I May Overuse the Term ‘Favorite Author’ But I Mean It This Time-A Review of Tiffany D. Jackson’s Monday Is Not Coming

KayTell
4 days ago
8 min read

Book opened where the story begins. — PHOTO OF MY COPY OF MONDAY'S NOT COMING

Before I go on to gush about having a new favorite author, I want to acknowledge that I’ve used this term many times in my reviews since I started regularly publishing them. Just this time last year, I called Riley Sager my favorite author since reclaiming my love for reading. And for a good five books, that was true.

My work and homework load had finally lightened up, and I had time to read so much more. I read Final Girls and thought, “Wow, that’s what reading is all about.” The next four or five books I picked up didn’t top that feeling. Looking back, I’d say I was more grateful to that novel for pulling me out of a reading slump than I was fully locked in on Sager as a writer. Since then, I’ve read Home Before Dark, Lock Every Door, and even bought Middle of the Night (which is still stuck in TBR land). None of them hit like Final Girls did. I’ll be reviewing those soon, so I won’t go too deep, but just know, I enjoy his novels and will give them a fair chance, but I’ve now cleared my vision and gently removed the “favorite author” pin from his shirt.

Then there’s a lie I may have told myself during the time when I was too slumped to read anything other than assigned novels and papers for my degrees: that Stephen King was my favorite author. I cringe at that now for a few reasons. Do I enjoy his work? Yes. I read a novel by him and completely understand how his career got so big. We’ll discuss my current stance on King at a later time. Regardless, he’s built a legacy in horror that’s pretty much unmatched. I can’t take that away from him, but I can stop pretending to be a borderline groupie.

PHOTO OF MY COPY OF MONDAY'S NOT COMING, SIGNED COPY.

So, with all of that said, I genuinely have a favorite author now. Believe it or not—that’s up to you. Tiffany D. Jackson is my first true favorite author. I genuinely look forward to her new work (The Scammer just released—review coming soon! I’m not that fast yet!). I feel moved almost every time I read her writing, and I even made sure to attend one of her author events. Not only have I enjoyed everything I’ve read by her, but I also find her inspiring as someone who’s pursuing YA fiction myself.

Tiffany D. Jackson is a Young Adult thriller author who, from what I’ve read and seen, is most known for writing complex, layered Black characters, especially young Black girls, without watering them down for the comfort of the masses. She doesn’t pull punches. Her characters are raw, emotionally real, and face situations that too many readers will recognize in their own lives or communities. Jackson tells the truth in a way that still grips you like a thriller, and that balance is part of what makes her voice in YA so unique.

*There are a few spoilers in this review, please proceed understanding that*

The first novel I read by T.D. Jackson was Monday’s Not Coming. A lot of people say that once they realized the missing girl’s name was Monday, they figured out that she was… well, not coming. I saw multiple reviews on social media (mostly from folks in their late 30s, but that’s just an observation…not judgment) saying the story didn’t give them room to sit emotionally with the character, because the outcome felt so obvious from the jump.

To that I say: assuming that the “twist” is obvious isn’t always the flex people think it is. In fact, maybe it was intentional. Maybe the twist isn’t what is supposed to punch you in the gut this time. And even if it wasn’t for you, that’s fine. Everything isn’t for everybody.

The back-and-forth timeline between pre-missing Monday and the aftermath was a little hard to keep up with at first, but after a few chapters, the switches became routine. I got better at anticipating what timeline we were in. Like everyone else, I figured we wouldn’t meet present-day Monday by the end, but that never dulled my curiosity about why this story was still worth telling. The dual timeline, in my opinion, did contribute to the suspense, but not as much as I would have wanted. Nothing happened in the flashbacks that I felt couldn’t build suspense in the present timeline. However, making us care about Monday beyond the fact that the main character cared for her was what the past timeline was most useful for to me.

We follow Claudia, a young girl wondering why her best friend Monday is missing, and why no one seems to care.

At first, I thought this book would be about child abuse, neglect, or a runaway tragedy. Monday’s life broke my heart. Not just because of her home situation, but also because of how decent Claudia’s life was in contrast. Because of how great a student Monday was. Because of how resilient she seemed. That with a slightly different circumstance she would thrive. But most of all, it hurts because situations like hers are way too real.

As a kid, I had friends who—looking back—lived lives very similar to Monday’s. But I didn’t notice it then. We were just kids screaming and giggling at recess. When I went home, I assumed everyone’s life was like mine. And now, as an adult, as a high school teacher, I see again just how real and common her story is. That made this book break my spirit.

