The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I had been meaning to read The Perfect Ruin for a couple of years now. It first caught my eye back in 2021, when I was wanting to read more Black thrillers. After reading another recent Shanora Williams book I decided it was time to check this one out at the library. 

In The Perfect Ruin, we're introduced to Ivy, a young woman who has had a rough life. We don't know the detail right away but we know her therapist has given her the name of the person responsible for her trouble. Lola Maxwell is the name of the woman and Ivy wanting her revenge does her research on Lola looking for an opening into her world. Ivy changes her appearances and infiltrates Lola's inner circle becoming close friends with her and taking out anyone who stands in her path. 

Shanora William's has compulsively readable writing. Thought the pacing was off early on in this book I was still yearning to find out what direction the story would go in. The reveal of what Lola did to Ivy that has her so vengeful was dangled over the audience's head for far too long. By the time it's revealed it has you expecting something a bit grander. But still I had to keep reading to the end as other twists were revealed. This is a thriller that is over the top and most comparable to a Lifetime thriller. That trainwreck that doesn't make the most logical sense but still sucks you in. I could tell the author was a longtime writer of romance in the way she wrote some of the racier scenes in this book even though there wasn't anything romantic here. This was Williams first foray into thrillers and I'm interested in reading some of her subsequent thrillers to see how her writing has changed.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Dark Academia is still widely popular and we're starting to see even more in the mainstream from authors of color. Society of Lies was a Reese's Bookclub pick and seeing people share it was how it ended up on my radar. 

Maya has returned to her alma mater, Princeton after 10 years for her younger sister Naomi's graduation. But then Maya receives the news that Naomi is dead and the police are quick to try and rule it as accidental but Maya believes otherwise. Maya discovers that her sister had joined the infamous Sterling Club, a secret society with a history of tragedy and lies surrounding it.

Society of Lies is told across three timelines: Maya's present day, Maya's time as a student in Princeton in the early 2010s, and Naomi's time at Princeton in the early 2020s. At first as an audiobook listener it was hard to differentiate between the povs of Maya and Naomi during their years at Princeton because they have very similar narrative voices. The story also takes too long finding it's footing during part one where certain incidents could've easily be recapped in a passing sentence rather than a full scene. My interest wasn't grabbed until part two when it felt like movement was actually happening with the storylines rather than the college parties and shallow friendships. Maya's perspective is the stronger of the sister's and the story would've faired better being completely told from hers both past and present. Naomi's experienced paralleled her sister's too closely and felt a little heavy handed in it's attempts to tackle current events.

While part two and three were engaging in part four the pacing again slows down to the book's detriment. It was hard to care when the side characters were rather lackluster. And the overused cliche phrases kept pulling me out of the story. It wasn't a terrible book but the writing lacked depth. It may be good one for those transitioning out of YA books because the plot moves pretty straightforward with a couple of twists thrown in so it's not too hard to follow. However if you've read a few of these types of books don't expect to be wowed by this story.

Out of Body by Nia Davenport

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I read The Blood Trials by the same author writing as N.E. Davenport and knowing the love she has for the YA genre I was interested in her YA debut. It's a genre change for her as well since Out of Body is a thriller. I haven't had the best of luck with YA thrillers the past few years but I'm always open to trying new ones and it helped that this was from an author I already enjoyed. So thank you to Nia Davenport and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase the book here. 

Megan just wants to fit in with the cool kids. So when her new friend LC urges her to try molly at a party she does against her better judgement. Megan passes out and when she comes to she feels different. Then when she heads home she sees herself staring back at her. Only it can't be her. She soon realizes she's occupying LC's body and LC is inside her body. It doesn't take Megan long to realize she's been duped but not before she ends up in another town pretending to be Jade, a girl who has been missing for the past three months whose body she is currently occupying. Megan must race against time to switch herself, LC, and Jade back to their original bodies.

One thing Nia succeeds in is writing very readable fast-paced prose that keeps readers turning the pages. The answers to Megan's questions do come a little bit quickly thanks to Tik Tok and it's hard to connect with her at first do to how quickly the body swapping happens but overall it's a thrilling story. That feeling of unsettledness builds the further into the book readers get. There's a little bit of romance but not so much that it detracts from the plot. And themes of friendship and body autonomy are explored throughout this book. Teens who are interested in sci-fi but want something that's not so science heavy to ease them in will appreciate this. Outside of falling for LC's peer pressure Megan is genuinely a smart and resourceful teen which is a much needed contrast to the more impulse driven characters that usually dominate these types of stories. I also appreciated getting insight into LC's head at different points while trying to figure out the mystery behind the switch.

