ashliesydel's Reviews (1.54k)

 This poetry/story collection examines the generational acceptance of sexually abusing young girls and women and the impact it has one them. 

The author dares step outside of cultural/social expectation of women and demands body autonomy. 

This was a heavy read. It hurt my heart but also made me smile. Statically 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted/raped in their lifetime. 

That number fluctuates with race, class, religion, and region. The author is South Asian, and she address her demographic as well as Femicide. 

I found this collection to be educational and empowering.  I would Highly Recommend WITH Trigger Warnings. 

 This story collection was dark and heavy. It reminded me of the indie movie Thirteen but included the aftermath into adulthood.

These were stories that followed a young girl who immigrated from Africa to a Canada and struggled to fit in and feel accepted by both her family and society.

At first, we see how she is influenced by a friend who comes from a broken home to use her body to gain favor and money. The two girls see nothing wrong with showing skin and putting on a show to get what they want. This escalates into their teens when her friend breaks away from the safety of the two and starts to entertain adult men.

Another story involves a horrible incident in school where our girl's rose-colored glasses are broken after witnessing and being pulled into disgusting treatment of another black classmate. From there we have the death of a father who was emotionally absent and the dismissal of her mother.

We then jump to adulthood where our girl is using her body as a tool to survive, and it is like watching an interview on the Soft White Underbelly.

The final stories end with our girl in her twenties. She's no longer engaging in sex work, but she doesn't value herself either, allowing predatory men to take advantage of her co-dependency and need for validation.

This is a beautifully written book that will leave you on the edge of your seat. It's provocative, dark, and introspective.

The path that our FMC went down is one that many young girls have experienced in one way or another. Environment and influence in your formative years can make all the difference.

Hate to use it as an example but go watch the music video for How to Love by Lil Wayne. It would be on the soundtrack for this book.

Highly Recommend but will stress it's an uncomfortable read and likely for those who got all the references I used above, those who have lived that life or been down the path of devaluing yourself or growing up being made 

 Girl Blerds this one if for you!!!

If you follow my reviews, then you know I'm currently in my Crescent Falls Era. This is a shared world that focuses on members of a predominately black community that is rich in entertainment, business, family values, community, and sprinkled with crime families.

In several of the books I've already read, our girl Nyla has been mentioned as the premiere barber in town. I was too excited to finally meet her and read her story. Ya'll her entire persona and aesthetic instantly made me fall in love with her.

She's the perfect of hard and soft. I've met several women like her and have always found them fascinating. Nyla is what Cardi B would call an emotional gangster. Nyla has short hair with shaved sides, rocks sneakers, watches anime, loves ramen, and hustles non-stop to grow her bag and word towards achieving her goals. She does this with minimal support as she was a ward of the state and has no family. Just coworkers and one bestie that she met as an adult.

Aarick was a fun change from the street MMCs I've been reading. He's the white-collar VP of the local Credit Union which is where he met Nyla and developed a little crush on her. OMG it was soo cute seeing his coworkers and employees shipping them before he even made a move.

When a move is made, our boy is very frank about his intentions. I loved all his romantic gestures, his patience, understanding, and desire to give Nyla the world. He wanted to replace all her bad with good and I was here for it.

At first glance these two look like opposites but the more time they spend the more we see Aarick outside the bank and in his natural element, we see how perfect they are for one another.

Trigger Warning: There is a subplot regarding a parent with substance abuse and it was heartbreaking to how it affects their loved ones.

I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it as it's a beautiful feel-good stand alone.

(SIDE RANT/SPOILE: While in the foster care system, our girl was mistreated by someone with the last name Mitchell and while Alexandria House is NOT part of the CF Universe and this is a reach, when I heard the last name Mitchell, I immediately saw red and thought of Omar Mitchell. Check out Alexandria's Them Boys trilogy to learn more about why the last name triggered me. ) 

 Not me on my Crescent Falls journey trying to focus on the backlog ONLY to be sucked in by the reviews and fan visuals of this book. Add in the fact that both the main characters are directly related to Gideon Powers (One Eighty by Charity Shane) and Solomon Tate (All The Smoke by T'Lyn) and your girl couldn't stop herself from reaching for this.

Ya'll Noah Tate is NOT like any other man I have read about in the Crescent Falls universe. He's a man of faith and not just in word. He doesn't cuss, drink, or get loud. He is a family man, kind, and selfless. This man is like Will Smith 2.0. (But in his prime, better looking, and without that weird shit) But don't get it twisted he will lay you out if you push. Oh, he's also a virgin... Had our girl all discombobulated lol

Alana Powers is the only child of Lucas Powers the owner of Powers Construction. She's set to inherit the company after her father retires but like her cousin Gideon, her dad has mad it known he's only handing the company over if she's married and has a husband to help her run said company. (I know super old school misogynistic right?? But explained and written in a way that you kind of aren't mad at this, because ultimately both dads just want their kids to learn work life balance. it's weird but I rock with it)

From the very first moment these two meet there is chemistry. We have a few chapters of our girl running from it but in the end all it takes is a prayer to provide clarity. I loved this couple so much. I was rooting for them every step of the way.

