The Belles (Series Review) by Dhonielle Clyaton

Welcome Back Booklovers,

I decided to do a reread of this series for this review since people often ask me my thoughts about these books. The Belles was one the first YA series I had been hype for after getting back into reading. I found out about it after reading the Tiny Pretty Things series. So I had it sitting on my Goodreads shelf for 3 years prior to release. At the time there were so few Black YA fantasies on the market and we were finally getting some marketed towards us.

This series was such a mixed bag to me. I truly feel this could've been one book vs a duology(and from what I hear it's expanding to a trilogy). To me there just wasn't enough story to drag it out across two books. The first part of The Belles not much happens. Sure the teacup animals are cute and the descriptions are vivid but there's not much real world building or substance there. We read about every sweet treat the girls eat but have no real clue how the monarchy really runs, how Orleans compares to the kingdoms surrounding it, or why being the The Favorite is such a covetable title. There were things ripped straight from The Hunger Games that I recognized even though I've never read The Hunger Games or watched all the movies.

The belles never question their existence. Camellia is supposed to be the rebellious one but she wants so badly to be The Favorite and never questions the purpose of the belles. It's surprising none of them question where they come from or why they have their powers. And it's hard to believe the past belles never give them clues or information about how the world works. And even though Camellia realized most people in the palace were only looking out for themselves she still went around spilling secrets and trusting so easily. 

Sophia is a weak villain. I don't understand why her own mother is so afraid of her like she can't put that brat back into her place. Why does she do nothing about her daughter even though she knows she is unhinged?  It's not like she has magical powers that are hard to defeat. She's a bratty girl who gets her way due to her position. Often her actions veer into cartoon villain territory and I didn't truly understand how she became the way she did.

I did my reread by listening to the audiobook and while the narrator was very energetic she didn't match the story. This is set in a world based on an alternate France mixed with New Orleans and a little Japan yet the narrator is British and does various variations of the British accent for different characters including one that sounded like a bad British Caribbean one. 

I gave The Everlasting Rose a much higher rating than The Belles because the writing felt tighter and more purposeful in it. Instead of Camellia and her sisters just accepting their role to do beauty work for the rest of their lives they actually questioned their existence. We got to meet the people opposed to beauty work. And since much of it included time on the run there was a bit of adventure. It was nice to see them actually explore their powers.  

I did feel like the final battle came and went rather quickly. For all the build up between the two books I felt it should've been more climactic. The issue of body image was explored at a very surface level and was instead pushed aside for typical romantic angst and rivalries. I know many people liked the lush descriptions of the initial book but I felt much of it was hollow and pointless. This would be a much better series if I had a better understanding of how the world functioned.

      

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry By Joya Goffney

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another review and this one is a 2021 release. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to listen to an audiobook arc of this book. Thank you, Harper Audio. In honor of this book's format I'd like to start with a list.

Reasons You Should Read Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry

1. Black Girl Lead navigating a predominant white school
2. Black Teen Enemies to Lovers Romance 
3. Black Girl Friendships
4. Complicated parent relationships
5. Journal Writing

Since my galley used a synthetic voice I can't speak to the narration of the audiobook but I found the story very easy to listen to. I liked how there were little lists throughout since the lead Quinn loves making lists in her journal.

So the premise of this story is that Quinn accidentally loses her journal after a session for a group project. She keeps lists of everything in her journal from her favorite music to her deepest darkest secrets. The journal falls into the wrong hands and she ends up receiving texts blackmailing her to completing seven of her greatest fears or they will reveal all her secrets. The most important one she's harboring is the fact that she did not get into Columbia University and has been faking acceptance for months to please her parents. Desperate to get her journal back she teams up with Carter Bennet, the last known person to have had it. Carter and Quinn don't exactly get along despite being two of the few Black people in their school thanks to some preconceived notions. Quinn comes from a wealthy and successful two-parent household and Carter comes from a lower class single-parent household .

I think this will be a very relatable book for Black teen girls navigating predominantly white high schools. Speaking from experience there were times I felt like Quinn. And I bonded with the Black kids who came from the same neighborhood as me and bussed into school. So I was more like Carter in that aspect. Black friends are amazing and do help you feel whole it's nice to see Quinn form friendships with Olivia and Carter despite their differences because they do have similarities navigating their place at school. One of the scenes I enjoyed was Olivia telling Quinn about how she used to go horseback riding and the Black cowboys of Texas.

Quinn also has to confront dropping racist friends and being the Black but not too Black person. There's the wondering if you should speak up about certain things or just let them slide to keep the peace.

