Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.
Review:
This year I have decided that I want to continue my journey reading historical fiction, but I wanted to venture outside of the usual WW2 era.
This book was definitely the step in the right direction. Taking place before the Civil War during the most intense part of slavery in the south, Johnson throws you into the life of Pheby. Immediately you realize that she is not a typical slave. She knows how to read and she doesn’t have to perform the duties of either a field or house slave. She and her mother are favored by their master, Jacob.
After the death of a fellow slave, Pheby is summoned to work in the Big House and then begins her troubles. Working for the mistress of the property proves to be hard and stressful. Things continue to go downhill for her. The promise of freedom is the only thing that keeps her going. However, she has no idea what is in store for her.
After things take a turn for the worse, Pheby finds herself on the way to the auction block. Because of her light complexion she is saved from the auction block only to be sent into a life that is just as bad.
This book was intriguing and infuriating at the same time. There were times that I wanted to reach in the book and shake the life out of Pheby but at the same time I felt sorry for her. The things she risks and goes thru in order to protect her children. I also felt that she put herself in certain situations that she didn’t have to be in.
Johnson weaves the story intricately, keeping your attention and drawing in your emotions. While the book doesn’t give you the ending that you hope for after all Pheby has gone thru, it is an ending that is infuriatingly realistic.
Navaya Howard is an erotic writer in a rut. Her readers are fed up of her stale plots and Navaya can’t blame them. She’s been celibate for over a year and a half since finding her now ex-boyfriend’s side chick’s positive pregnancy test on her bathroom counter. How can she write steamy romances if she can barely remember which body parts go into the other?
Navaya enlists the help of her best friend, Xander, to revive the inspiration that used to have her sitting comfortably at the top of her game. What happens when the sex hits deeper than either of them expected and the tender emotions can no longer be denied?
Navaya and Xander’s arrangement has gone far deeper than intended. Will their friendship and their hearts survive the fall?
Review:
Now I have read my small share of black romance, but never have I come across a story like this one. There were definitely some shock factors thrown in but there were also parts that I was able to figure out on my own. That doesn’t take away from the story. Rilzy put some Easter eggs in this story that have me wanting to read more of this series. I have to say a huge thank you to Taima of shadesandpages. She recommended this book and loaned me her copy. She was right on point with this recommendation.
I think I would like to read another friends to lovers book. Even though I enjoyed this book and stepped out of my wheelhouse, I won’t read it all the time. But Rilzy Adams is an author who will be on my radar.
An emotionally riveting debut novel about war, family, and forbidden love—the unforgettable saga of two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the heartbreaking choices they’re forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war that continues to haunt us today
When the communist-backed army from the North invades her home, sixteen-year-old Haemi Lee, along with her widowed mother and ailing brother, is forced to flee to a refugee camp along the coast. For a few hours each night, she escapes her family’s makeshift home and tragic circumstances with her childhood friend, Kyunghwan.
Focused on finishing school, Kyunghwan doesn’t realize his older and wealthier cousin, Jisoo, has his sights set on the beautiful and spirited Haemi—and is determined to marry her before joining the fight. But as Haemi becomes a wife, then a mother, her decision to forsake the boy she always loved for the security of her family sets off a dramatic saga that will have profound effects for generations to come.
Richly told and deeply moving, If You Leave Me is a stunning portrait of war and refugee life, a passionate and timeless romance, and a heartrending exploration of one woman’s longing for autonomy in a rapidly changing world.
Review:
What an intense and incredible story. The way the story progresses was not what I was expecting. It was as if I went into the story without ever reading any blurbs. You are following two separate families as they are trying to survive the war in Korea.
There is so much hope, tragedy, love, determination, and many other things in this book that I can even name. You have two young men vying for the attention of the same girl. Each for different reasons although they claim they love her both. She has feelings for both young me but the feelings are not the same for each of them. Eventually she marries out of convenience.
The trials and tribulations that each of these characters much endure makes your breath catch in your throat. At times you don’t know who to feel more compassion for.
Another thing that is brought up in this story is the use of opioids as a pain killer. And domestic violence is present in this story as well.
Following these characters through each of their life changes is fascinating and heartbreaking at times. We as people need to realize that problems exist across all cultures and we need to learn more about world history.
