Oh I loved this!!!!!!!! I was put off at first by the jump between Winter and Spring but soon fell in love with the characters. What a sweet, sexy storyOh I loved this!!!!!!!! I was put off at first by the jump between Winter and Spring but soon fell in love with the characters. What a sweet, sexy story. I wish they'd gotten a full book. I'm glad to see Portia's twin, Regina has a novella planned in this series as well. Such fun!
Merged review:
Oh I loved this!!!!!!!! I was put off at first by the jump between Winter and Spring but soon fell in love with the characters. What a sweet, sexy story. I wish they'd gotten a full book. I'm glad to see Portia's twin, Regina has a novella planned in this series as well. Such fun!...more
This was interesting on multiple levels, but the 1st half is really just random tidbits on paganism across various cultures worldwide. The informationThis was interesting on multiple levels, but the 1st half is really just random tidbits on paganism across various cultures worldwide. The information was interesting but was quickly followed by unrelated but also interesting information. It did not feel cohesive. I kinda felt I was listening to an anthology of paganesque worldwide practices. It was interesting but chaotic.
This is basically a 'bible' of spells, practices, histories, medications, essays, and other writings on the topic of Lunar importance in worldwide pagan belief systems.
This definitely has value and adds to the conversation on witch or pagan beliefs and practices worldwide focusing on the moon. I just think this needed to be more ordered in the dispensing of this knowledge.
This audiobook is narrated by Morgan Dalla Betta and Krysta Gonzales. They both did a job keeping this somewhat loose text flowing and interesting.
Thank you to Casey Zabala, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kemi Ashing-Giwa, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by CaThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kemi Ashing-Giwa, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by Catherine Ho. Catherine sets a creepy atmosphere with her narration of this haunting story. This is told from multiple points of view, and the narration seemed to fade into the background. It was exactly what I wanted with this novella.
I quite liked this. It's definitely science fiction, and I wished I had more time on New Belaforma. I truly loved the descriptions of the planet and the 'Grey'. I liked the premise of the story, which I don't want to spoil here. The science aspects of the story are unique and incredible. The relationship aspects of the story felt forced. Perhaps due to the limitations of the novella format. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by George M. Johnson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
I highly encourage the reader toThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by George M. Johnson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
I highly encourage the reader to consume this as an audiobook. This is narrated by the author George M. Johnson with a lively jazz based musical soundtrack. Each chapter we are introduced to another queer Harlem Renaissance artist, and as they are introduced, music plays. If they were a singer its a song of theirs. Mr. Johnson's narration is powerful. The listener can hear the emotion in his voice. This is beautifully done, as much of an experience as it is a book.
I love the Harlem Renaissance. I've studied it since I was school-age. Like the author, Black History Month was my favorite time in school. I love history, and reading about historical Black folks always makes me happy. I'm also queer. I'm older than this author and grew up in a time none of this was discussed or accepted. So I love that resources like this exist for today's young readers. I remember when I found out Josephine Baker was bisexual. I held that detail close to my heart throughout my childhood.
This book also serves as a wonderful introduction to the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. I love that the author pulls no punches and calls in bad behaviors like internalized homophobia, colorism, classism, and misogynoir.
Even if you don't have a young person to suggest this to or purchase this for, consider giving it a listen as an adult. It's short, entertaining, and packed with important facts.
Thank you to George M. Johnson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
Whoa! This was stunning. I wasn't sure what to expect, and still, the reveal shocked and shook me. That ending was divine, though, even healing. So farWhoa! This was stunning. I wasn't sure what to expect, and still, the reveal shocked and shook me. That ending was divine, though, even healing. So far, this is the best novel I've read in 2024.
Rivers Solomon is my favorite living author. I stumbled upon them with their first published novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts, which lives rent-free in my mind to this day. I've read everything they've written, including short stories, with the exception of Sorrowland. Sorrowland teases a plot that freaks me out, and I don't know if I can read that type of story right now. I own it both in book form and on audiobook. I'm confident I'll love it one day.