Alana loved her man and let it be known that he would NOT be disrespected by anyone. Despite having an amazing bond with his brother and nephews, our boy had parental conflict and fall out, but the Powers welcomed him with open arms, and he was given one hell of an upgrade.

This is a feel-good book. Heavy on the emotion and sweetness. As I stated Noah is a man of God so attending church as an active participant, praying, and quoting scriptures were all up in this book. It was unexpected but it was beautifully done and was on brand from our boy.

I've been very vocal about my aversion to Christian Romance and I'm here to tell you this is NOT a Christian Romance. If you are reading this and thinking that the religious underlining is a turn off, I'm here to tell you it's not that serious. Noah is his authentic self with no interest in changing or converting anyone. Alana drinks, cusses, acts up, and again does not play about her man.

This story made me rethink my hesitance to reading characters who are deeply rooted in faith.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND 

 I am reading these Crescent Falls books out of order but so far, I have not seen any harm in doing so.

I first met Smoke in his big brother Noah's book (A Blueprint of Love by T'Lyn) and I he was soo fun. The complete opposite of his uber cool and calm brother.

Smoke is outspoken, quit to check someone for any minor disrespect, but like his brother he's a big family man, an attentive and loving father and partner.

In Noah's book, Kaori and Noah had a special bond. She was supportive, fun, and loving. However, she like her man had no issues checking people and throwing hands. The first time she did it I was caught off guard because it was so unexpected. So of course I had to know more about this couple.

Imagine my shock when their story starts off with our girl being in jail for fighting!!! I feel in love with her even more. Our girl is the daughter of TWO street legends. Her parents make the founding families of Crescent Falls look small time. I loved them so much.

Kaori meets Smoke when he brings his son to the dentist. They cross paths a few more times before a move is made. And wow let me tell ya'll it's bold af.

This is definitely a he fell first situation because our girl is rightfully focused on herself. Her early interactions with Smoke had me rolling. I love it when a woman throws a man off his game and gets him in his feelings. But once he got his in, there was no stopping him. Pretty sure he has a pleasure kink lol. Overall, they are an adorable couple and knowing their story helped elevate Noah's story as it provided additional foundation of how shitty their parents are, how much Smoke AND Kaori did for him, and the support he had behind him.

The Tate Brothers and the Randalls instantly became one of my favorite families in Crescent Falls and I look forward to seeing more of them in future books. 

 This was a quick, relatable, feel-good read. A'ja presents several personal stories that helped build her character and strength while dealing with societal pressure and overcoming adversity. She stresses the importance of mental health and seeking professional help, normalizing expressing all emotions out loud and without shame and protecting our peace.

This is NOT a self-help book or a book of answers. This is just a wonderfully accomplished woman being her authentic self and encouraging others to do the same. 

 Please add making love in a butterfly enclosure to my bucket list please and thank you.

Ya'll when I say this this was juicy, know that I am not over exaggerating. Carter came back for his woman, and he put it all on the line. Even tapped into his soft side and made some incredibly humble romantic gestures. I loved when he did soft stuff because it was soo over the top and he was so shy about it. It was too cute.

Anyways let's get into the plot. When we met Carter, he was an assassin who had been shot while on a job. He hooks up with our girl, they have an amazing connection however due to complications he has to walk away. I was heartbroken.

In this next installment, Carter learns that the complications can't be avoided so he does the only logical thing which is to go get his woman and protect her by any means necessary. This includes going from a solo operation to partnering with a new to me crime family.

I'm just now tackling the Crescent Falls books so I'm not sure if Kohen and his sons had been mentioned before but this was my first introduction to them, and it did not disappoint. I'm obsessed with this family and demand a trilogy for the sons and give my boy Brooks a story while we at it lol.

Seriously, I love seeing the interconnectedness of the different lives within CF be it the families that are part of the collective who have seats at the table, or college students who like to roller skate and have sweet love stories. I'm telling ya'll if you have not tapped into this world, you are missing out.

Back to my man Carter and Miss. McKenna. The theme of this couple was protecting one another. Carter wanted to protect her body and she wanted to protect his mind. Together they were the keeper of each other's hearts.

The reveal of Carter's past and his journey to confront the wrongs that had been done was top tier. The Angels of Death have my interested peeked and I'm finna need an omibus written on them. Please & Thank You.

Overall, I loved this couple. Carter brought so much emotion, intrigue, and depth into the Crescent Falls word and McKenna was likable and relatable. She was very human in her movements, concerns, and decisions.

Her mama pissed me off though. No spoilers but how you gonna be hung up on that doctor and give him all kinds of passes but treat my man some kind of way when he's willing to lay his life on the line for Kenni??? Make it make sense. Her dad is cool af though.

One last thing, for my Omari lovers we get to peek one of the brothers and their wife.

I highly recommend this read for anyone that likes suspenseful romance, lots of spice, stubborn protective men, and organized crime. 

 Cliffhanger! PLEASE tell me that it did not end the way it did and that this is just a lil cliffhanger and an HEA is in the works.

After being woken up in the middle of the night to care for a strange man's gunshot wound, McKenna Smith finds herself held hostage for the next few days.

The chemistry between McKenna and Carter is cute. She wants soo badly to hate him and his circumstances but instead she finds herself catching feelings and riding his dick.

I was rooting for them, but things are complicated.