I am pretty sure that at this juncture of my life I have lived in a bubble. I have had everything, for the most part, given to me. So reading City of Saints & Thieves has only solidified my bubble, so now it's more like a cement sphere. I can not imagine having a life where I see my mother having been shot. I can not imagine having a life where I have to join a gang in order to survive. I can not imagine a life where I have to pretend I do not exist so that I will not hurt. And yet, it all does happen outside of my bubble.
Tina has survived it all. She tries to protect her younger half sister who is staying in a parochial school. Tina has a goal- to kill Mr. Greyhill, her mother's former employer who she is convinced murdered her mother. But when she breaks in his house, she gets caught by his son, and the two work out a deal to either prove or disprove his innocence. Eventually Tina, Michael, and one more friend end up in the Congo, and it is not pretty. At all.
If you ever think you have a hard life, read this book. Because while it may be put in the fiction section of a library, in truth we know that there is lots of validity to the stories of horror, survival, and even friendship that we all take for granted that we don't have to endure.