While the underlying tone in this story is sinister and creepy, it's balanced by the connections of the siblings. I would say this story is at the border of literature. It reminds me in tone, not narrative style, of Toni Morrison's work, specifically Beloved. Morrison has the surface level story with an underlying tone in which so much more is happening, but it depends on the readers' abilities to access that narrative. Each time I reread a Morrison novel, I discover something new or something I wasn't sure about upon past rereads is made clear. I've been rereading some of her novels since high school, more than 30 years now. This novel has that same surface story with the story underneath the action. To me, it is reminiscent of intergenerational trauma and how each child in a family takes their own approach to eradicate it in the next generation. We don't 'break' generational curses as much as refurbish and repackage the intergenerational trauma from our own lives into something that falsely feels less weighty.
On the surface this is about Black siblings who grew up in a haunted house in a gated affluent white community. The house has marked each sibling and even their parents. The siblings return to their childhood home upon the death of their parents. This is an intricate and complicated story. Its gift is in the messy, surprisingly relatable details.
This also touches upon class issues, gender issues, racism as well as transphobia & homophobia. This is a story best read without understanding too much of the plot. This has to be experienced to be understood.
I will read the digital or hard copy of this book upon reread. I greatly enjoyed the audiobook as it is a high-quality production narrated by Gabby Beans. I liked Gabby's voice. It felt inviting yet cautious and greatly enhanced the creepy aspects of the story. It was a perfect tone for this novel. I personally find literature is more accessible reading in print. Still, on rereads, the audiobook adds a nice dimension to the story and is definitely worth the listen. This story has trauma included, and sometimes audiobooks can give more if a distance from the trauma. I listen to many history books on audio for this very reason.
Thank you to Rivers Solomon, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobooThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is the author Alexis Pauline Gumbs. She does a wonderful job as narrator. I like that her passion, excitement, respect and inquisitiveness can be heard as the text is narrated. Its a wonderful opportunity for the audiobook listener.
I can not stress enough how much the woman I am today was formed by reading Audre Lorde. I discovered Ms. Lorde's poetry in high school. I was a precocious kid, I read The Color Purple in the 5th grade; My mom set it down, purple was my favorite color and I liked the cover....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Jas Hammond, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
Alaska Jackson is the narrator of thisThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Jas Hammond, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
Alaska Jackson is the narrator of this young adult novel. This is the first novel I've heard narrated by Alaska but it won't be the last. Her ability to use slight changes in inflection and tone when speaking with the voices of the adults or other young characters helped immensely to keep who was saying what separate. This is key to a successful audiobook experience.
This is the first novel I've read by Jas Hammond but it won't be my last. This was incredible. This is primarily a young adult coming of age story with a biracial main character, Blake. Blake is working at the local country club in her small town the summer after high school with her girlfriend, Ella, who is from the wealthier side of town. Both girls are looking to join the exclusive Serena Society their freshman year at university. The Serenity Society is a secret club for WOC only at Jameswell university. It boasts an impressive lineage of powerful alumni members and exists to help WOC rise in a deeply white supremacist society. This novel explores class, race, substance abuse, toxic relationships and biracial identity struggles. I liked that this featured white birth mothers who struggled with racism/antiblackness. This isn't reflected enough in media but is an extremely common experience for multi-ethnic kids with white parents. What this novel had to say about the use and abuse of substances by young adults is important and necessary. I would say this is appropriate for middle and high school age youngsters. Nothing too graphic but most of these topics need to be discussed as early as possible.
Thank you to Jas Hammond, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.