Someone Had to Do It by Amber and Danielle Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've took a break from reading thrillers for awhile because I was feeling like they were all reading the same. It seemed like every Black thriller was a story about a Black person dealing with a secret society of racists plotting against them. So when HarperCollins offered me this one months ago it was refreshing to see one that was a little bit different.

Brandi is working at prestigious fashion house Simon Van Doren as a intern and is hoping to get an assistant position that includes the trip of a lifetime to accompany CEO and his team in Milan. Her boyfriend Nate used to go to school with the CEO's daughter Taylor and calls in a favor and get's them into one of his charity galas. At the party Brandi overhears Taylor and her friend's plotting to kill Simon Van Doren so she can inherit his fortune.

The authors Amber and Danielle Brown have both worked in fashion and you could tell from the scenes at the fashion house to the mentions of designer duds that they were knowledgeable. There was a period in the 2000s where NY Fashion set stories were very popular and we seem to be cycling back to that with a few upcoming titles. 

It took a little while for me to get into the story because there were way to many sex scenes. And I love a sex scene but these felt so unnecessary and didn't actually push the plot forward. I wouldn't cut all but maybe one of them and used that space to tighten up the mystery a little more and get to the action faster. Plus when they weren't having sex too many convos still turned sexual which was weird. 

While Brandi did annoy me with her naivety and stupid decisions I was still on the edge of my seat turning the pages to hope everything worked out for her. I thought it was ridiculous she caved to Taylor's 10k hush money bribe when that amount just barely covered her tuition with some money left over. Taylor was planning on coming into billions and she took such a small amount plus a couple of dresses and purses from Taylor's friends who she knew not to trust. And Nate was already offering to pay her tuition. And then she was shocked Taylor would actually follow through with the murder after paying her hush money. 

The plot was predictable and a little convenient. But it made for a quick read. Overall I do think Amber and Danielle have promise. If they were to write a sexy fashion set amateur sleuth mystery I would definitely read that. 

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M Morris

Welcome Back, Booklovers! To close out October I decided to read one more thriller. All Her Little Secrets is a debut novel and I wasn't sure what to expect going in. 

Ellice Littlejohn is working as a corporate attorney for Houghton and sleeping with her married white boss. One morning when she goes to meet him at his office early she discovers his dead body and flees the scene as if it never happened. In the wake of Michael's murder the company needs to clean up their image. The next day she is promoted to the executive board which seem to be a good will move as the company is getting backlash for their lack of Black employees with protestors outside their doors chanting. Though Ellice feels uncomfortable among the white boy's club that is the executive board she's earned this promotion.

Then she finds out that her little brother Sam was hired by someone in her company to trail another employee who is now missing and is somehow involved in the murder of her boss. She's also receiving threatening notes.

There are interstitials throughout that flashback to life in Chillicothe, Georgia. Ellice tries hard to keep memories of her old life forgotten.  That life consisted of growing up in a poor rural town with an alcoholic mother and an abusive pedophile for a step-father. Ellice has separated herself from the past so much that even friends don't know she has a brother. She has the woman who raised her living in a nearby assisted living. As she tries to keep her past hidden she discovers more secrets and then all eyes are on her as a suspect for murder. 

All Her Little Secrets did what When No One is Watching, Ace of Spades, and The Other Black Girl failed to do for me. Which is actually be thrilling. If I'm going to read about a character's trauma I want to be engaged in the story. This book isn't filled with pages upon pages of mundane activity. Though there are racist white characters in this story this book never tries to appeal to the white gaze. Ellice admonishes herself for knowing what she knows about how these people operate and repeatedly letting her guard down but she didn't constantly explain what Black people already know about how racists operate. This book also had a clear direction and a twist I didn't see coming that was big enough to surprise me without feeling too unbelievable. 

Missing at Christmas by K.D. Richards

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Earlier this year I read Pursuit of the Truth by K. D. Richards and was happy to learn there would be more books this year in the West Investigations series. This series is apart of Harlequin Intrigue. What separates Harlequin Intrigue from Harlequin Suspense is that the stories from Intrigue are high action thrillers with some romance while Suspense are romances with a thriller element but the romance is at the forefront. I give that explanation to set the expectation that this story is more thriller than romance. I received an arc from  K.D. Richards in exchange for an honest review.

