I heard the author speak at AKE LITERARY FESTIVAL and I had to go purchase her book. Truly a moving story about mother-daughter relationship and what I heard the author speak at AKE LITERARY FESTIVAL and I had to go purchase her book. Truly a moving story about mother-daughter relationship and what it means to be othered. ...more
Its not often I pick up a book written by a Zimbabwean and I am really happy I did. I will say, it took a while for me to actually get into this book,Its not often I pick up a book written by a Zimbabwean and I am really happy I did. I will say, it took a while for me to actually get into this book, but once I did I breezed through it.
The author wrote about the immigrant experience and what it's like having to provide for yourself and your family back home.
I really enjoyed being in Linh Ly's world. This is a truly delightful read. I really enjoyed being in Linh Ly's world. This is a truly delightful read. ...more
Within two pages of the book I was enraged and it didnt stop until the very end. I get that it is the nature for the topics covered but honestly, thisWithin two pages of the book I was enraged and it didnt stop until the very end. I get that it is the nature for the topics covered but honestly, this was heavy with a capital H. The book felt unreasonably long, at certain parts nothing really happened the author kept rehashing the same things.
The writing is great, I just needed it to be better edited....more
Why did it take me so long to read this amazing book?!
I have had this book on my list for a very long time and I am so happy I decided to finally re Why did it take me so long to read this amazing book?!
I have had this book on my list for a very long time and I am so happy I decided to finally read it. Welcome to Lagos is a book about humanity and bonds we form when we have no choice.
The book opens with an officer leaving the army because he no longer believes in the cause and he is tired of being haunted by the people he's murdered. He ends up leaving and taking another with him/ While on the journey to Lagos he meets a naive militant, a vulnerable young woman and a runaway middle-class wife. What happens next, well, let's just say, it was wild, entertaining and heart warming.
Felt like a book version of Top Boy…. But in an underwhelming way….
We are taken to Bris-tol where we meet this family who keeps on disintegrating. W Felt like a book version of Top Boy…. But in an underwhelming way….
We are taken to Bris-tol where we meet this family who keeps on disintegrating. We meet cousins who are into drugs but Sayon wants to make a clean break when things go wrong for him and he ends up getting blackmailed by his girlfriend’s dad. He tries his best to stay on the straight and narrow but he misses his family, his loyalty to his cousin and his inability to come clean to his girlfriend. One night everything comes clean which sends him spiraling.
What I loved most about the book was the exploration of religion and it means for each person. Honestly, this one felt long and unedited. I really wanted to love it but there was just something missing. I didn’t feel deeply for the characters and I think its because they all seem very one-dimensional. Will I read what the author writes next? Absolutely! ...more
We are taken to Costa Rica in the 1960s with the burning down of a banana factory. This fire has repercussions for generations to come and we find outWe are taken to Costa Rica in the 1960s with the burning down of a banana factory. This fire has repercussions for generations to come and we find out how through the multiple POVs.
Honestly, this one did not work for me. It felt tedious getting into it and once I did, I didnt feel deeply for the characters. What's more, there were too many characters that their backstory felt watered down. I finished the book with more questions than answers. ...more
In An American Immigrant we meet Melanie Carvajal, she’s a Colombian American living in Miami as a journalist. At twenty-five-years old Melanie is tIn An American Immigrant we meet Melanie Carvajal, she’s a Colombian American living in Miami as a journalist. At twenty-five-years old Melanie is trying to make a name for herself at the Miami newspaper but she just cannot seem to get her own by-line. With her company being less profitable the pressure is on to perform and write a strong piece. Her opportunity arises that requires her to travel to Colombia for a piece.
While Melanie’s Mom is from Colombia, she does not know much about the country except for what the media tells her. Her Mom did not fill her in while growing up and if she’s being honest, she didn’t ask or wanted to know more about her heritage. She finally gets to visit Colombia with her mother and learn about the culture and her heritage. While there, she found a journal from her mother where she wrote about life in Colombia before she left and why she left. Melanie learns so much about her mother, her life before going to America. While in Colombia they connect so deeply that Melanie cant help to fall more in love with her culture.
I am always up for an Immigrant story and I loved the premise of this one. I enjoyed reading the mother’s journal entry and what it was for like living in Colombia and why she decided to move to America and the journey that took her there. The author did a great job of exploring the mother-daughter relationship and both of them having an immigrant experience. We see the arc of Melanie not embracing her culture to learning a lot more coming to an appreciation for her mother and what she went through.
The parts that I loved, I really loved. The mother and grandmother scenes really were top tier. The one part that kinda annoyed me or pissed me off is Melanie, a 25 year old Colombian, who is a writer didn’t know that Garbriel Marquez is Colombian… I mean…. LET’S BE FOR REAL!!!! I get that she didn’t embrace her culture but BFFR. Outside of that, I did enjoy this read. ...more
A book that is centered on music, heritage and love…
Set in the 70s in London we meet Yamaye who is from Jamaican heritage. She goes out partying withA book that is centered on music, heritage and love…
Set in the 70s in London we meet Yamaye who is from Jamaican heritage. She goes out partying with her friends on a weekend to an underground club called The Crypt. They get to whine, and grind and meet other people, but also The Crypt is a way for them to let go of all things that holds them down and escape for a bit. During a night at The Crypt Yamaye meets Moose, a furniture maker from Jamaica and they fall madly and deeply in love. For them, their relationship is an escape, a safe space, a place for them to feel whole.
Unfortunately, they don’t get to live out their romance because of police brutality that sends Yamaye spiraling. Everything changes, Yamaye is heartbroken, she wants to help find justice in anyway. Added to that she must now come face to face with her history, her mother dying at a young age, her father not being entirely present, never really knowing where home is. Yamaye finds comfort in the wrong places and people and ends up paying the consequences.