I would definitely read more by Crystal Hana Kim. This book definitely spun my reading wheel house. Im just sorry it took me so long to get it off my shelf and read.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook, paperback, and audiobook
Beloved Georgia judge Joseph Donaldson was known for his unshakable fairness, his hard-won fortune–and a scandalous second marriage to his much-younger white secretary. Now he’s left a will with a stunning provision. In order to collect their inheritance, his lawyer daughter Maya, her stepmother Jeanie, and Jeanie’s teen daughter, Ryder, must live together at the family lake house. Maya and Jeanie don’t exactly get along, but they reluctantly agree to try an uneasy peace for as long as it takes…
But fragile ex-beauty queen Jeanie doesn’t know who she is beyond being a judge’s wife–and drinking away her insecurities has her in a dangerous downward spiral. Fed up with her mother’s humiliating behavior, Ryder tries to become popular at school in all the wrong ways. And when Maya attempts to help, she puts her successful career and her shaky love life at risk. Now with trouble they didn’t see coming–and secrets they can no longer hide–these women must somehow find the courage to admit their mistakes, see each other for who they really are–and slowly, perhaps even joyfully, discover everything they could be.
Review:
A story about grief and how three women who loved the same man in different aspects deal with his unexpected death.
Maya, who is Judge’s daughter from his first marriage has now lost both parents and the grief of her father’s passing is devastating. But because of the morals and ethics her father instilled in her, she pushes forward and her grieving is limited. This is a situation that a lot of people find themselves in and don’t really know how to handle their grief and because of that, their grief bleeds into other parts of their lives.
Jeanie who is Judge’s second wife has let grief completely overtake her to the point of self destructive behavior. I could almost relate to the pain that she was going thru even though at times I felt she was playing the victim a bit too much at times.
Ryder who is Jeanie’s daughter and Judge’s stepdaughter is caught between her own grief and hiding her mother’s destructive behavior from Maya.
Each woman must learn how to grieve and how to get along. Maya and Jeanie must learn how to do this without depending on Ryder to be their buffer. She has her own issues as a teenager to deal with on top of losing the man she knew as her father.
This was a good story to show that people deal with grief differently and that families can still come together. Having lost both of my parents this was a story that I could definitely relate to.
Rating:
3 Golden Girls
A special thank you to Suzy’s Approved Book Tours for having me on this tour and to Kensington Books for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I managed to read more than I thought last month. I read a total of 10 books and didn’t review any of them because life has been life. It’s 2020 and ya’ll know what I am talking about. Anyway, since I am still really not in the mood to post full reviews but I needed something to do, I figured I would share some quick thoughts on some of my reads.
Sisters of War by Lana Kortchik (gifted copy from Harper Collins, published September 2020)
Blurb:
A dark shadow is about to fall over the golden cupolas of Kiev…
As the Red Army retreats in the face of Hitler’s relentless advance across Eastern Europe, the lives of sisters Natasha and Lisa are about to change forever.
While Lisa’s plans to marry her childhood sweetheart turn to tragedy under the occupation, Natasha grows close to Mark, a Hungarian soldier, enlisted against all his principles on the side of the Nazis.
But as Natasha fights for the survival of the friends and family she loves, the war threatens to tear them apart.
Review:
Yes, this is a story set during WW2 and yes the women on the cover aren’t looking at the “camera” but I don’t hold that against the story. This story had some intense moments. You didn’t really know what was going to happen from each moment to the next. Each character had an equal chance of not surviving or having a happy ending. Now, I don’t know if there is a such thing as a happy ending in a story that contains so much loss and devastation but we have to take gems of happiness where we can get them. Lana really plays with your emotions in this story.
Rating:
3 Golden Girls
Diamond Doris by Doris Payne (gifted copy from Amistad Books, published September 2019)
Blurb:
Growing up during the Depression in the segregated coal town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, Doris Payne was told her dreams were unattainable for poor black girls like her. Surrounded by people who sought to limit her potential, Doris vowed to turn the tables after the owner of a jewelry store threw her out when a white customer arrived. Neither racism nor poverty would hold her back; she would get what she wanted and help her mother escape an abusive relationship.
Using her southern charm, quick wit, and fascination with magic as her tools, Payne began shoplifting small pieces of jewelry from local stores. Over the course of six decades, her talents grew with each heist. Becoming an expert world-class jewel thief, she daringly pulled off numerous diamond robberies and her Jewish boyfriend fenced the stolen gems to Hollywood celebrities.