I felt this inexplicable pressure and responsibility to a child that could be on my roster at any moment. I felt panic. Would I notice this? What if I miss something important? Or, what if I do everything right for my students, and it does not matter.

The knowledge that young girls, and most prominently young black girls, go missing The knowledge that young girls—especially young Black girls—go missing in this almost eerie silence, a silence that’s not really quiet but full of ignored screams, is a truth that lives deep in this novel. It’s one of the realities that inspired my own short story collection, Cold Girls Stay Quiet.

When you already know this fact, it doesn’t hit you like a twist. It just sits in your chest like grief that’s been there a long time. The part where Claudia’s mother teaches her to leave “breadcrumbs” behind, just in case she ever goes missing? That’s a survival tactic a lot of other kids will never have to learn. For us, it’s not just being safe, it’s being strategic about how to exist in a world that both targets us and ignores us at the same time. And we grow up calling it “being careful,” when really it’s a whole extra layer of life we’re forced to live through.

As the story progressed, I went down so many rabbit holes. All of them ended fatally for Monday in my mind. But one theory I had, the one I thought Jackson might not follow through on, was that Monday simply didn’t want to be Claudia’s friend anymore. Not every girl can relate to this, but I’ve had moments where I realized that girl didn’t want to be my friend. And I thought maybe this was one of those stories, where Claudia had to realize that Monday ran away without telling her, and she just couldn’t accept it.

Later, we find out Claudia has a learning disability. She’s struggling to accept that she might need different tools to succeed and struggling even more with how she’s perceived. Again, I reflect.

As adults reading YA, we should reflect. I thought about my classmates in elementary and middle school who got pulled out of class every day. They always left with this sad look, and I didn’t get it. I thought, Dang, I’d love a break from this class. I had no idea what it meant for them. Yet they knew, and that is an obstacle that stops a lot of youth and even their guardians from accepting the help they are being offered.

Even now, when I design my lessons, I try hard not to single students out. I want to make sure that their accommodation doesn’t become a spotlight. That’s how you build trust with kids, by helping without making them feel othered.

When we learn this about Claudia, I started predicting other twists:

Maybe Claudia made Monday up entirely.
- She made Monday up completely as a coping mechanism, and that when Monday “helped” her, it was just her own way of implementing any structures that the adults put in place.
Maybe she was real, but only in the past.
- She was a girl she knew long ago, making it acceptable that her family was around. Again, it would be some sort of coping with her struggles with school and lack of friends.
Maybe Monday was her tutor, and the friendship only existed in Claudia’s mind.
- A twisted my babysitter is here because she is paid to be type of story.

Then came the buzzing.

The buzzing sound from the deep freezer pops up several times, and I eventually figured it must have something to do with where Monday’s body was found. At first, I was annoyed. Like, Okay, we get it, she’s in the freezer. I wasn’t patient, I just wanted to get to the moment of confirmation. The motif the deep freezer was the key to unlocking my final two theories of Claudia:

She (Claudia) was Monday or another girl who died and this was her way having discovered her own dead body

She knows Monday is dead and just refuses to believe it.

The reveal of what Claudia was going through as she mourned her closest friend brought me to tears. A lot of people said they saw it coming, but even if you did, I don’t think that lessens the emotional weight. The fact that Claudia’s mind is trying to protect her, but is actually placing her and her family is this loop of torture because she cannot accept her best friend’s death… that broke me.

To love someone—a friend, a sibling, a parent—so deeply that your brain won’t let you believe they’re gone… that should move anyone with a heart.

I cried for Claudia.

I cried for Monday’s siblings. Who has this sort of constant reminder of what happened to their sister. A reminder that she was loved and that love could not save her.

I cried for every adult in Claudia’s life who held her up while silently breaking, and how vividly I could see my own family showing me a strong face for my sake.

I cried for the guilt I’d feel in their shoes. Unsure if I would even be able to play along for their sake.

And I cried because I’m not sure I wouldn’t become Claudia if I lost someone like that.

By the end, yes, I felt strong emotions for the first time while reading. This wasn’t just a reading to feel a rush like I usually search for in thriller’s, this made me want to feel grateful for my life, my students, my friends, my family, and my mom. But I still didn’t call Jackson my favorite author. Not yet.

The characters were real. Even if I didn’t know these exact people, I knew people like them. But the moment I truly realized I admired Tiffany D. Jackson was when I picked up Allegedly a few weeks later.

That review’s coming soon.