Her father has some self-hating tendencies and they both have to confront the pre-conceived notions he has of Black people outside of their social class. She hasn't really been around Black people outside of her family so it's a new experience. We talk about people like Quinn's dad but we usually don't take the time to truly break down while they are the way they are. There's also an interesting dynamic in her parent's relationship as they are going through a rough patch and constantly fighting to the point where it seems like divorce is imminent. On top of that one of Quinn's fears is visiting her grandmother whose health is deteriorating.

If you're interested or you know a teen who is interested in a coming of age story about a Black girl who is navigating college decisions, learning to speak out against racism, conquering her fears, and falling in love; this is one to pick up.

Bookish Holiday Gift Guide Part 5

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with the final installment of my bookish holiday gift guide. And for this I'm going to try and recommend a little bit of everything. And make sure to check out parts 1-4 as well.

A Killing Fire (Crime Thriller)

Rosewater (Sci-Fi)

Ring Shout (Dark Fantasy)

Catherine House(Gothic Fiction)

The Record Keeper(Dystopian Fiction)

Chaos, Desire, and a Kick-Ass Cupcake (Amateur Sleuth) 

The Worst Best Man (Romance)

The Girl with the Hazel Eyes(Literary Fiction)

Master of Poisons (Epic Fantasy)

Nine Bar Blues (Fantasy Anthology)

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Literary Fiction Anthology)

A Tall History of Sugar (Magical Realism)

Black Bottom Saints(Historical Fiction)

Second Chance on Cypress Lane (Romance)

Murder in G Major (Cozy Mystery)

Second Chance on Cypress Lane by Reese Ryan

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! If you follow me you know I've kept my eyes open this year for good Black contemporary romance. And this one that I received courtesy of Forever Publishing in exchange for an honest review helped satisfy my craving. There's just something so likable about a small town romance and we tend not to see many of these with Black leads. 

I wish they would've released this in June vs December because it's a solid summer romance. It starts around the beginning of July when Dakota Jones run's back to her quiet beachside home town of Holly Grove Island after a bad breakup and scandal leaves her jobless. She ends up reconnecting with her old friends and her ex boyfriend Dexter Roberts who has made a career for himself in the hospitality business and helps her secure a job marketing a new resort in town.

So if you like small town romance this book has all those cute things you'll enjoy. It's a small beach side town, there's a big Forth of July festival everyone attentions, cozy local eateries, homestyle food, small town gossip, cute dates, and neighbor's who know each other so well. 

Dexter and Dakota work together trying to help their town accept the new resort and figuring out ways to build up the town as a more touristy place but without compromising everything that makes it unique.

Dakota has to rediscover her passions and realize that maybe her dreams of being a big journalist weren't her dreams at all but her deceased mother's. And I think having her tackle her issues with her mother and cope with moving on after her death only added more depth to this story.

I wanted a little more from Dexter and his family because like Dakota has also has had to deal with a parent projecting their hopes and dreams onto their children. We did meet his mother and sister but I wanted a little more of them.

This book can be a little lengthy at times particularly in the middle but it does a great job developing the characters and sets up story for follow up books too. It was slow burn for most of it but then it goes into steamy territory and those scenes didn't disappoint. And the end result is a satisfying romance to help you chase away those winter blues. 

Jackpot by Nic Stone

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! I wanted to post my review here since I've seen people mention this on their TBR and I've seen reviews but I haven't come across critical reviews of it. And there was some stuff in this book I felt needed to be addressed. 

So Jackpot follows Rico, a high school senior and part time gas station worker . Because of her background she feels really disconnected to the people at her school and has no plans after graduation beyond working full time at the gas station. One day at work Rico finds out she sold a winning lottery ticket at her station and she becomes obsessed with tracking down the old lady she believes has it and claiming the money for herself. She enlists classmate Zan to track this woman down.  It becomes a YA Cinderella of sorts where the poor girl is swept off her feet by the rich white dude with the Peter Kavingsky style charm who picks her up and drops her off from work every day. He helps her get out of her aloof shell and make some real friends at school. 

Jackpot's strengths lie in it's ability to sell you the teen romance. The leading characters do have nice chemistry and you follow them as they bond on this little adventure tracking down the missing ticket. And if it was just trying to sell the teen romance with minor conflict it would've been fine. She's not like other girls and he's the snarky somewhat bad boy everyone adores. But I found this book tried to straddle the line by being portrayed as a very socially conscious book while also trying to be a cute YA romance. But the social aspects are written so surface level it doesn't balance out. And at times Zan comes across very white savior in the relationship.

