the book the same day it came out. Right after i voted for Obama, i went straíght to the bookstore. I was so excited. I went to read it and i couldnt even get through the fist 2 chapters. IT WAS A WASTE. I WAS SO SAD. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A FOLLOW UP OF CWE. IT WAS A MESS. SO I RETURNED IT AND GOT MY 23 DOLLARS BACK. SORRY SOULJAH. I WAS MISLEAD..
25-ac, ITS CALLED MARKETING! NO BIG DEAL GEEZ
ANYWAY I CANT WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON THIS BOOK
I HEARD ABOUT THIS BOOK FROM TIME ! THANKS CL FOR THE POST!
Man i been waiting on this ish…i heard about it back in september…..i cant wait to cop it it doesnt have to be a sequel to coldest winter,but then again i would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to read a sequel to it……but i have a feeling miss souljah isnt going to dissapoint me
#53 i totally agree….flyy girl 2 was NOTHING like it should have been ….that shit was boring and i didnt even get through it.
I read the book and sorry it is not a sequel to The Coldest Winter’s character MIDNIGHT.
Please read….. His mother and sister’s names are not identical. Neither are the Midnight character personas…….
yes sister souljah is back what! i read tcwe bout 4 years ago and was blown away i can’t wait to get my hands on this i’m going to read it in one night
The midnight I envisioned did NOT look like that….
Damn… I didn’t know she came out w/ a new book either. I’m not really into urban books anymore but since it’s her I might check it out.
I really have to wonder what the average IQ of the folks on this board. “Best book ever written”? You guys must be joking. I don’t have an ounce of respect for Sister S at all. This book is by no way an accurate depcition of the Muslim society.
I encourage you all to step away from these “gangsta” themed books and actually read something of substance.
CWE sold more than a million copies. I am sure the publishers and publicists had this in mind when they foisted Midnight off on the public as a sequel or prequel to the novel. This undercuts Sister Souljah’s credibility. The book is SO disrespectful of women and SO behind the times. She just idealizes the Midnights culture while glossing over the painful facts of life for women in that area. She ignores genital mutilation (cliterodectomy) in which the women lose part of their vagina so that they will not experience sexual desire. Women are ritually unclean. They are regarded as inferior in every way to men. Don’t get me started on tribalism. This is a big scam to part us from our money. Gas is down. The price of that book will buy several gallons of gas!
Omg! SISTA SOULJA can we please get a sequal to “The Coldest Winter Ever!” Like everyone else I read that book like six or seven years ago. It was around the time of Brandy’s Full Moon cd {which was on point} I recommend that everyone re-read that book listening to that cd it goes so well together! But back to the real issue, Sista Soulja you left us hanging on pen’s and needles trying to see what was going to happen to the whole Santiago Family. Guess what you haven’t delivered yet. If your not going to do the sequal or the movie, PLEASE LET US KNOW, PLEASE!
We have been fan’s of yours for a while, but your fan base is SLOWLY dying! Ms. Angel if you don’t mind can you use your connection or something to find out the real deal? Will she or will she not do a follow-up???
The Coldest Winter Ever hands down the best book I have ever read! Hands Down
i just finished reading “midnight” and was past disappointed to actually being disgusted by the end of it. i agree with the others who stated that the book is degrading to black females. what kind of sense does it make for african-american girls and women to be portrayed as mindless whores who are only interested in his looks when he goes and falls in love and marries someone who could only be interested in him because of his looks because they don’t speak any of the same languages and can spend practically no time together before they mysteriously fall in love. somehow, akemi isn’t seen as mindless and oversexed like every other black girl who also thinks he’s attractive because she’s asian…and perhaps because they’re language barrier allows him to maintain the macho dominance over a woman he believes is natural and ordered by allah.
ok, i won’t go on, but i will say that i was deeply disturbed by how this story glorifies women being treated as a man’s property and pigeonholes women to the domestic realm. furthermore, it was quite disturbing to read graphic accounts of teenage sex. i’m scare for my little sisters to read this.
“The Coldest Winter” was my shit. I sooooo wanted her to carry on the story of the Santiago’s behind bars or the story of Midnight getting married and adopting the younger siblings. The sibling that came to the Mom’s funeral decked out trying to be like Winter.
I might have to check this out though, I prefer a sequel to “Winter” though!
CL needs to hire someone to start a book club. That would be a nice little addition to the site. I LOVE to read all kinds of books and I don’t really have time to share info and insight with other peeps. I am a political science junkie so I read a lot of political books but I get in my Mary Monroe, Tracy Brown, Carl Webber in the mean time.
If you liked “The Coldest Winter Ever” you should check out “White Lines” by Tracy Brown.
Sup Loopers-Happy Monday!!
First- I really enjoyed reading all the comments from everyone, some had me really cracking up-Mickey’s “determined to get through it” had me giggling, because I’ve definitely been there and done that.
I’m a voracious book reader and can normally go through a book in about 1-3 days and CWE was a complete page turner. The mark of a good author is to make you feel like you’re there, I cried when Winter’s mom died, and I felt so sad when she went to see her dad and he refused the visit because he had nothing to offer her. So just for that reason I’m a big fan of SS. She makes you feel….
