221: The Boyfriend Project

Synopsis

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

The Good

~Has a way better beginning than The Proposal

~Daniel secret hidden job was an interesting development (at first)

~Better commentary on social media than The Proposal

~Black couple

~Black Woman in STEM

The Bad

~Lacks romantic tension/build

~Did they build friendship between girls enough? no.

~There is not enough romance

~Third act fight- People jumped down a black romance readers throat for saying third act fights are annoying but…third act fights are annoying. 

~The agonizing over the relationship was repetitive

~Repetitive

The Meh

~Is their relationship healthy/normal but is missing the spice?

Other Romance Reviews

259: A Princess In Theory(&Black💜Romance Novels TBR)

256: The Proposal⚾

251: Opposite of Always

253: The Perfect Date

Review: Song of Blood & Stone

Tuesday Flirtations- The CEO’s Reluctant Lover

Tuesday Flirtations- Dark Genesis (Spoilers)

Tuesday Flirtations- Chained

(all images and the synopsis are from goodreads)

209: Saving Eden

Synopsis 

Sixteen-year-old Angela and her father are the last survivors on earth. She dreams of adventure and romance but only finds it in books. In the confines of her garden paradise, she’s untouched by contaminants that caused the rest of humanity to mutate into murderous beasts or die. But staying in the garden sure gets lonely.

When a seventeen-year-old boy stumbles upon Angela’s home with news about a thriving community, his presence upheavals everything she knew about the world. She dares to leave her garden for the first time to find a better home.

In the authoritarian society that she finds the line between man and mutant is murkier than she expected. Her father is danger, and the men tasked with protecting the settlement are extremely fond of murder. With their lives on the line, can Angela create one last happy ending in a hopeless world?

Fans of dystopian societies, post-apocalyptic futures, diverse characters, fantasy, and coming-of-age adventures with heart will fall in love with this post-apocalyptic fairy tale.

The Good 

🌱Having a naïve/innocent Black girl as main character

🌱Talks a bit (not that much) /alludes to race which would not happen that much if the author was not Black. 

🌱Has interesting ideas as a dystopia – I found the dystopia world not being devoid of technology and having advanced tech as something that got my attention. 

🌱Diverse dystopia

The Bad 

🍃Should this book been longer?  First and second book needed to be mashed up into one? This needed padding it crammed 3+ book or 400+ pages storyline into 230 pages in ways the story suffered because of this. 

🍃How the story suffered- everything was too obvious, world felt undeveloped, character development choices was off, we did not get to know many of the characters, and the romance was not built.

🍃Disappointment in story being a okay not great one – it was not an engaging read. 

The Meh

🌿🍃🌱There is a pro/con for having advanced technology in a dystopia

Thoughts

🌾Assumption that dystopia will level the playing field- brute will be the deciding factor.

-so rich guy owning town, people with land and valuable resources have privilege which a lot of times is rich folks.

🌾We keep avoiding engagement with why people with powers would be harmed.

🌾 I want to see more Black young adult science fiction specific books- I think there is a lot of focus on fantasy but not enough on sci-fi. Then again sci-fi is considered a dead genre so as a whole it is not getting shine.

Black Science Fiction Recommendations ~Middle grade & Young Adult & Adult

A Phoenix First Must Burn Anthology – ya ~at least one dystopian short story

The Good Luck Girls – ya

Mirage by Somaiya Daud – ya

Shuri by Nic Stone – middle grade

Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord – adult

Skinned by Lesley Nneka Arimah – adult ~dystopian

(the synopsis/cover image is from goodreads)

212: Conjure Women

Synopsis

A mother and daughter with a shared talent for healing—and for the conjuring of curses—are at the heart of this dazzling first novel

Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife; and their master’s daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.

Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.

The Good

-Black community that was at the center of the story= 

Seeing post/during enslaved Black American folks diverse in personality and wants. 

-It is magical in a way you would not think: it was at times in the realm of fantasy, magical realism, speculative.  Also, there was Black American mythology.

-Seeing voodoo/hoodoo practices which is erased a lot of times from Black History.

-The during(Rue as kid) and after (Rue as an adult) and what came from this way of telling the story.

-I was immediately into the story from the get go.

 It flowed so well I finished it quickly. 

The Bad

-Anticlimatic= I probably came into the story with certain expectations but still it set up certain things to be bigger than they turned out to be and that was disappointing

The Meh

Varina aka white women are victims too- narratively that probably is good (I guess) so that white people are not just painted as stock villains but still low-key did not like. 

I was kind of disappointed in Rue being the main character because she led the story in a certain direction-although she was a intriguing fully formed flawed person. She was a annoying whiny voice who is incompetent and selfish too  – it would have been interesting to see the story from Rues mom or one of the other characters. 

During Thoughts

1. Legacy & tradition- not being able to pass it on to the next generation. 
2. Writing Black American stories as a non-Black American 
3. Older vs younger generation- how our selfishness is different. 
4. Hoodoo/voodoo  as forgotten/erased/looked down history because the move to Christianity & more
5. Black trauma porn, trauma, & why I like these type of stories – slavery, etc
6. What is our Black American fantasy? 
7. How Black Americans raise up children – protecting & hardening. 

Other Reviews

Video Review from Brianca Jay

Library Checkout Reviews: The Deep (& Thoughts On Depicting African Enslaved Trauma)

Roots

The Good Luck Girls (ARC Review)

Clotel

 

(cover and synopsis from goodreads)