Review: Rhyme & Reason by Nia Forrester

Rhyme & Reason follows Christopher “Deuce” Scaife Jr. and Zora Diallo after graduation from Penn State.

My first introduction of the two were from Nia Forrester’s Snowflake. It was nice to see their relationship at the forefront. And to get a glimpse of what happened with the main characters from Snowflake too. ( I really loved that book!)

This story was serious. I say that because the issues these young adults deal with are ones that people with many years under their belt would struggle with too.

Zora wanted to do the right thing when it came to her culture or religion being a Muslim. She made decisions with good intentions even if they felt wrong, and she paid for it. I loved her big cousin, Asif. We got to see more of her family life and how the expectations of being a Muslim woman weighed on her. The love she had for Deuce goes against so much. I enjoyed learning her truth and the journey of her finding what that meant for her.

Deuce had his own share of heavy expectations being the son of a mogul. Working at his father’s company after graduating had its own pressures. I loved the realness of his relationship with his mother. A lot of it was painful but she was as real as it gets with the type of woman she was.

His relationship with Zora was hard to watch(read) at times. Deuce knew what he wanted from that start, but he had to wait for Zora to get on the same page.

The story had a lot going on. I enjoyed seeing this young black couple try to figure things out for themselves, individually and together.

I’m trying not to give anything away, but it was heavy. The issues were heavy. Zora’s desire to do the right thing by her family and religion was so relatable. Deuce wanting to be his own businessman and not just be known as his father’s son was also real. Plus dealing with his mother the whole time.

I suggest reading the Afterwards’ series in order. Rhyme & Reason is the latest one. I’ve read Snowflake, but Young, Rich & Black is the beginning of Zora and Deuce’s story. Even though I finished the last two, I’m still going to read Young, Rich & Black for the full story. Then there’s Afterwards about Deuce’s father Chris Scaife. I got a lot of catching up to do 🙂