I agree with some of the other readers and I hate that she put a picture on the cover of her new book because the Midnight of your imagination or mine can be completely different, someone almost unreal. Also it can really conflict with your idea of beauty or handsomeness which gives you an almost negative or dissapointed vibe going in. Even as a boy the picture of Midnight in my mind doesn’t resemble the cover.
So I think that I’ll put this on hold at my local library, no harm no foul.
But you guys really made my morning-I love yall xoxo Thicky
The Book is Wick Whack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the book, very good, enjoyed the detail. Yes it wasn’t Coldest Winter Ever but nothing could be. It obvious this was a set up for more books to come, and I personally appreciate learning about Midnights early years. I think if you take Coldest Winter Ever out the equation you will thoroughly enjoy the story.
I was so excited when I heard there would be a sequel to the coldest winter ever. I was going to go out and buy that book again so I could remember the characters again. And be prepared to read midnight.
Instead when I got to borders I seen the whole set up especially for sista soulja book, midnight. And I wanted to get right into it.
I bought the book about five days ago, and usally I would be almost done reading a book. I am about 100 pages in and its soo boring. It seems to unrealistic about how midnight was the sole provider, and picked up his mom, at the age of 14. So far that’s all I’ve read..
I give this book two thumbs down and I would like to recruit some of my friends so I can use their thumbs and give it more thumbs down!
Iso does this mean that sista soulja will come out with a book solely baed on one character every year. If so please save us the trouble and don’t.
Did p. Shitty write this?
I want my money back. I hope borders accept it
I just got done readn this book i read all her books & i loved this one to
just hated how it ended lol i hope she makes a second part to it.. ima have 2 wait years lol
I honestly can’t believe people read these books. so ghetto and uneducational. I read the coldest winter ever when i was a teen and really, ghetto ghetto…..wont be reading any more of her books.
I think the book is a show-off of the fact that she is well-informed on different cultures. I like her and all but dayummmmm this book was boring. Real talk. I think she degraded black women more than some of these rappers do. I know that there are some things we need to work on as a people; just dont like the fact that she basically declared us hopeless. I guess us women have to cover up in hot a$$ clothes and allow our husbands to have more than 1 wife to be considered “worthy’.
Anyway(I digress), Dont waste your money on this book!
The sequel to the Coldest Winter Ever was to be about Winters sister. I met Sistah Soulja while she was writing it. Why it, has yet to hit the book stores? Who knows, maybe it will someday. Why the movie never got done? Somebody ask Jada. Writers don’t usually have a lot to do with screenplays of their books, other than giving some input. For those who say Midnight has nothing to do with the CWE, I can’t see how you can say that. It’s a prequel, not a sequel. It does appear that there will be another, and she could be gearing up to give us a whole series in the saga. This book gives the story of Midnight, when he first arrives in America at age 7. He gives his views about the people he meets in his Brooklyn neighborhood, and America in general. Yes, some of these views may make you feel like SS is dissin’ the black community, a bit worse than Bill Cosby. However, the story is being told through the eyes of a young man coming from a different culture. If you read the book, you might just learn something, and if you still feel angry, then maybe we need to take a look at ourselves.
Um, I just finished the book and let some of you all tell it it was horrible. Well I must say, it is nothin like the Coldest Winter, but it is awesome. I wonder if he had’ve been ghetto and ignorant would the people who didn’t like the book all of a sudden like the book more? Dont get me wrong, it kinda caught me off guard too, but honestly I like the fact that it was nothing like i expected it to be.
Oh yeah, and just because he chose a japanese woman does not mean that Souljah has lost her Black Card…open your minds and read the book once again
I just hope there’s a second book cause it kinda left me open for more info.
Sister Souljah is the best, every last one of her books are great.
I am half way thru with “midnight”. I mean its good but like many others i was expecting to see the more street hood side of him. I was upset about the pictures, it crushed me to see he doesnt look how i wanted him to. I am just being honest i really would of picked a different girk intrest but hey. I will be awaiting the next book. No more winter? No more Santiaga? you killing me sista!!!!! I’ll finish the book and come back
I think “Midnight” is brilliant. It is more of “what you need” instead of what you want…That is how I describe this book, it is definitely for the Kings and Queens having or seeking Knowledge of Self….A must read
The book Midnight was pretty good, although it was about Midnight and his life. I’m hoping that there will be another book starting where the coldest winter ever ended. Actually, Midnight could definitely be read before the Coldest winter ever. I might have to read it again just to tie the two books together. Not a bad book, but definitely not what I expected.
I read CWE when it first came out and I also bought the 10 year anniversary edition (someone stole my original copy) And in the anniversary edition Sister Souljah wrote that she was working on a sequel to CWE concentrating on the younger sister, Porche, as the main character. I am still waiting on that book. Come on Souljah, We need that book or at least the movie to the first one.
BTW #40 Rosarion Dawson could not play this role. Winter was not hispanic neither was her father (despite the name) Winter was described as being brown skinned not light skinned. Back in the day I thought of someone who looked like Stacey Dash or the young girl who played DMX little chick on the side in Belly. But now days I don’t know who could pull it off.
And #51 why would you go and ruin the entire book for someone who MIGHT want to go read it? Even if you didn’t like it someone else might want to read it without knowing what was going to happen. DANG!!!!!
I just finished reading the book Midnight. I have read the coldest winter ever 3 times. I am so disappointed in this book. It was terrible.
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