Let's start with the cover. It's not a good one. I need Harlequin to get it together and stop recycling the same imagery over and over and over again for their suspense stories. I've seen both these pictures on other books and laid out much better. Plus neither match the description of the characters. Get it together, Harlequin! Let's getting new more appealing covers out there.

This is set during Christmas time but it's okay if you don't like the holidays. There's no holiday celebrations in this story. No mentions of jolly old St. Nick or Christmas caroling. Just some mentions of cold weather and stray tinsel.

Addy Williams is searching for her little sister, Cassie who was interning in a small town during her gap year for a major tech company. As in real life the police don't care about a missing Black woman and try to convince Addy that her sister just ran out. Addy knows her little sister though and knows she wouldn't run off without telling her. So she decides to take matters into her own hands and track her down. While she is walking around town questioning locals she is attacked by a stranger.

Shawn West is a PI in town investigating a major software company for manufacturing counterfeit chips when he witnesses a stranger being attacked. He discovers that stranger is Addy, the woman he had a one night stand with at his brother's wedding several months earlier. While he is quick to offer her help he discovers her missing sister may have a connection to the case he's investigating.

The romance is warm so the sex scene in off page. But Addy and Shawn still have chemistry that's present in their heart to heart moments. They also work well as a team. Addy can hold her own! She's no damsel in need of rescue. She has a gun and knows how to use it. She also saves their asses more than once which Shawn acknowledges. He has genuine admiration for Addy and believes her even though no one else does.

One of the common themes in this story is working through grief as Addy and her sister have experienced loss of several important family members in their lives. After the loss of their dad both are still working through how to move forward. 

Ryan from Pursuit of the Truth does make an appearance in this though his storyline is unconnected so reading that story first or not won't have an effect on your enjoyment of this one. Also he was a little overbearing here with his constant reminds to Shawn about getting distracted.

If you want a fast-paced and easy to read thriller this is a good one to pick up. Both main characters are strong, there's no overly graphic violence, it's under 300 pages, and it's affordable. If you like procedural show it reads like one. 

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another YA book and this time it's a horror novel. Horror is not my usual genre and horror is on the come up in YA lately so more titles are appearing. I was ready to read this one when I saw a trailer back in January of 2020. And then it kept getting pushed back so glad to finally see it make it's debut into the world. I would also like to preface this review by saying Ryan and I are Twitter friends but this is still an honest review. I received an arc from Penguin Random House for review.

As if the teenage years weren't hard enough Jake has to battle fitting in at his private school and the literal ghosts that haunt him. I like how we were thrown into Jake's life of ghosts on death loop and navigating a world between worlds. We don't get the completely backstory about how Jake found out he is a medium. He's reluctantly settled into the role by now and is doing his best to ignore it. This is just one thing left to label him by and his family and friends just don't seem to understand. The descriptions of the dream-like state he's in provided the right amount of creepy and mystifying. 

Sawyer is a deranged killer and his POV shows us how he ended up enacting a school shooting. As he still haunts this world he starts to attack some of the students from his school he had vendettas with but didn't get the chance to kill. Jake's neighbor Matteo happens to be one of them and Jake ends up enduring Sawyer's wrath. We as readers are inside his head flipping through pages of his diary. What was even scarier was the similarities between him and Jake. Jake himself notes how their stories start to take similar paths. These chapters did a good job at showing Sawyer's motives in a believable way that didn't make him cartoonishly evil. But they also aren't asking you to excuse his actions either.

Whenever there were scenes at Jake's fancy Catholic school I got flashbacks to my own time. Walking down the hallways in those navy blue sweaters, being one of a handful of Black kids in the entire school and the racist teacher picking on you for no reason at all. While Jake is more passive when it comes to dealing with navigating the very white school environment his brother Benji takes charge and isn't afraid to stand up to the racists. And unlike Jake he has found his place. 

This is actually what I was hoping a recent read would give me but fell kind of flat with. Jake is queer and struggling with coming to terms with his sexuality. And as we know in the Black community there's a stigma about Black male masculinity. So it was nice to see him explore his identity. He has complicated relationships with his mother and brother where the love is there but also resentment.  I enjoyed how that was explored throughout and tied into how he feels comfortable in his identities.

