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.