jo
i love pain, all i know is pain.
i love seeing the tiny differences between the manga and the anime!!! it's really interesting to consume this story having already seen the anime.
I loved it! It was so rad to see a bit of Ravens back story. I love Teen Titian's, it's the only story line in dc that I like (I'm a marvel stan lol). I thought that the art style was great and the story was really good. I wish that it was longer and that we got to see a bit more of raven with her mom :/. I loved Max, she was a bIG mood! And also I didn't know that there were queer characters!! I can't wait for the next one!.
THIS BOOK GOT ME CRYING AT WORK
This book took me completely by surprise. I was initially intrigued by this because it gave me grown (by tiffany d. jackson) vibes. They both talk about the dark side of the music industry. But they're both so different.
Muted follows Denver and her two friends as they want to make it big. And with the help of Rap legend Sean “Mercury” Ellis, they will surely get there. But, things fall into place a little too easily. And the question, How far are you willing to go to make your dreams come true?
This is a story of a girl trying to make her dreams come true, survive, and figuring out her sexuality. Please go into this book with caution. I wish i would've known about certain themes before going into it. I was really triggered by the fatphobic & diet/ed themes in this book. I still recommend this book if you think you won't be affected by any of the themes I mention in the Content Warning section in the end of my review.
rep: Haitian Lesbian MC, Dominican Queer LI, Black Side characters
CW: physical & mental abuse, fatphobia, forced dieting, eating disorder, gaslighting, drug use, alcohol abuse, assault, saying queer a relationship is just a phase, rape, pedophilia, blood, kidnapping, death, gun violence.
I absolutely loved this graphic novel!!! I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading and learning a bit about Japanese interment camps in america. I loved how hughes interweaves fiction and reality and makes the story easy to understand. They inserted their own family history with a fantastical twist. Also it's a lil queer :) PLEASE READ THIS BEAUTY WHEN IT COMES OUT!!
Thank you to net galley for sending me a review copy in exchange of an honest review.
“Healing starts the moment we feel heard”
TRIGGER WARNINGS
2.5 stars
Pros:
Cons:
“Life isn't a race. You go at your own pace, okay?”
tw: death of parent, vomit, car accident, grief, and divorce
this was so cute! i really enjoyed my time reading this.
tw: suicide, depression, and domestic and child abuse
I finished this morning and i'm absolutely broken after reading it.
Intriguing but so predictable.... I saw everything coming from a mile away :/ I really liked the podcast element of the book. But idk it wasn't even thrilling. I don't know if it was the narrator but even the parts that we're supposed to be thrilling felt so boring.
tw: rape, gang rape, murder, sexual abuse, suicide, death of loved ones.
tw: police brutality, racism, suicide attempt, drug use, mention of rape and violence
i don't know how i feel about this book. i audibly read this and loved the audiobook. it was narrated by the author and he did a phenomenal job bringing this novela to life. but i think i just don't vibe with novelas and short stories because i always end up wanting more. in this instance i wish there was more explanations with the powers ella had. there were also some times where i was so confused because we would go from point a to point g in a minute. it just left me confused yet wanting more. on the other hand, i loved how onyebuchi weaved in science fictional elements with historical instances of police brutality and the black experience in america. i do recommend everyone to give this book a try.
CW: homophobic remarks, homophobia, bullying, underage drinking and drug consumption.
Y'all better go read this book right nOW
CW: domestic abuse, child abuse, homophobia, and death
Was this book perfect? No
Will it be for everyone? No
Is it now a new favorite book? Yes
This book felt like it was written for me and me only. I cried so much because I saw myself in both Fernando and Cara. I saw my frustrations and insecurities in this book. I understood Fernando's pain dealing with a strict Dominican mom. However, I sympathized with Cara, because I saw every Dominican woman I know represented in Cara. I saw the real struggles and side effects of generational trauma. This is a book I will hold close to my heart for a long time.
One thing I loved to see is that this was written for Latine readers. It had Spanish words, Dominican food, and culture and it didn't explain it. It wasn't written to cater to non-Spanish speaking readers. So if you don't read/understand Spanish I recommend you look up what the words mean to get a full understanding of the story.
Do I recommend this? Maybe... this may be a bit triggering for a lot of people. Go into it with caution <3
Own Voice Review for Dominican Rep
TRIGGER WARNINGS
Domestic Abuse, Rape, Colorism, Cheating, use of the ‘r' slur, and Death or a loved one.