Much of the narrative harps on how poor her family is. And honestly it was exhausting because it never fully dove into a real conversation about poverty. Rico's mother has them living in a low income apartment in a neighborhood/school district they can't really afford. Many teens have to work part time to help make ends meet and that's not a problem. The problem I had was that Rico's mother claims they live in the area they do because she wants her children to go to good schools but constantly forces Rico to skip school to work long hours at the gas station. She puts a lot of pressure on Rico to take care of the family and really could care less about the school since she's not pushing Rico to do well to earn scholarships or be able to further her education. 

Rico's mother has colitis and she can't afford good health insurance. So instead of going to apply for Medicaid for herself and Chip for the children she decides instead they must suffer until they're at risk of death. And her reasoning is she doesn't want government handouts. Even though our tax dollars help fund these government programs. I felt there was a missed opportunity to discuss the resources available that our funded through our tax paying dollars where instead of Rico's mother just outright refuses to enroll in these programs it could've been mentioned how she made above the threshold to qualify for some of them. Because even in my own family there were times when we were struggling but still making too much money to qualify for programs like SNAP.  Where was the mention of The Affordable Care Act. 

Though Rico does call her out at least once during the course of this story there was nothing in the text to show why her mentality is wrong and harmful to her children. I needed an adult character to knock some sense into her but that never happened. And her actions towards her children when it came to their health and well being were actually toxic but again that's never addressed and handwaved multiple times. 

And even the way race was handled in this story at times was a little awkward. Zan asks Rico what she is ethnically and there's a whole teachable moment about Blackness by society standards and assuming people are mixed because of curly hair and high cheekbones. And this would've been a great opportunity to hit him with a "I'm Black mixed with Black" type response but instead Rico calls herself a mutt and goes into being confused about her race because her mother was raised by a single white father and not much is known about Rico's dad. And I proceeded to role my eyes after that. Later on in the story Zan is revealed to have a Mexican grandparent and Rico asks him if he's biracial. Even though Mexican is not a race this suddenly changes Zan's family from being seen as the stereotype rich white family to more ethnic. Zan's not white white he's spicy white.

A little more substance would've elevated this book and it had potential to be a great conversation starter.

Alaskan Christmas Redemption by Belle Calhoune

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It's been a rough month not gonna lie and I haven't been in the reading mood as much but I feel like I've gotten my mojo back. And it's currently my favorite time of year, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! If you follow me on Twitter be prepared to be bombarded with decoration pictures soon. To get in the spirit I started my holiday reads. I've never read a book by this author before but I know she's a popular Black author for Harlequin Love Inspired Inspirational Romance. 

So this story follows Braden North and Piper Miller. Braden has recently returned to Owl Creek, Alaska after having been gone for years and he's harboring a secret. Piper is still reeling from her father's death a few years ago and is struggling to turn around the Snowy Owl Diner she inherited from him. She doesn't want to admit it but she's in the hole for a lot of money and she just can't seem to keep up with the flashier new restaurants.

This is a friends to lovers small town romance that helps you get into the Christmas spirit as the characters trim trees, eat holiday pies, and sip hot cocoa. This romance novel was easy to read with me finishing it in one day. However I felt the secret was more of a misunderstanding that could've easily been explained with one talk and it later was. So it felt dragged out to me and I wish their was a little more conflict. 

I do want to mention that this line is faith based so there are mentions of God and prayer during times of need. As a Christian woman that didn't bother me. And as someone who went to Catholic school and has read Christian books and seen many Christian movies I don't feel it was done in a way where religion was forced down your throats like some Christian stories. 

I needed more of the saving the diner plot which felt like it was solved very easily and was unbalanced compared to the long drawn out secret that just wasn't large enough to carry the story. I would've also loved to see more cozy moments between the couple. Their romance was cute but it wasn't enthralling enough for me to highly recommend this. There was some diversity since the lead heroine is biracial and she does briefly talk about growing up in a small mostly town with a Black father. 

Bookish Holiday Gift Guide Part 4

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! And thank you so much for following my gift guide posts. I've enjoyed reading your comments and the positive responses. I ask if you plan on buying books via Amazon that you see recommended here that you use my affiliate links. So now I'm moving on to the YA gift recommendations. I've tried to include from the younger to older end of the spectrum and include some favorites and titles you may not have heard about.

Truly Madly Royally

 

 Oh My Gods

Orleans

Pointe

Tiny Pretty Things

Everyone We've Been

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

Daughters of Jubilation

Rose Interrupted

Love on the Main Stage

The Voice in My Head

A Phoenix First Must Burn

Festive Mayhem

Welcome Back Booklovers!