This book manages to be dark, creepy, and fast-paced. It never lags like some of my more recent thriller reads. Nor does it overextend itself and I appreciate a story that can cover some ground without being too lengthy. And in between everything going on with Sawyer he's able to make friends at school and find brief moments of levity that balance out the darkness of this story. This book also has a very teen voice which I appreciated because I think it will allow it's target audience to connect better while it also addresses complex topics.

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

 

Welcome Back Booklovers!

Ace of Spades was one of this year's most highly anticipated YA books. The cover and the private school setting at the height of the dark academia trend put it on my radar. Plus thrillers are hot right now and with a comp to Get Out I wasn't sure was curious about the execution.

The story follows Devon and Chiamaka as they head into senior year as Niveus Private Academy where they are selected as head boy and girl. Soon after they start receiving threats and having secrets leaked by a mysterious entity called Aces.

Niveus Private Academy is described as an amalgam of British and American private school traditions while being set in a non descript area of the United States.  I understand the author wanted to appeal to an American audience but the story should've just been set in the UK.  For one she was writing based off her feelings attending a very white British university. Black identity in the UK has similarities to the US but it also very different. And I find in the US we're a little more open with these conversations about race in the media because Black people push for them. In the UK the media is still trying to pretend racism doesn't exist and media that reflects what Black Brits are feeling needs to have visibility. 

I couldn't picture the school or the surrounding areas at all. In the US unless you're living in one of those low income housing developments you usually can't walk between the rich neighborhoods and the poor ones. These elite private schools are purposely built in areas poor students would have to bus to. In addition the price it's part of their unattainability. 

This was compared to Gossip Girl but it never get me those vibes. Outside of name dropping a few designers this felt very generic private school. Part of the appeal of Gossip Girl is the look into that very very white exclusive world of old monied WASPs. And while there were side characters few were memorable and there was no one Blair/Serena dynamic in here. 

There was a lot of telling in this story and I would've liked to see more showing. The book emphasized the problem I have when the plot is racism vs racism being one of many factors. There was a narrow focus on micro and macroaggressions but little levity needed to balance this story out. There's so much more to the Black experience than just suffering at the hands of racists. It felt like the book was all about showing how anti-Black society is but lacked joy. And neither had any type of support system outside of that environment. So even though this is a story about two Black kids attempting to deconstruction very white institutions whiteness is very centered.

So much happened in this story but none of it had me on the edge of my seat. I wasn't really excited or surprised by the reveal of the identity of Aces. The motivation for Aces also didn't seem sustainable or make much sense but I don't want to get too much into spoilers. It just felt at times like we were constantly moving from one event to another without the chance to stop and feel the full effects.

The only bright spot was Devon's strong and engaging narrative voice. I was able to enjoy him a bit despite the character being heavily weighed down by having all the issues thrown at him like being poor with a dad in jail, having a single mother with multiple kids she was struggling to raise, having a drug dealing friend in addition to being a young gay boy struggling with his sexuality. It was a lot of negative stereotypes at once which at times had him feeling like a caricature.

Aces was spilling his deepest secrets. While in Chiamaka's case her issues were more about her struggles to fit in as a biracial girl and wanting to be the school's elite. So Aces drama was more manufactured to break down her manufactured perfect image. I would've liked to see more a relationship with her mother. Maybe even some family members on her mother's side of the family since it was stressed her father's side wanted nothing to do with her. Her parents seemed like relatively normal people but she was so closed off to them. 

There was a real lack of presence of the Black community in this story. The hood is just painted as a place of struggle without also acknowledging the good people who live in the community. And there are opportunities to infuse some joy and levity in this story but that never happened.

I did a blended read for this because I received a finished physical copy but also received an audiobook for review from Macmillan. The narration was good and made for a quick and easy read despite the page length. I liked that their were dual narrators and they didn't try to do male/female voices when it came time for dialogue because that can be distracting. Faridah shows promise as a writer and I would read her future work as long as it's not centered on whiteness. 

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've been hearing about this book for over a year now through it's yearlong publicity and marketing campaign. This was definitely one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 the way people raved about. So thank you to Atria Books for giving me the chance to read and review this early.

At it's core The Other Black Girl is a story set in a publishing office environment following Nella Rodgers who is a young editorial assistant at a major publisher with big dreams to becoming an editor. She's determined to be the next big Black editor following in the footsteps of Kendra Rae, an editor from the 80s who worked for the same company. While she's hopefully waiting for that promotion her work environment has also been getting to her. Her coworkers have been dismissive of the diversity town halls and her efforts to promote a more diverse work environment. Then one day she smells the strong scent of cocoa butter in the air and realizes there's another Black woman on the floor who isn't a visiting author. But is the new girl Hazel all she appears to be? And why is Nella's work life collapsing? 

