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I gave this book 1 star I was so disappointed by this book because I've heard mixed things about it but I was like oh no it can't be that bad.. And that's when Johely knew she was wrong.
This book was problematic. The main character was annoying and had 0 personality. A dead house plant has more personality than Miss Virginia. I will say that the concept was interesting and I did enjoy the travel aspect.
But, this book used a few slur words and was lowkey racist. Ex 1. The use of the word rtardd (of 143 chapter “Boys and Cakes) if you didn't know the r word is an offensive slur. Ex 2. Literally TWO PAGES OVER some kids were trying to steal from Ginny and this guy calls them g*psies... y'all THIS IS A SLUR LIKE THE N WORD!!! if you didn't know that well now you know. Ex 3. Ginny stumbles into this place called the apple so she can stay the night there and actually let me show you exactly what the book says word for word. “There was a reggae album playing, and the sweet tang or cheep incense hung in the air. A bright stripe of green, yellow, and orange-the colors of the Jamaican flag- ran along the wall, along with several posters of Bob Marley hung at odd angles. IT WAS LIKE LIVING IN A STONER' S LOCKER”..... if you don't see what's wrong with this passage let me explain. Just because someone listens to reggae music, has RASTAFARIAN COLORS (not Jamaican), and has pictures of Bob Marley DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN THEY'RE A STONER. That is stereotypical and insensitive. The Jamaican flag is Yellow, Green, AND BLACK. The colors she described were the Rastafarian flag. That literally pissed me off so much because you can tell that Johnson didn't even do her research. (I'm not dragging her btw I like her and I love her newest book “truly devious”)
There's probably so many other things that I didn't mention but I'm tired of talking about this book bye!
this book was absolutely beautiful. i saw bits of myself in araki's character. i even wondered if she was autistic because i related with a lot of her struggles when it came to school, work, and other day to day activities!
now i need a physical copy of this book for myself
tw: gangs, drug abuse, drug dealing, violence, and murder
thank you netgalley for the e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
honestly wtf was this. so much happened in only 98 pages. the author tried to pack so much in such a small graphic novel. i didn't get the chance to truly connect to the characters. heck i found some of them so annoying. mariana(badass latina queen that just wants to play major league baseball) and angel (a dominican boi with a speech impediment) were the only ones i actually liked. i liked the diversity and the hard truth of living in the hood in miami. i wish the authors expanded in this story and made it much longer so the reader could connect better with the characters and understand the story line.
this is own voices for the latine rep especially the dominican rep.
(spoiler)
there was a character that died and i just stood there like damn okay...
Is the human eye really allowed to learn how the heart works.
This was a beautiful collection of poetry. All of the poems are written in the original Zoque language, accompanied by translations in both Spanish and English. It was a unique and very interesting reading experience!
good start to this series! cant wait to see how this story unfolds. so bittersweet to see trini and tommy be dead in this. also, zack revealing he's a power ranger? interesting decision but im interested to see why they decided to do that.
update: i read this to the kid and she loved it! she started singing her name heheh!
“made up names come from dreamers, their real names were stolen long ago so they dream up new one. they make a way out of no way, make names out of no names — pull them from the sky!”
this story has my heart
thank you netgally for an advanced e-copy of this book.
i absolutely loved this! this is a perfect combination of fun and educational. perfect book to read to kids to learn about the types of clouds
Thank you netgally for giving me the opportunity of reviewing this beautiful picture book.
As a plus sized afrolatina this picture book hit close to home. This is a book that curvy girls can see themselves and know their worth. I truly wish I had this when growing up
the writing was gorgeous and it's a book i'd love to revisit.
see i understand the not so incest. (it's still weird but they're not related so whatever) but the adult/minor relationship 🤢.
i randomly decided to pick this book up just because i really love yamile's writing in furia and i just wanted to check out her picture books to read to the kid i tutor. and i kid you not i cried. this was so beautiful, from the illustrations to yamile's writing. stories like these are the ones i wish i had when i was a kid.
there's this one quote that made me so emotional.
“from this land where our ancestors built a home for all, even when they were in chains because the color of their skin”
that's beautiful y'all.
CW: mentions of rape and domestic abuse
wait a minute... not me finishing this and finding out it was written by a man!?
okay i'm not saying men can't write about women and our struggles. BUT THIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT RAPE AND ABUSE!!!? like i feel like i've been catfished or something because there were poems where i almost teared up and connected with. but then there would be others that sounded so cheesy and cliche. I was almost not going to rate this because I don't like to rate poetry or nonfiction low. since they're normally so personal. But idk how I feel about this now that I know that this was written by a man...
P.s. It annoyed me how every poem ended with some kind of variation of “I am made of flowers I am made of steel...“
thanks you netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
don't mind me i'm just reading any kid lit/middle grade with dominican characters because i was deprived of it as a child
I am not a person who enjoys books with explicit content, but I must admit that these two books made me blush and kick my feet. The characters were cute, in love, and unaware of it. I actually want to read more from this author, despite not being a fan of romance novels with more than one or two 👀 scenes.
3.5/5
I did love this but I'm lowkey salty Its just stills from the tv show...
but the last page.... My heart
this was so wholesome!!!! i liked reading this to the kid i tutor! she absolutely loved it
CW: murder, death, grief, cancer, death of loved ones.
I was so hyped to read this book. By the synopsis I thought it was going to be a quiet and intriguing mystery. Kind of like confessions by kanae minato. I started off loving this book. The writing is beautiful and I was captivated by how the author dealt with grief and death. Sadly I ended up being disappointed in this book. I ended it confused and not truly caring for any of the characters. I think one of the things that hindered my reading experience and comprehension of this novel was the multiple perspectives. There's three perspectives and I wish the author would've just left it with just Da-on's pov.
This story had so much potential but unfortunately it just felt flat for me. If you're interested in picking this up. Just go in with low expectations.
I really liked this book! I gave it 4☆! I didnt want it to end tbh. It gave me so much fandom/stan account nostalgia. Jes Holloway is a precious bean that I just want to protecc and make him happy. I liked Grace she made some dumb decisions but I related sometimes. I will say this that in some parts the story felt a bit boring and the side characters were a bit flat. Other than that I really enjoyed my time reading this book. And I wish I had my own copy oml!!! I'd recomend it to any ex fangirls and people that were in fandoms.
This book was so good guys!! Y'all know I'm not a huge fantasy reader. I recommend it for people that aren't big on fantasy to read it. Because, this book was easy to read and the world isn't as complicated. This book was filled with girl power, that “what's going to happen next” feeling, and a sprinkle or two of drama. The romance was well done honestly y'all know I'm not a romance-y person too. But I was literally screaming when anything cute happened.
This book was more about the two sisters and their own struggles after they were separated. Nomi was always a little bit of a rebel she questioned society and didn't want to live the social norms. Serina on the other hand lived her whole life training to be a Grace, never questioning society and their misogynistic ways. But when Nomi, who only trained to be a hand maiden, is tossed into the world of being a Grace instead of her sister. All at the same time Serina is sent to a prison for a crime she did not commit. Nomi is left in the palace without her sister having to be something she doesn't want to do.
I loVED the feminism and girl power in this book. In this world women are oppressed and have NO rights. They're literally treated like crap. Imagine not having a right to read or to have an opinion. I bet you're like johely... sis? Where the feminism at? You're going to have to read it to find out ;). I will say this it is kind of slow at the beginning. And you won't really connect with the characters until almost halfway through the book. But I really recommend you to push through because it is SOOOOO good! And I really need an arc of book 2 because I NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT GOES DOWN AFTER THAT ENDING