I'm back with a quickie review of an anthology I recently read. Anthologies are a good way to discover different authors. I usually don't go in with high expectations anymore though because I know especially if it's a mixture of authors that some stories will be hit and miss. And such was the case for Festive Mayhem where there were stories I enjoyed and stories I barely go through despite them being short. This collection is different because it includes mysteries by authors of color in a collection unlike one I've seen before. While these stories are set around the holidays most aren't heavily rooted in the holidays so if Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't your thing then you don't have to worry about being inundated with mentions. I'm not going to harp on the stories I didn't enjoy and instead focus on my favorite stories from this collection.

I had heard of most of these authors going into this collection so I had specific ones I was looking forward to reading. My favorite stories were The New Year's Hex by Carolyn Marie Wilkins, What Lies Inside by Kia Dennis, The Holiday Murder Mélange by Myra Jolivet, and These Holiday Blues by Jennifer J. Chow.  Two are cozy mysteries, one is chilling mystery, and one is cold mystery. 

Carolyn Marie Wilkins takes you back in time to the 1920s with her historical cozy about a psychic conjure woman.  Myra Jolivet's is set during Thanksgiving time with the heroine who runs a private detective agency striving to impress her Creole mother and cook the perfect dinner. Kia Dennis gives us a chilling tale about a professor whose obsession with love goes too far. And Jennifer J. Chow provides a very tragic tale about loss when a woman decides to reconnect with an ex.

All in all I think this is a good anthology to discover some new to you writers and maybe explore some types of mysteries you don't usually read. Since a few of these characters are featured in full length series I recommend checking out the other works of the authors whos stories you end up enjoying.

Bookish Holiday Gift Guide Part 3

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! After positive response from parts 1 and 2, I'm back with round 3 of my Bookish Holiday Gift guide. This time the focus is on emerging readers and I'm excited to share some recommendations for kids who are making the transition from pictures books to more lengthy chapter books. And many of these books are the first in a series so their next read isn't hard to find. I hope you enjoy this diverse gift guide.

The Amazing Life of Azaleah Lane

Dragons in a Bag

Arcade and the Triple T Token

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Twins

Tight

Something to Say

The Jumbies

The Way to Rio Luna

Hoodoo

Muse Squad

A Thousand Question

Serena Says

Just South of Home by Karen Strong

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I wanted to keep the gothic vibes of October going because I'm just not ready to go fully into Christmas. May latest read is set during the hot Southern summer but it gives plenty of spookiness. There's something so satisfying sometimes about sitting back and reading a middle grade novel. 

In Just South of Home, Sarah is finally old enough to stay home by herself with her little brother Ellis during the day instead of spending the summer at her grandmother's house doing chores. However cousin Janie is threatening to ruin that when she joins the family for the summer while her mother runs to California for auditions. Janie is bored of their small Southern town and decides they should visit the remains of a church that was burned down by The Klan. The site is known for being cursed and everyone is warned not to take anything from the old church. Sticky-fingered Janie doesn't listen and ends up unleashing haints onto the town. 

I really enjoyed the small town aspect of it where everyone knew each other and the neighbors were looking out for them. I also enjoyed the tight knit Black family in this. While Mrs. Greene is strict, judgmental, uppity, and a little colorist; she's realistic. And it's interesting to see not only how the kids interact with her but how she acts in her element as a deaconess at the church.

I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Janie get to know each other more and form a real friendship. And I thought the way this story tackled their family history was very unique and interesting.  We may not always like to tackle the dark past of our country but it's important especially since so much mirrors events happening still to this day. Sarah is free to roam around her town feeling safe now but it's important to acknowledge that wasn't always the case for the Black people in her community. Mrs. Whitney, the town conjure woman goes out of her way to memorialize the victims of lynching even when other townspeople ostracize her. 

Sarah is also very interested in astrophysics and it's nice seeing her enthusiasm for learning even if it sometimes makes her the subject of bullying.  For anyone looking for positive representation of girl's interested in science this story has plenty. 

I would've loved having a book like this when I was younger because of the way it approaches these dark subjects without feeling like a history lesson and while making it interesting and readable for children. I've spoken before with some recent reviews about how sometimes the mere mention of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, etc is enough to send some readers running in the opposite direction of a book. Sometimes it's just a matter of telling these stories in a different way we haven't seen before. 