I wanted to love this one so much, I was engrossed at the beginning! I felt that the book started very strong, it the music elements that I loved. It was explored so beautifully. I think Yamaye’s character development was very much on point and I liked her journey. The middle of the book DRAGGED and was too chaotic I wish that was edited down. Too much was going on. The ending of the book I loved, her being back in Jamaica was top tier.
Honestly, I think my heart just broke for the character who died and I ended up not wanting any part of the book after. Their romance was so tender. ...more
I have zero idea what was happening in this book and it is not for lack of trying. I will say the first 60 pages were very engaging, I wanted to find I have zero idea what was happening in this book and it is not for lack of trying. I will say the first 60 pages were very engaging, I wanted to find out more and see where the book was taking me. Then there was a big shift, a major event and I have zero idea what went on after.
I think they should have changed the title for this one. This book is basically a collection of stories about people doing good deeds, which is fine bI think they should have changed the title for this one. This book is basically a collection of stories about people doing good deeds, which is fine but.... not the book I signed up to read....more
Prachi Gupta decided to write a deeply moving memoir about her Indian-American famil Moving, un-put-down-able, raw, trigging, exceptionally executed…
Prachi Gupta decided to write a deeply moving memoir about her Indian-American family that needs to be read widely. Prachi Gupta writes a memoir for immigrant children who are trying to understand their place in the world. She writes about growing up with the parents and her brother- her father wanted to be a doctor because that is what he thinks was expected of him. He married very young and took her mother from Indian to Canada and then the US. Growing up the father always made the decisions, where to live, what they would be and what was expected of everyone.
On the outside they seemed like the perfect family but Prachi takes us inside to show us the abuse, gaslighting, and hurt that happened at the hands of her family. This is not the book you expect from an Immigrant and I think that is what I loved most, Prachi really showed us what her world was like and how she was raised. She was so vulnerable in this memoir I felt like she was a friend I wanted to fight people for.
Her family is complex, there are so many issues at play and I think Prachi gave them grace (even when they didn’t deserve it!) in writing this book.
Honestly, this is for anyone with a family dynamic that is toxic and you are wondering how to navigate it all.
Here’s the Freedom Clause, every year for five years you get to sleep with one person and you cannot tell anyone else about it…
In The Freedom Claus Here’s the Freedom Clause, every year for five years you get to sleep with one person and you cannot tell anyone else about it…
In The Freedom Clause we meet married couple Dominic and Daphne they met when they were in college and got married after. They were each other’s firsts and have been married for three years. During a conversation they talked about the fact that they haven’t had sex in months, that their marriage has hit a roadblock. To remedy the situation, Dominic suggests the Freedom Clause. What is the Freedom Clause? Well both Dominica and Daphne gets one night off every year for five years to sleep with someone. Yes, there are rules:
It cannot be the same person, you know they don’t want to have an affair. They can’t tell each other about it. They can’t tell their friends about it. After the five years, they will come back together and decide if they want to continue or see how it changed or improved their marriage.
Of course, when Dominic suggests this, Daphne was taken aback and did not know if she agreed but she slowly warms up to the idea with the rules in place. The first freedom happens with and both Dominic and Daphne did not expect it to be so hard and eventful. Daphne, not being able to tell her friends about the clause starts a blog that details everything that does down, the blog goes viral. We see how the Freedowm Clause changes both Dominic and Daphne for better and for worse… while the Freedom Clause make or break their marriage?
I love a book with a great premise and I loved this one because it is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, I’ve never been married but if you decide to do a Freedom Clause you are absolutely asking for trouble and trouble is what this couple got! Did I love this book? No. Did I enjoy reading this book? There were some enjoyable parts. Would I recommend this book? I think so. What I enjoyed was seeing how the Freedom Clause pans out because there will be drama and drama there was.
I think the author was very heavy handed and wanted Daphne to “win” from the start. I felt that the author’s writing of Dominic was one-dimensional, we literally see him starting out as a great boyfriend and husband to becoming a villain and it just felt like she wanted to highlight Daphne’s character arc more. Yes, I enjoyed Daphne coming into her own but I think it could have been done without making Dominic a villain.
Either, way, a get exploration of the Freedom Clause. ...more
This is one of those books someone will ask you a year from now if you read it and you’ll vaguely remember reading it… if you know what I mean…
In S This is one of those books someone will ask you a year from now if you read it and you’ll vaguely remember reading it… if you know what I mean…
In Siren & Muses we meet nineteen-year-old Lousia Arceneaux who is originally from a small town, with a close knit family. She transfers to the elite art school Wrynn College of Art. She’s been told her art is prolific but once she arrives at Wrynn she feels less than. She attends Wrynn on a scholarship meanwhile a lot of her classmate are there on their wealth of their parents. This is the first time Lousia feels out of her element as she tries to navigate this new life. Lousia’s roommate is Karina Piontek, who is from a very wealthy family and seems predestined for success in the art world. Karina is self-assured, confident and knows who she is as an artist, she also does not have a lot of friends. While they didn’t become easy friends, Lousia and Karina did fall into a sort of friends and part time lovers.
We see Lousia trying to find her footing in the art world and become an artist. Karina, was battling a lot, at home, at school and in her love life with Lousia and Preston who she dates openly. All three of them are at Wrynn trying to be the best to graduate. We follow how they all navigate their way to success.
I really enjoyed the sneak peek I got into what it is like attending a prestigious art school. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author explored how art is view- subjectively and objectively and what it takes to be a great artist. I loved the exploration of consent in art- that is what stood out most for me. I did think some of the charaters were one-dimensional and unforgettable and the story went on a little too long. Will I remember this book a year from now? Maybe not, but I did enjoy learning more about art. ...more
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