Doris’s criminal exploits went unsolved well into the 1970s—partly because the stores did not want to admit that they were duped by a black woman. Eventually realizing Doris was using him, her boyfriend turned her in. She was arrested after stealing a diamond ring in Monte Carlo that was valued at more than half a million dollars. But even prison couldn’t contain this larger-than-life personality who cleverly used nuns as well as various ruses to help her break out. With her arrest in 2013 in San Diego, Doris’s fame skyrocketed when media coverage of her astonishing escapades exploded.
Today, at eighty-seven, Doris, as bold and vibrant as ever, lives in Atlanta, and is celebrated for her glamorous legacy. She sums up her adventurous career best: “It beat being a teacher or a maid.” A rip-roaringly fun and exciting story as captivating and audacious as Catch Me if You Can and Can You Ever Forgive Me?—Diamond Doris is the portrait of a captivating anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society.
Review:
I did not want this story to end. I had never heard of Doris Payne before receiving a copy of this book. This was a memoir that I did not mind going into without having knowledge of the writer. It’s a short memoir but it packs punches. Doris was a beast in her prime and in my opinion, she is still a beast for pumping out her story so late in life. This is going to be one of my favorite memoirs. And yes, I do intend on watching the movie whenever it comes out. I hope that they do it justice. I believe Doris did what she did out of necessity and not out of greed but it seemed to also become a thrill to her. The story of Doris Payne goes to show you that bad assery comes in all forms.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (gifted copy from Tor Books, published October 2020)
Blurb:
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Review:
When I was first approached about this book, I admit I did a major eyeroll. I did not give much thought to it. And the same went when I received one of the influencer boxes. I was thinking that as much work that was put into the boxes possibly meant the book was not going to live up to the hype(I’ve been fooled by cute boxes before). Then I started reading the book and OMG!!!! WOW! Talk about a humbling moment. I had to eat my words. I was wrong about how I would feel about the story. It was so engrossing. I just wanted more and more. I devoured this story. This is a book that I would consider revisiting in the future.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (gifted copy from Gallery Books, published July 2020)
Blurb:
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.
The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.
An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.
Review:
Yes, another WW2 historical fiction with the infamous cover, lol. This story takes place in Paris. A story of bravery that makes you wonder if you would be brave enough to endure the risk of death to help those who can’t help themselves. I remember trying to forge one of my parent’s signatures one time and the amount of stress I felt was not even worth the risk. I couldn’t imagine trying to forge documents knowing that if I am caught, the consequences are going to be horrific not just for me but also for those I love. Diligence is another word that comes to mind when thinking about this story. Another thing, this book was soooo hard to find when it came out. When it was finally back in stock without a 1-2 month wait for delivery, I ordered it and then I received a gifted copy from the publisher, lol. I will definitely be reading other books by this author.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Me by Elton John (published by Henry Holt in October 2019)
Blurb:
In his only official autobiography, music icon Elton John writes about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the film Rocketman.
Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three, he was on his first tour of America, facing an astonished audience in his tight silver hotpants, bare legs and a T-shirt with ROCK AND ROLL emblazoned across it in sequins. Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again.
His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with the Queen; from friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation. All the while, Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.
In Me Elton also writes about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father.
Review:
While I enjoy reading stories about people I am not that familiar, I also enjoy memoirs/autobiographies but those I am familiar with. I knew I wanted to read this one because I find Elton John to be one of those celebrities who has done so much and seems to have lived forever. I am always curious as to what their lives are/were like before a obtaining a celebrity status. I listened to this one on audio and although it’s not narrated by Elton himself, the narrator still did a fabulous job. I also learned that the man who narrated the book is the same man who plays Elton John in Rocketman. Elton did some crazy shit during his life. But he also had enough sense to get help before it was too late. I think that was probably my favorite part of his story. Now, I did attempt to watch Rocketman after finishing this book but I couldn’t get into it. I knew there was going to be music, but I wasn’t expecting folks to break out in full song and dance. I may try watching it again at a later date.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (published by Grand Central in February 2017)
Blurb:
Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.
So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.
Review:
Family saga, historical fiction, 400+ pages. Yes, please and thank you. I am so mad at myself for letting this book sit on my shelf unread for 3 years. At the same time, I am glad that I waited to read it. I think I appreciated it more because I waited to read it. I had an idea what it was going to be about and did not reread the synopsis when I decided to finally pick it up and I am glad that I didn’t. This is a beautifully written story and it will take your heart and hold it hostage. What each of these characters has to endure is so horrifying at times. Each of them have so many choices they have to make in order to survive. I intend on reading Min Jin’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires which has also just been sitting on my shelf.