Nella is so used to being surrounded by whiteness because she grew up in a mostly white town and she was in honors classes with the white kids. But at the same time she feels like an outsider among her white peers so she doesn't really have relationships with any of them. And then due to feeling like an outsider among the Black kids because they teased her and called her an Oreo as a child. She has a lot of insecurities about her Blackness that are amplified by her very white work environment. Her favorite book of all time was written by a Black author and edited by a Black author while being published by Wagner which is her sole motivation for working there.  And she's at that age where this is her first big job and she's still navigating where she wants to be in life.

Living in NYC she could very well go into the Black community and get involved versus trying to convince the white people in her workplace to do better. And that would probably balance out some of what she feels. But she and her friend Malaika would rather meet for drinks to complain about the overwhelmingly whiteness of their job and consuming activist media online. It was a little frustrating for me to read because that's all they talked about. And then with her partner Owen she can't fully talk to him about how she feels because he as a white man doesn't understand. I would've liked some more development on her relationships with both because we're told how she's changed so much to the point where work is all she talks about but that's all I ever saw her talk about.

Eventually Nella does in the second half of the book start to acknowledge her insecurities. Some of the threats she felt from Hazel were because she knew how to appease both Black and white people or code switch as she put it in a way. She's mad that the two other Black people she knows in her building like Hazel more but she's also never made a big effort to get to know them beyond a basic comradery as Black people. Hazel mentors Black girls, she knows how to do hair and tie head wraps, she has so many great connections around the city, she has a sexy Dominican boyfriend, she's the daughter and granddaughter of Civil Rights activists, all the coworkers love her, she even has Owen impressed. It's very easy for people to brush off Nella's rivalry as mostly in her head because the most nefarious thing she does for much of the book involves backing a racist portrayal in a book.

There are other POVs that are scattered throughout the novel but sometimes they distracted from the plot more than they added. I could see how she was trying to add to the foundation of the big twist but there was one I felt added nothing beyond their initial appearance. So I felt that part could've been either cut or expanded upon more.

Do I think this book is going to shake publishing up? Not really. Nothing in here was anything new from what people have been saying about the lack of diversity in publishing for years. The white powers that be are well aware of the power they hold against us. They have no qualms over pitting marginalized people against each other. And if you pay close attention even to the books you read you can see where they decide there can only be one even among authors they decide to elevate. I think people in publishing will enjoy this because it speaks to what they've been talking about for years. Plus they can relate to the all white environment and wishing their white coworkers could acknowledge them as Black people.

I see this story as a precautionary tale about how Black woman have to change themselves and go against their own to become leaders in a very white workplace as well as a precautionary tale to parents who think moving their kids to an all white environment is the best for them. This is an examination of how damaging it can be to grow up disconnected from your culture. To the point where you need to prove yourself to people who don't care and won't ever care. As the late great Toni Morrison said, “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being." 

I actually do think Nella as a character could open up some interesting conversations about how we connect to the Black community and hold on to negative experiences. Her type is rare to see as a lead but I'm sure some of us have known women like her or been that woman. There are a lot of Black girls like her who don't feel like they fit in and will see themselves in her. And maybe it can open up some good discussions.

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! While Justice Sleeps is probably one of the most anticipated books of 2021. Like many of you I became familiar with Stacey Abrams during election season. Although I really still don't know much about her other than she's a former romance author and a voter's rights activist. While thriller isn't my favorite genre I have enjoyed some in the past. So I was happy to receive an arc from Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.

Avery is a clerk working for Justice Howard Wynn, who is the swing vote on many high profile cases. After an erratic event Justice Wynn overdoses and falls into a coma. Avery is shocked to learn he has appointed her as his power of attorney over both his son and ex wife even though they don't have a close relationship. She's already dealing with the resurgence of a drug addicted mother demanding cash and as she soon discovers there are a lot of people who want Howard Wynn dead before the end of his term and they don't mind taking her out in the process. Teaming up with his son Jared and his lawyer Nick she must put together the cryptic clues he left behind about his research on a foreign genetics company with nefarious ties.

