Midnight: A Gangster Love Story by Sister Souljah

Like many other readers of Sister Souljah’s “The Coldest Winter Ever,” I was sooooooooooo excited when I heard she was writing another book. I could not wait to read about what other predicaments Winter Santiaga would be getting into, even if they were behind bars. Or maybe this would talk about Winter’s younger sister, Porsche. You remember the one that Winter said she couldn’t tell nothing to at the end of the first book. When I heard the book would be about Midnight, my heart might have stopped for a second!

Along with a million other readers out there I fell in love with Midnight in the first book. Who didn’t wish that Midnight was real? I remember seeing Sister Souljah at a speaking engagement a few years ago and numerous women asked who Midnight was based on. Sister Souljah stayed strong that he was a FICTIONAL character, much to the disappointment of many of us sitting in the audience. Midnight is the man so many of us growing up in urban areas dream about. He’s dark skinned, tall and dangerous. The strong, silent type. You know the type of life he lives in the streets BUT still you know he’s one of the good guys. He is just stuck in some not so good situations! Ha! How many men do you know that can be described like that. The difference between them and Midnight is he lives by the values and morals of his religion and the tradition of his family. We don’t really get to know much about that during “The Coldest Winter Ever.” What we do know though is that Midnight is different from the rest of the men in the streets. He lives by a different set of rules.

“Midnight: A Gangster Love Story” gives readers the behind the scenes look at what Midnight’s rules are and where they come from. I have to admit that when I heard the book would be a prequel rather than a sequel I was disappointed. And when I heard it would be talking about midnight’s childhood I was even more let down! I just couldn’t get what would intrigue me about reading about Midnight being 7 years old. I even refused to go out and buy the book when it first hit the stores.

HUGE MISTAKE!!! I can only hope Sister Souljah forgives me for not having faith in her. I should have known that she wouldn’t disappoint me and all of her other fans. I finally gave in and picked up the book. Can I tell you I finished it in 24 hours!!! It was amazing! Souljah captured the essence of a young man growing up struggling to live by the rules of his family and the rules of the streets. She gives us an inside look into the life of an immigrant family and their struggles to find a way to succeed in a new country.

The book is also a love story. Midnight is a young man that can have any girl of his choice. Numerous girls are literally throwing themselves at him throughout the book yet the one he chooses he cannot even speak the same language as! Some might be upset that he doesn’t end up with a Black woman but I tell those to get over themselves and look at what Sister Souljah was telling us about love. She was telling us that love is deeper than skin. It is deeper than language. It can transcend all of these things and when it is right you know it. I want to congratulate Souljah for taking this chance because I remember there was a time when she said she didn’t believe in interracial couples. I guess that has changed because not only did she believe in Midnight and Akemi, she created them!

I really hope we don’t have to wait as long for a part two to this book because I am very interested in finding out what happens when he goes after Akemi and how he gets connected to the Santiagas.