The Cost of Knowing reveals exactly how it’ll end within the first few chapters. For fans of They Both Die at the End, this book might seem similar, even familiar.
The Cost of Knowing is Brittney Morris’ “love letter to all the Black men who had to grow up too early.”
That dedication makes it clear what this book is about. The Cost of Knowing is centered around two black teenage brothers. The book focuses on the journey Alex and Isaiah have over the course of a few days. Alex has powers, or as more aptly coined by himself, a curse.
Alex and Isaiah’s journey is about them learning how to be family again and face their fears. The plot ties these two concepts together throughout the entire book. However, the plot is unusually slow and takes a while to pick up; only around the last quarter of the book does the plot pick up dramatically.
Otherwise, the writing is easily understandable. There’s nothing complicated about the writing, other than some worldbuilding and fantasy elements that come into play later in the novel. The supernatural and fantasy elements of the novel tie back to real-world events, which I loved about The Cost of Knowing.
One reason that I didn’t exactly love this book though is that there’s a lot of ‘telling’ but not ‘showing’. A major example of this problem is when Alex says he loves his girlfriend, but he doesn’t show it through any actions. While in this context, the issue could be explained away by the plot, it still pops up a few more times where the writing just feels off because of this.
For me personally, I didn’t like this book because Alex’s point of view is the only one we get to read. Alex worries about everything and anything. Alex’s worrying is a major part of his character and does impact the plot, but it was a little hard to get through for the most part.
Overall, this book was okay. There wasn’t anything exemplary about it, but it wasn’t bad. I leave The Cost of Knowing a 3/5 star rating, it’s definitely not a must-read. However, the themes and messages that the book strives for are worth reading and learning about.
