Meet Clay Brown

by Christina Milliner

After losing her mother, Clay thinks nothing good will ever happen to her again and her life is over. Her only friend, Mimi, and her father are both drug addicts. Clay is lost and hopeless. She decides to do one last thing—go to an HIV support group at a local church. There, she meets the Reverend and a group of people around her age who understand what it’s like to live with HIV. Each member of the group has their own struggles, but they are creative, make her feel like she belongs, and encourage her to be what she wants to be. They give her hope for a future. But her old life doesn’t want to let go just yet; the one promise she made her dying mother stands in her way.

Clay wants more than anything to break her promise and live the life she is meant to live. Will Clay let her promise hold her back, tied to dysfunction? In Meet Clay Brown, Clay faces her struggle to finally accept herself as she is and understand she is worthy of unconditional love.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2023

About the author

Christina Milliner was born in Queens, N.Y. and raised in Brooklyn, where she still resides. She holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and running. Meet Clay Brown is Christina's first novel.

Reviews

[Stephanie | PaperbackswithSteph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clay Brown was born with HIV and lost her mother to same at the age of 10. As she gets older, she feels lost in the world and completely alone as her father and her only “friend”, Mimi, are both drug addicts. Clay Brown decides to join an HIV support group at a local church, where she meets Reverend and a group of people around her age who know what it’s like to live with HIV. Everyone has their own struggles, but Clay slowly learns that she does not have to live her life alone and can hope for a better future.

I finished this book in less than a day! I could not put it down. While this is a fiction, it felt real. I had so many different emotions reading this book and kept rooting for Clay. The author does a great job of incorporating really intense issues that you do not see often. This was a debut novel and I really enjoyed it 😊 AND how gorgeous is this cover ?!?

[Danielle Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy read, blew through it! While I really enjoyed the premise, the actual plot was more about the characters painting this mural, and that wasn’t even wrapped up by the end of the book! The wasnt much character development at all, and it felt very repetitive. Just wished there was more development with her and her friend in the HIV support group.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a life perspective I've never been exposed to before--HIV-positive-since-birth teen trying to figure out her life and future. I could feel for all the characters, partiulcarly Clay - her life one disappointment after another. I'm so happy she found a "created family" (my favorite trope!).

[Dominique Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fluidity of the writers prose was enjoyable!

The characters felt a little under developed…we really didn’t learn much about them, including the main character.

Although I was emotionally stimulated by what I was reading another part of me was a bit tired at what seemed to be a repetitiveness in the character’s narrative.

I also was a bit confused by the ending.

Overall it was a good read and an excellent effort by the author!