If you are triggered by any of these topics please go into this review/book with caution.
Thank you to Dominican Writers Association for sending me a copy in exchange of an honest review.
Dominicana was one of my most anticipated releases. My expectations were so high for this because I'm always on the look out for books by Dominican authors. But after reading and DNF'ing at 50% Angie Cruz's novel “Let it Rain Coffee” I lowered my expectations.
I am giving this book 3.5 stars because while i did really enjoy my time reading it. And I appreciate it for what it was. It just didn't completely do it for me.
I really loved the way Cruz showed the realities of how things were in Dominican Republic in that time. How families would marry off their teenage daughters to older men “for their own good”. The fact that most people who move from DR to the US thinking life will be so easy when they're in America. Moving to America isn't a ticket to riches and the easy life. Cruz writes about how the situation in Dominican Republic was in that time where kids would walk around with guns to protect themselves. And people got killed for being in the wrong place at he wrong time. She takes Dominican history and interweaves it with fiction so perfectly. I connected with this because i know that a lot of my family went through similar circumstances. I will always look at Dominicana with so much love and appreciation for being a book that I can see a little bit of myself and my crazy family too.
The list of things that made me drop the rating to a 3.5 is small but things that kind of took me out of the story. The colorism in this book jumped out and annoyed me so much. Yes i do understand that at that time lightskinned latinxs were looked as higher than darker skinned. Hell to this day colorism in latinx culture is still a problem. But having to read Juan speak so lowly of blacks and think he's better because he's white passing is so frustrating. Also the use of the r slur to describe someone was so unnecessary. I didn't really find the machismo problematic because its very accurate. Especially for the time period. I mean its still very much alive in today time lets be honest. But its a thing that annoyed me but I just dealed with because of the accuracy.
All in all i really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that is interested. It gets my Dominican stamp of approval!!
cw: rape, incest, child abuse, talk about suicide, fatphobia, self harm, depression, mentions of eating disorder, throwing up, ptsd, a mention of harry potter.
2.5
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Before I explain my rating I just need to state a few trigger warnings.
Domestic abuse, Rape, Prostitution/Dehumanization of Women, and a little bit of Animal Slaughter.
So if you personally are triggered by ANY of these please go into this book knowing that. Don't just read a book because of hype, if you know that it has triggering topics that you are personally triggered by please don't read it.
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Okay now onto the review.
So going into this book I already had a feeling of what was going to happen, because I did look up some reviews prior to reading it. I will say this that I was taken by surprise by some of the things that happened in this book. The writing was beautiful and it made me feel like I was in Indravalli with Poornima and Savitha. I felt the pain that they were going through. This book is so Emotional and Important because it shows you how life is in a different country. How easy it is to be taken into sex trafficking. It made me be so thankful that I live in a country where women are treated a bit more equally. yes women are STILL struggling to have equal rights as men, but at least things are better than other places where women are dehumanized and treated like complete trash. I'm not going to lie this book was mad boring at times, and it did put me into a slump. But I am not going to discredit the beauty of this book that shows two strong women and their friendship. I loved Poornima and Savitha so much, I swear if y'all dont know if y'all want to read this book or not. Please do just for their story(if you're not triggered by any of the tw I said earlier) I promise you won't regret it.
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Thank you to Flatiron Books for sending me this book for review
What
The
Actual
HECK
I don't even know what to say tbh except I loved it and I will be reading the sequel soon
As a person who does not normally enjoy short stories. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Toni Morrison truly has a way with words. She makes you care for characters, even if you're only with them for a short amount of time. The introduction analysis by Zadie Smith was phenomenal. She helps the reader understand the text. I recommend reading the short story first before the introduction. I believe it's best to go into it without any preconceived notions. So you can form your own opinions and then read what Smith has to say.
The question of which character is who is such a brilliant idea. It makes the reader think about their internal prejudices and reasonings. I don't know which character is which and I think that was Morrisons' intent. I might even say they can be interchangeable if you think about it. This is why I loved this story so much. There's no one right answer and that's fascinating to me.
Before I give this story a final rating I'd like to reread and analyze it.
CW: death, suicide, xenophobia, c-section, and blood
Rep: Chinese American MC, Queer POV (mlm couple), Egyptian side characters.