Rating:
4 Golden Girls
Not pictured, but read:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (published by Harper in September 2019)
Blurb:
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.
Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.
Review:
So, I did this one on audio. I am so glad that I did because I more than likely would have DNF’d it. Tom Hanks saved the day with this one. Had he not narrated it, I would have DNF’d it. While listening to this story and referencing the synopsis several times, I still didn’t quite understand the point of the story. This is one that received quite the hype when it first came out. For me, it was not worth the hype. That is I have to say about this one. If you read it and enjoyed it, please tell me what made you enjoy it.
Rating:
2 Golden Girls (only because Tom Hanks narrated the audio and I checked it out from the library)
Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say good-bye to New York and start a life together in Sam’s sleepy hometown in upstate New York. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele.
Little does Sam know that through a vent in his ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist’s wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn’t satisfy her in bed. Who could resist listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie’s happily ever after.
Review:
The start of this story had me intrigued. While I typically don’t like unreliable narrators, I found this narration style perfect for this story. Then I read more of the book. I soon felt like I was reading a remake of Misery by Stephen King, which is mentioned in this book quite a few times. The first part of the book was not too bad, it was the second part of the book that made my opinion waiver more. It was as if there was too much Misery in the story instead of the author’s own ideas which were actually great ideas had she stuck to them during the entire story.
This is my first book by this author, and I am willing to give her another chance. While Misery is one of my favorite Stephen King novels, I would have preferred if the author had maintained more of her own ideas throughout this novel.
This book was more of a suspense than a psychological thriller.
Rating:
1 Golden Girl
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook and audiobook
Thank you to Harper for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.
But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?
On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.
Review:
What I liked about this story and most of the stories that I have read from Lake Union Press is how close to reality they are. They take events that can happen in everyday life and bring them to the page in a way that the reader understands. In this story we have a Lane who is somewhat of a control freak. But not in the usual way of the phrase. She is a control freak of her emotions and you find out why throughout the story. Our childhoods have such an adverse affect on how we take on adulthood and this story was a great representation of that.
Between a childhood tragedy and the sudden loss of her husband, Lane is somewhat forced to face things from her childhood and in her life. During this time, her son Henry is dealing with his own conflicts which seem terribly heavy for a six year old boy. To be so young and have experienced trauma at such a young age, Henry is very receptive of the world around him. His silence allows him to see things that most adults miss or do not understand.
Both Henry and his mother have to find their voices as they take on life after tragedy. They both have to step back, forget the rules and then move forward. On their move forward, relationships are built, secrets are learned, old lives are brought back together, and new lives are brought together.
Sometimes we have to break the rules in order to find freedom in life from conflict.
Rating:
2 girls( 3.5 Stars)
Availability:
Available now in paperback, ebook and audiobook
A special thank you to Suzy’s Approved Book Tours and Lake Union Press for my free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you have followed me for a little while, then you know that sometimes I like to just take time out and talk about life and books outside of reviewing. If you notice in the title of this post, I have added podcasting to my repetoire.
Life for most of the year has been an unbelievable shit storm for me, as it has been for most of the world. I knew for sure that 2020 would be my year. A new year? A new decade? What could be better than that? The ultimate form of a clean slate. However, 2020 had other plans in mind including a pandemic, living under a tyrannical president, and last but MOST DEFINITELY not least the fear of living while being black.
Books and reading are usually a form of escape for me but this year it has been different and I think that is due to the book community. I never knew that this community could become so political and I am not even talking literal politics. I am talking about the politics of the book world. I come to the book world to escape the politics of the real world, but too often lately I am finding myself witnessing some of the most ridiculous things. There is a lack of decorum when it comes to certain things. So many people are practically tap dancing for these publishers just to get a free book.
One thing about myself that is that what you see is what you get. I have made some minor changes since first starting but those have been changes that reflect my growth not overshadow my individuality or personality. Some people will do anything for clout and they are clogging up the feeds with utter nonsense. Where has the love of books and reading gone? Is it the pandemic that has made everyone go mad? I would like to think so, but deep down inside I know that is not true. Folks just want to be out here acting a damn fool for no good reason.
I also notice that some people think bringing more color onto their bookshelves will make them better people and that is not true. People need to understand that no matter how many books are read by people of color, the book world is not going to change the real world that we are in. That closing the pages of these books and saying how much more they understand isn’t making this world a better place. People also have to realize that you have to give folks room, space, and time to change. It is not something that is going to happen overnight and they don’t need to be criticized at every chance. Look how long it took for slavery to end, for black people to gain civil rights. Yet, we are still being treated like nothing and we are out here being killed. Those black squares and those readalongs of books hasn’t changed anything but follower counts. Both positively and negatively. Now, I won’t sit here and say that people are not out here doing anything because some are, not many but a few. And I thank them for that because we need all that we can get right now.
