Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

I have received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through a giveaway hosted by the publisher. This has not affected my rating in any way.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
2.5 stars
DNF @ 20%

I went into this one, so excited. I like mixed media books and love how they can be done. I do like how this one incorporates texts, comments, blog posts, articles, and diary entries and I think mostly it was done well. I'd love to see how it is done in the finished copy.

The unfortunate thing is, I was bored reading this. While Alaine is a fun character and one I think many people will like, I needed more from the story by this point. Which is a weird thing to state since I can see where the story is going. At times it felt like the story was being bogged down with tons of information or that there were multiple lines the story was potentially going to take. I think the way it is put together also made it seem slow, which might be why I lost interest– yet clearly the days are moving and things are happening, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm feeling the way I am.

So, at this point I have to call it quits with this novel– it just isn't for me. BUT, it is one I do recommend and probably will recommend to people at the library. Like I said, Alaine is a fun character and perhaps the finished version will be easier to read, making it a more enjoyable experience. I also think people who like contemporaries and more character-driven plots will enjoy this one.

Really enjoyed Dear Haiti, Love Alaine! She was so real and very funny. The diary, emails, news article format was different but I enjoyed it. Maybe because I’m a little nosey and it felt like I was peeking into her life! 🤣 I loved the way Haiti was described, and I could really picture the scenery. The touch of magic, and all the family drama, had me wanting to know more. I couldn’t put the book down. Overall a great read!

I love an epistolary novel, so that is already a mark in its favor.
Another mark in favor of this book is the setting and author. I am finding that I love a Caribbean setting with an own voices author. There is so much history and culture packed into these books just by the experience of the author.
So with those positives right off the bat, I had a good feeling. As I got further into the book those good feelings increased. Alaine's voice is strong and intriguing. The characters are flawed and struggling with the curve balls life is throwing at them. But they aren't giving in. They are trying to keep going through the hard times. That is the part I loved the most.Alaine, her mom, and her aunt are strong and capable women who are not perfect. That makes them compelling and really propels the story forward.
This is just such a good book!

Really liked the style of the book - it's told mostly via diary/journal entries (in the guise of it being a school project) with other things like letters/transcripts/texts throughout as well. Alaine has such a clear, fun voice and I loved how it really came through in the writing. Three stars because there was just too much plot and everything was really overstuffed - between her mother's Alzheimer's and the embezzlement at the nonprofit and the romance with the other intern and the family curse and voudou, it was just a lot, even for a 400+ page book, and I think a couple of the subplots could have been dropped or reduced to focus more on Alaine and her experience in Haiti, which was the part I was most interested in (and I think the strongest part of the book).

Yes! Highly recommend. First of all, Alaine is an engaging character with a strong voice. I felt like I knew her (and totally wanted to hang out with her) by the end. I loved learning more about Haiti through her eyes. The plot was strong and multi-faceted, and the epistolary style really lends itself to keeping Alaine's voice consistent throughout. I would give this to fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, the Yoons, or even Becky Albertalli. The only reason I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is because I felt the more mythic/historical parts got a bit jumbled at times.