MixedThe New York Times Book ReviewThe first half of Cuz, which stumbles and falters in places, is capped by an explosive reveal of Michael’s killer that comes across as delayed for melodramatic effect. The book doesn’t begin in earnest until its midpoint, when the self-conscious Allen makes way for letters Michael wrote from behind bars. You finally see Michael then. And, as Allen said, he is beautiful. Cuz is slowest and most torturous when Allen is explaining her relationship with Michael, and most enrapturing when Michael is speaking for himself ... It didn’t matter that Michael’s carjacking wasn’t connected to drugs, so long as it was connected to gangs, because the state connected gangs to drugs. By the end, her conclusion feels inevitable: that Michael and millions like him have been casualties of a failed war.