Let me talk about my podcast. I had been talking about starting my own podcast for a while so when George Floyd was murdered and some people I considered colleagues showed their true colors, I knew it was time to do my own thing. I am so happy that I did. I have been having a great time talking to fellow booklovers about books and life. I was on a roll when real life hit me and hit me hard. I had to take a moment and step back. But I am slowly getting back into it.
Another thing that I have noticed this year is the sheer amount of people suffering from depression and anxiety. I am one of those people. I am here to tell you that just because someone is posting on their page or participating in chats, doesn’t mean that they are not suffering. I found myself spiraling faster than I could keep up. Things are getting better but I am still not where I want or need to be. I sat and thought about the last time I was just genuinely happy and it has been about 3 years. The other day my dad said that he was glad to see me happy and I had to tell him that he was just seeing me on one of my few good days and that I still had a long road to go. It hurt me to tell him that but he needed to know the truth. The example I gave him so that he could understand the seriousness of someone suffering from mental illness even if their life seems all put together is Robin Williams. I think that just maybe he understood or we at least had a breakthrough momentarily. These days I take what I can get.
I chose that picture for this post for a reason. If you look closely and really know me, you know that is not just a resting bitch face. My eyes are dead. Void of all emotion. I look plain tired and beatdown even with the little bit of makeup. I believe that is how most of us are trying to survive right now.
Find your strength, stay strong. Find your happiness, hold on to it. MAKE SURE YOU VOTE! And if you really care about people, check on your friends and family. Sometimes you may need to check on a stranger too.
Nobody free till everybody free. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches . . . Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760.
Review:
I do not normally read middle grade novels but because this one is historical fiction and about a subject that I don’t normally see presented much(sugarcane plantations), I decided I wanted to give it a try.
The thing about slavery that we have to remember is that it was not just a thing in America. It was a thing in so many other countries that were “colonized” during that time frame. Especially in countries in the Caribbean. This particular story is set in Jamaica and is told from the perspective of a 14 year old boy. Now, we know that 14 doesn’t mean manhood but during slavery and even present day, a child of color is not seen as a child when they hit their teenage years. I thought that was something that was very thought provoking while reading this story.
This isn’t a very long book so I do not want to go into great detail about the story. One of the things that I found a bit difficult while reading this story was the switching of the dialect but after talking to a close friend, I have decided that it does not take away from the story. It adds to it.
The risks that this child and the men in this book take in order to gain their freedom is both admirable and heart breaking at the same time. The desire to just be able to live without fear and to be able to just enjoy the basic acts of life.
This is a middle grade book that I would recommend for younger audiences who want to know about the history of slavery that doesn’t take place in America and is also told from the perspective of someone their age.
Rating:
I would definitely read more work by this author. This book would get 2 Golden Girls from me.
Availability:
October 20, 2020 in hardcover, paperback and ebook
A special thank you to Akashic Books and their imprint Black Sheep for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.
Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.
As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.
Review:
Great story. This story makes you think about life and what’s important. The thing I loved most about this story is that Backman shines a light on mental health and how it affects people differently. What extremes they go thru to hide or deny it and what extremes they go thru to not deal with it at all. There are some funny and endearing moments in this novel which is not unusual for a Backman novel.
As a person who deals with anxiety and depression on more occasions than I care to admit or think about, I felt seen with this story. This is one of those stories where nothing is as it seems. You go in thinking the story will go one way, but it turns a totally different direction and you are not disappointed by it because all along you are subconsciously thinking about so many things that you don’t realize you’ve been set on another path.
Backman’s story shows that you never know what someone is going thru and you never know how your interaction with people can affect them. Sometimes people can be saved but there is also the unfortunate reality that some think they are too far gone to be saved.
When reading a story by Backman, sometimes you find yourself thinking that this story is going all over the place. Who are all these people? How does any of this tie itself together? Well, it always does. Not necessarily in a neat little bow but definitely in a way that provides a conclusion that stays with you.
I recommend this book along with his other work. I am already looking forward to his next novel.
Rating:
I just outright loved and enjoyed this story.
Availability:
Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.
Aspecial thank to Atria Books for my gifted copy in exchange for an honestreview.
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