aliciaclarereads's Reviews (1.25k)

This was a really well written look into race relations in Britain. I know basically nothing about how British politics work, or really anything about British history, but Reni Eddo-Lodge still makes this work really accessible. In fact, she uses a lot of examples from American politics and race relations to use as a lens for similar situations in Britain. She covers a lot in this book, which each chapter digging into different aspects of race. I like the chapter on race & feminism and the chapter on white privilege. I feel like they are a perfect length to give a broad overview but also digs into specific stories. Eddo-Lodge also clearly did her research because she has a lot of facts and statistics at the ready to quote.

I think this book is perfect to hand to white people who need to sit down and listen to the perspective of a black woman.

I didn't know if a historical romance set during the Civil War would appeal to me, but Alyssa Cole totally won me over with this story. The story was fast paced and exciting; Elle and Malcolm were an excellent couple. Cole's writing was so engaging, and I'm really looking forward to reading more by her!

read for Popsugar 2018 Challenge: a book that's published in 2018

This book was VERY CUTE. Meeting in a broken elevator and agreeing to fake a relationship is the kind of perfectly ridiculous situations that make me adore romance novels. This book was full of cheesy sentiments, goofy teasing from the friends, and really great sex scenes. Perfect evidence that consent and discussion about one's professional ambitions and privileges (specifically white male privilege) can be sexy. Also I don't even like doughnuts, but this book really made me want one.

"I have my mother's mouth and my father's eyes; on my face they are still together."

This collection has some absolutely gorgeous language. Conversations About Home (at the Deportation Centre) is, in particular, stunning.

read for Popsugar 2018 challenge: a book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist

I'm thinking tumblr poetry is just not for me. I just read [b:Milk and Honey|23513349|Milk and Honey|Rupi Kaur|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491595510s/23513349.jpg|43116473] by Rupi Kaur, and I was actually expecting to like this more than milk and honey, especially given the title's implications that there would be a lot of fairytale imagery in this collection. Unfortunately, reading this collection felt like a flashback to my high school's literary club, because these poems felt so juvenile.

if you
don't want to
end up in
someone else's
poem,

then maybe
you should
start
treating
people
better
for
a
change
-an unapologetic poet

I actually laughed out loud at this one. This is just like the poems people wrote in high school about their crush who didn't like them back! I don't know how much harder I could have rolled my eyes.

You can write good short poems. You can still pack a punch in a short poem. This collection does not do that. Many of these poems are really just sentences with a word per line. The titles are overly explanatory. The fairytale imagery is nearly non existence. There's a lot of heavy themes in this book with regard to emotional abuse, eating disorders, and grief, but none of the poems seemed to say anything complex about these subjects. Everything was so surface level and you couldn't dig more into it. Sure the last section has feminist themes, but it's not even slightly nuanced. Like yes, I agree rape culture is bad, but you wrote a sentence more than a poem.

If I were to take these poems autobiographically, which I feel as though they are intended that way, then I'm deeply sorry for the things Amanda Lovelace has faced in her life. It's great that she can you poetry as a way to process her emotions. But unfortunately her style is just not for me.

I did want to share the one poem that packed a punch for me:

grief
clung to
her
like an
old,
itchy,
faded,
ill-fitting,
hand-me-down
dress.

(Typing that out and hitting enter so much was really annoying)

read for Popsugar 2018 challenge: a book mentioned in another book

WOW I LOVED THIS. I stumbled across the BBC mini series of this years ago and fell in love, so I'm glad I finally read its source material. There's so much in this novel. Gaskell explores social critique, industrialization, religion, familial relationships, grief, and more. But the heart of this novel is Margaret Hale and John Thornton and their romance. There's tension between the two of them from the moment they meet as they represent two very different worlds colliding. There's so much angst and longing between the two of them that I squealed many, many times. (John Thornton has the the template for so many of Lisa Kleypas's brooding angsty well-made historical romance heroes) The two grow and adapt throughout the novel and the ending is EXCELLENT pay off.

Also shoutout to Juliet Stevenson who was an AMAZING narrator. She added a whole extra level of enjoyment to this.

Probably my least favorite in the series (I wasn't as invested in Sophos), but wow do I still love Eugenides and Attolia.

I'm also so intrigued by the use of names in this book. It's deeply fascinating.

WOW I devoured this book. I loved it and cannot wait to get more and more of this world.