2.5 Stars Rounded Up This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rebecca Thorne, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
Cozies are my fa2.5 Stars Rounded Up This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rebecca Thorne, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
Cozies are my favorite comfort reads. This book has 2 main characters, Reyna who is a guard for a problematic queen and Kianthe who is an exceptionally powerful mage. The main characters are in love and quit their fast-paced life for a quiet book & tea shop. This is steadily paced. The main characters grow but I'm not really attached to them. The blend of history with fantasy works for the setting but feels somewhat flat for the characters. I never really became invested in this story or care much about the characters. For a cozy to be successful for me I have to be invested in the main characters and like the setting. I did like the setting but the characters feel more like they are being explained than showing in the narrative who they are and why. Much of the character development reads like character outlines more than story action. The romantic relationship between Reyna & Kianthe felt awkward and they've been together long enough it should've felt comfortable. The reader is told they are in love but I don't feel that love is reflected in the text. It's told but not shown in the various story elements. This is fun, cozy and a quick read. While I will not read further in this series, I will read another book by this author.
This was my first exposure to Jessica Threet as a narrator. I felt her approach to narrating this novel was light and fun. It was a perfect tone and helped to bring Reyna and Kianthe to life.
Thank you to Rebecca Thorne, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan to pick up a physical copy for my grandkids. They're too young now but won't always be. I was engaged from the beginning and very quickly became invested in these characters. The story is told using 2 alternating timelines with 3 main characters from the 2005 storyline: Penny daughter of a teen single mom, Mina biracial with a father from Ghana and an upper middle class family, and Sheryl a foster kid who has bounced around a bit because her mom struggled with substance abuse. The second timeline from 2024 included 3 new main characters in addition to those from the 2005 storyline: Amber, Penny's daughter, Blossom, Mina's daughter, and Cole, Sheryl's son. In both timelines the story is centered around and focused on high school senior prom.
This deals with some heavy issues including abortion, birth control, foster care, sexual assault, substance abuse, LGBTQA+ struggles, gender expectations, the politics of consent and adoption. Some of these issues are merely mentioned and others are plot points. I don't want to be more specific because of spoilers. So I would say the publishers suggested age of 14 is probably a good benchmark for parents. These issues are crucial for understanding for teens of all genders so I'm glad this novel exists.
I loved that this audiobook has multiple narrators to go with its multiple pov characters. This was narrated by Andy Garcia, Imani Jade Powers, Krysta Gonzales, Matt Bridges, Victoria Connelly and Yinka Ladeinde. The individuality of each separate character voiced by their own narrator truly helped to differentiate the characters as well as made the story easier to follow.
Thank you to Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a young adult horror novel set at a camp with thriller This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a young adult horror novel set at a camp with thriller and supernatural elements sprinkled throughout. Similar to 'You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight' by Kalynn Bayron and American Horror Story Season 9 '1984'. This just has that nostalgic 80's horror movie feel. As I'm a Gen Xer, this is like revisiting my childhood horror stories.
This is an action packed novel and pulled me right in from the first page so to speak. Temple is a Camp Counselor at Pride Rocks, a themed LGBTQA+ horror overnight girls camp. Added to the horror is that the 'camp' is located on the family farm that Temple grew up on. Temple's father is the famous North Point Killer, a serial murderer who is behind bars as the story opens. Temple has returned to where she grew up to look for her mother's body. Her father has confessed to murdering her mother but her mom's body was never found. Temple has to know what happened and goes undercover at the camp as a counselor to be able to access her old family farm. Once Temple is ensconced in the camp as a counselor, a dead body turns up. It's too freshly killed to be left by Temple's Dad. Temple has been haunted by her father's weird serial killer groupies and immediately thinks this is a copycat. This has supernatural elements and the horror is hair-raising. The action is pulse pounding. I could not stop listening until this story was over. This is layered and very fun.
This novel is expertly narrated by Tamika Katon-Donegal. Her voice is perfect for an older teen novel of this type. I like that Tamika applied tone changes to represent other characters in the novel. I'll be sure to seek out additional books narrated by her.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook novel. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Hayley Dennings, RBmedia/Recorded Books, and NetGalley.
This is set during one of mThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Hayley Dennings, RBmedia/Recorded Books, and NetGalley.
