Zuri Benitez

Zuri Benitez is the protagonist of the novel, as well as its narrator. She is the second-eldest Benitez sister and looks out for everyone. She writes poetry and dreams of attending Howard University, never considering boys a necessary part of life until she meets the Darcy brothers who affect her family in unprecedented ways. She is initially angry that Janae spends so much time with Ainsley Darcy, but when the couple breaks up she becomes angry at the Darcy brothers for looking down on her family. She is sensitive to issues of class and race, abhorring the gentrification of her beloved neighborhood of Bushwick. Zuri grows a lot as a character throughout the book, learning that true love can stem from a person's deepest self and not from the labels which are so easily applied to others. She is prideful and not a little prejudiced against wealthy...