This is my first legal thriller so I wasn't sure what to expect. I've read thriller that has a bit of a political angle to it before but while my previous reads scratched the surface this one dove right in. There's critique of the President, Supreme Court, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI as readers are introduced to characters from each branch. There's so many characters and moving pieces that it's a little hard to keep everyone straight but it makes for a compelling ride. 

Stacey Abrams makes good use of  her background in politics and much like she had to step up in her fight against voter suppression, Avery finds herself stepping up against some of the most powerful men in the country. Avery's eidetic memory and love of analyzing problems helps her solve the living game of chess she now finds herself a pawn in. While Avery's biracial heritage is a part of who she is it's not incidental to the plot so there's little commentary on it and it's not something you pick up on right away. 

This story is written in 3rd person and the reader gets a peek into the mind of every player who affects the story whether small or large. One minute you'll be reading about Avery's thoughts the next you'll jump into the mind of one of her adversaries. And the judge leaves very cryptic clues behind about the information powerful people prevented him from exposing. It was almost like an action movie or a tv show in that way.

Though some of the more political and scientific jargon required me to read closely and some of it went over my head it didn't hinder my enjoyment. I thought much of it was explained well without overexplaining and bogging down the story. I also enjoyed the look at the US government on both sides of the aisle and America's love of having a stronghold in international affairs. If I were Avery I would've abandoned from the moment the threats started but her loyalty, attachment to the judge as a pseudo father-figure, and genuine curiosity keep her from backing down even as the events wear on her and the leads become literal dead-ends. Despite Abram's past as a romance novelist don't expect a romantic suspense story here. With everything going on there's just not much time for loving. 

Daughters of Jubiliation by Kara Lee Corthron

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I switched gears from romance back to fantasy to read this book which has intrigued me since I saw the cover months ago.  So I reached out to Simon Schuster for an advanced review copy.

Now some people might read the synopsis and see Jim Crow and be intimidated. White supremacy may be ever present but that doesn't mean there's an absence of Black joy. I love the refreshing approach to 60s South Carolina summer filled with summer love and family. Our main character Evalene speaks in a Southern dialect that flows naturally. 

Evvie is navigating first love and growing into her own as a woman all while trying to understand her ever growing magical abilities. Her mother sees their gift of jubilation as a curse on their bloodline but Evvie just wants to understand their powers. Evvie is at times impulsive and when it comes to protecting her family and friends she's ready to leap into action. But why does she have trouble using her powers of jube around her new boyfriend Clay? 

Her mother takes her to see her grandmother tell help her control her abilities. Now Grammie Atti is seen as the town crazy woman who is rumored to have killed her husband. Her sharp tongue holds nothing back and she's determined to whip her granddaughter into shape. She's strict but loving and supportive all the same.

I loved the uniqueness of the magic too. Who wouldn't try and use their magic to prevent pregnancy or speed up their period? Not that magic is 100% effective in either situation which is a lesson for Evvie to learn. As as her momma tells her jube can't keep the clap away.

I feel like when we talk about Black people in the 1960s images come to mind about us fighting for our rights during the Civil Rights Movement. But this wasn't just a time of marching. Black people were tearing up the music charts with Motown Records cranking out your favorite classics. And I love that those vibes could be included in this story as well. One of my favorite scenes was the Juneteenth cook out scene. 

Evvie has twin kid sisters who are bright lights and balance out the family dynamic. Typical little sisters they're annoying one minute and too cute the next. 

And she has dreams too. She loves reading and she loves watching the stars. Secretly she dreams of being an astronomer even though the thought she so far fetched. 

There is some darkness in this book which includes violence from white supremists, racist slurs, physical abuse, and sexual assault. Evvie is battling an old foe who has made a return and threatens to spoil her happiness. Though a survival story it never felt draining or completely hopeless. 

This was truly a beautiful book that felt like a book teens could read that wasn't actively trying just for the adult audience like many YA fantasies. And the dark realities in this story are written in a way that is easy to comprehend without being overly traumatizing. Evvie is relatable, unfortunately the struggles she and her family go through are familiar, and there's a persistent theme of hope. 

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall

 

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'm back in the office and busier than ever lately which hasn't left a lot of time for reading. I wanted to read a mystery by a Black author and this mystery was different from the usual cozy mysteries I pick up. This reads more like a procedural too and it's been a few months since I've read one.