This is set during one of my favorite time periods (selectively, of course, because lynching was terrorism) in Black US history for cultural contributions to the arts...more
In many ways this is a typical formulaic Jodi Pioult story; current social issue, lengthy court case, surprise reveal on the witness stand, surprise tIn many ways this is a typical formulaic Jodi Pioult story; current social issue, lengthy court case, surprise reveal on the witness stand, surprise testimony/witness, at times uncomfortable dramatization of current social issue, disappointing over simplified contented/happy ending.
All of the above reasons I stopped reading Picoult.
Yet Picoult has a way of drawing me into a story so that I deeply care about the characters and the places they inhabit physically and emotionally.
I found Olivia to be a standard Picoult character but Lily was different. Clearly this is because Lily's chapters were written by Jennifer Finney Boylan. I'll definitely be adding her books to my tbr list.
Aspects of the story and the issues tackled felt overwhelming. Yet, I think if we're honest much of what felt overwhelming was actually statistically pretty valid and somewhat common:
Same-sex marriage is wonderfully normalized. Gay folks exist, some of them marry and raise children together.
Interracial couples exist, I'm the child of a 'Loving Generation' interracial marriage. I'm currently in am Interracial marriage they're fairly common at this point.
Both of these examples simply exist in the novel. They're barely even characters. It's not forced or preachy these folks simply exist.
LGBTQA+ representstion amongst Gen Z is touched on but only 1 of these is an important character to the novel.
A character has an abortion but thats also statistically quite common, its only mentioned in a single scene.
Racism is mentioned by a Black character in again, a single scene. Which is statistically common as Black folks make up 12% of the population and racism is scientifically proven to exist in the legal system.
I literally don't get the complaints about this being preachy, people who aren't white, aren't cis, aren't straight, etc exist in society today. Their representation as characters in a novel isn't really political. Its natural to not be cis or white or straight. People simply showing up as they are isn't political.
If you as a reader found it so, you're a fucking bigot. ...more
I did not like this at all and wouldn't read another book by this author.
The basic story itself could be compelling, but it wasn't done cooking. It waI did not like this at all and wouldn't read another book by this author.
The basic story itself could be compelling, but it wasn't done cooking. It was amateurish like a cozy novel, but the facts were quite dark. It was ridiculously easy to guess the reveals, and the ending was deeply unsatisfying.
I honestly hate the treatment of race, which was heavy-handed and bordered on simplicity. The treatment of race made me feel like the author was white or writing to white people. Most of the purpose of the story is to humanize the racist white girl who is never explicitly called racist no matter how racist her extreme actions are. Instead, it's treated like ignorance, and like being friends with Black folks and education on racism will solve racism. In the end, it even downplays Black activism and affirmative action instead pushing a silly, 'Let's just all get along' narrative. It's insulting and annoying.
Only the Black characters speak in dialect when anyone who's ever spoken to a southern white knows they also speak in dialect. It was weird and in many ways bordering on antiblackness.
If the author is actually Black, I'm gathering they are conservative and grew up in an all white area. The author gives off Candace Owen vibes. This is not a good book. I deeply regret buying it....more
4.5 Stars Rounded up This was well handled in regards to race and the British public. Some of the unnecessary drama was eye rolling, but the mystery was4.5 Stars Rounded up This was well handled in regards to race and the British public. Some of the unnecessary drama was eye rolling, but the mystery was expertly handled....more
4.5 Stars Rounded Up This was well written, fun, and the mystery wasn't obvious. Well done!4.5 Stars Rounded Up This was well written, fun, and the mystery wasn't obvious. Well done!...more
I read this so I could review the sequel for Netgalley. This was the perfect spooky season novel! I wasn't sure what to expect and it was a wild ride! II read this so I could review the sequel for Netgalley. This was the perfect spooky season novel! I wasn't sure what to expect and it was a wild ride! I am so glad I can start the sequel tomorrow!...more
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