Interview with Author Rena Barron

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've raved about Kingdom of Souls many times over the past year and her latest Maya and the Rising Dark has been added to my MG fantasy recommendation list. She put one of my favorite reads this year on my radar. I was so fortunate to be able to interview her about her latest release and her publishing journey.

 

First, congratulations on recently publishing Maya and the Rising Dark! How did the experience publishing your first middle grade book differ from your experience publishing your first young adult book?

Thank you! Publishing Kingdom of Souls was such an emotional rollercoaster. There is so much pressure in the young adult space to break out, yet so much of what happens is outside of an author’s control. It’s a weird space to exist in, especially as an African-American woman. Publishing has created this glass ceiling, and so many of us marginalized authors are working to collectively break it. That work has felt endless and exhausting at times, but we keep pushing to open the door for ourselves and future authors while remembering all the ones who came before us. 

There was less pressure to publish Maya and the Rising Dark, partly because I had worn myself out with KOS, or maybe second books are less stressful in general. With the pandemic, I expected a pretty quiet release, though I have been pleasantly surprised by the reception Maya has gotten so far. 

Maya and the Rising Dark is contemporary and takes place in a world similar to ours. Was it very different shaping the magic system in that world vs creating the magic system in a completely made up world?

I took a similar approach to building a magic system for my second world fantasy and the contemporary world of Maya and the Rising Dark. I always start with the foundation. What are the rules? How does magic work? Who can wield? What are the consequences? It was a little trickier to explain how magic interacted in a world that mostly doesn’t know it exists. 

 

You had quite the experience with Pitch War and your manuscript The Last Witchdoctor which would become Kingdom of Souls. How did you narrow down your agent from the 43 requests received? 

Wow! It’s hard to believe that Pitch Wars was only three years ago. I was able to narrow my offers down by making a spreadsheet to compare agents. I looked at their recent sales to see if they were successfully selling in my age category and genre. I also wanted to know what type of support system they had in place at their agency. For example, did they have foreign rights or a film agent in house? I chatted with clients (some who I reached out to on my own and some recommended by the agent), read interviews with the agent, and asked questions about their agenting style like whether or not they were editorial.

What kind of research did you do when writing Kingdom of Souls?

My initial interest in voodoo started when I heard about people in my community practicing it when I was growing up. I wanted to understand how hoodoo and voodoo coexisted alongside Christianity. I found Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure by Jeffrey E. Anderson, an interesting exploration of how these three traditions manifested in the Americas. Other books I explored included 

Black Magic: Religion and The African American Conjuring Tradition by Yvonne P. Chireau

The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts by Baba Ifa Karade

Grasping the Root of Divine Power by HRU Yuya T. Assaan-ANU

Academia.edu had a wealth of research papers on West African history from authors from different backgrounds. Finally, YouTube doesn’t get enough credit. It’s an excellent research tool.

What can we expect with Reaper of Souls?

Reaper of Souls continues to build off the idea of sacrifice and the gray space between right and wrong. It explores choices and consequences, and how we live with them. I really wanted to expand the world and the mythology and the stakes in Reaper of Souls, so readers would get a complete picture of how we ended up in the situation at the end of Kingdom of Souls.

 

What inspired you to start writing? And was there anything that drew you to dark fantasy in particular? I fondly remember my days growing up on a farm and setting off for a perilous adventure in the woods to fight off monsters. I never stop telling myself stories, and they only got more elaborate once I started to write them down. As for loving dark fantasy, I think it has something to do with exploring the sides of ourselves that might scare us a little (or a lot).

 

When writing YA fantasy do you ever feel like you have to write your book to fit with the more popular titles?

Not really. I want my books to be commercially successful, but so much of that is out of my control. I don’t think it’s about writing to fit in with popular titles. A lot of what defines popular is what is hyped and financially supported in-house at a publisher. That excitement is swept down the distribution channels to schools, libraries, book clubs, subscription boxes, and the general public. Like most Black authors, I know that there is a tendency for our books to get dismissed if they don’t fit a particular archetype. 

 

What was it like growing up in small town Alabama and have you incorporated that experience into your writing? 

I had free rein of my family’s farm and the woods around it, so I spent much of my time making up stories. I don’t know if I would be a writer if I had a different upbringing.

 

 

What are your favorite Southern staple foods? 

Collard greens and cornbread with vinegar and hot sauce, but the twist is that it’s got to be vegetarian.

 

What are some of the books you’re looking forward to in 2021?

So much #BlackGirlMagic coming in 2021! Here are only a few, but many more on my list:

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Rosie Brown

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Blood Scion by Deborah F. Savoy