This one was a hard for me to get into. It's full of flashbacks and metaphors which sometimes caused me to miss what I read and I had to go back and re-read. The pacing was also slow and I was expecting something more fast paced. Plus I found myself detached from most of the characters. I don't necessarily need to relate anyone in a story but I do need to find them entertaining enough to spend several pages with.

This story follows PI Grayson(Gray) Sykes who is a PI on her first solo case. She's already stumbling through it when she finds herself relating to the missing woman Isabel Lincoln in several ways. This case brings up many horrible haunting memories for her that she's been trying to escape ever since rebuilding her life after leaving an abusive relationship. The threat of her ex is always looming over her as he still tries to She early on projects much of herself onto Isabel. And she's not the most prepared PI since she meets with her client without being ready to take notes, where's very bright colors on stakeouts, and makes careless mistakes. Just when you think you understand how this book is going to go it takes an unexpected twist.

I wish this book would've cut down on some of the descriptions of everything Gray ate and drank. She also suffers from chronic pain and at times feels like her body will shut down. This is depicted with several mentions of  her popping pills followed by her downing alcohol to try and dull her internal pain. I know authors do that to build up atmosphere but it tends to be repetitive after the umpteenth time it happens. At times the plot was too slow moving and contained some filler which I'm not a fan of in mysteries. 

For me the book didn't start to really pick up until after the 60% mark. After that I found the pacing to be steady and the action was continuous. Though that manic anxious feeling present throughout the story still remained. 

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I'm back with another review and this time I decided to read something different and pick up a suspense book. First I'd like to thank William Morrow/ HarperCollins Publishers for sending me this book for review. 

I was excited to read this book. So many people gave it much praise and claimed I just had to read it. And the premise was so interesting. A thriller tackling gentrification in Brooklyn sounded like a fun read. The beginning is slow. So slow I thought I was going to put it down at one point as I was several chapters in and felt no connection to the dual leads or minor characters. And the leads had similar voices at first that I didn't realize it was dual perspective until Chapter 3 and had to go back and reread.  So our female lead is Sydney, a Black woman who not long ago moved back to the neighborhood fresh from a divorce. The male lead is Theo a white guy who recently moved into the neighborhood with his girlfriend after buying a house together before shit hit the fan in their relationship. 

The pacing for this story was very odd. I don't read a lot of thrillers but I came into this expecting something more thrilling. I wanted a more steady pace that kept my heart pumping. Nothing happened for the first 30% and then it would stop and start going forward before the very last portion of the story where the events were kicked into overdrive.

And if you aren't also a fan of romantic suspense then this isn't for you. I don't mind romantic suspense but I find that the romance part often takes over the suspense part. This book would have some interesting tidbits but then the romance would take place. And I felt nothing for the romance. Why is a book where we spend so much time talking about the evil white people gentrifying the neighborhood, does our leading lady fall for the somewhat naive white guy gentrifying the neighborhood? Oh, but he's not like those caricature white folks in the neighborhood. He's not super woke but he's eager to learn! There's was also a very detailed sex scene that would've been very sensual for a romance but felt too in depth for this story especially after the big reveal that happened prior. Why must we always shoehorn interracial forbidden romance into our stories?

I will give Alyssa Cole her props for doing a lot of research on the history of Brooklyn and how Black people were forced out of the neighborhoods during different periods of history. Unfortunately at times it felt more like a history lesson and very heavy handed. Some light history was needed and helps build the background of the story. Plus that was time we could have instead gotten familiar with the current Black residents of Gifford Place. I didn't really care as they were pushed out of the neighborhood because Sydney barely felt close to them herself. I don't need to like the characters in a book to enjoy it but I do need to feel some form of attachment. 

I liked how the discussions from the neighborhood app OurHood were inserted. The conversations on there were the only time I really felt a sense of community. And many neighborhoods that white folks inhabit including my own though I've never checked it out do have those apps. Because even the rare times they came together as neighbors it didn't feel like they were truly close knit.

The white villains were caricatures who were so blatantly obvious with their intentions it was eye rolling. Central Park Karen um I mean Kim was too much too soon and she set the tone for the evil white folks we would encounter in this story. And the last section of the book started feeling really dystopian to me which while entertaining was odd because that wasn't the tone throughout. 

I really do think this had potential to be a great story befitting of all the rave reviews but it didn't quite come together for me the way I would've liked. It was a decent first attempt at romantic suspense for Alyssa Cole and I wish it would've been marketed that way to set expectations.