bahareads's Reviews (1.09k)

grad school reads - no thoughts just vibes.

This was the most dramatic Bridgerton book. I enjoyed it a lot but Gregory was my least favourite Bridgerton I think. 

I adore Bahamian poets. deGregory's work is a mix of historical, cultural and personal poems. Her style creates a great narrative and the sectional nature of the book had a great flow. The elements of history, especially HBCU history, really stuck out to me. I do not know much about HBCUs for the most part, so this helped inform me. This poetry is healing to the Black soul and a place to let emotions be felt and heard. deGregory made me cry on a few of poems. The emotion behind these could be felt by readers. 

My favourites were 
You've Covered Me in Love 
Marguerite
Lord, You are Good
Aityi, May God Exalt You
'Twas the Night before Dorien
Empty Vessels
If America Is Waiting On the Souls of Black Folks to Save It, It Will Die
Dear New Orleans
Where There Were Once Five 
The Women

Another cute Bridgerton book; Hyacinth was not my favorite character but I loved the mystery and drama in this book. I did love the tension between Gareth and Hyacinth; the romance had a nice build up.

Everything Inside was so melancholy! It is crazy how the different themes of each story all kind of bound up inside each other. fear, shame, and pride were big themes. I'm pretty sure I read "Good Old Days" in another book or online somewhere. The Marriage Special ending had me in TEARS. Danticat knows had to end a story in a sorrowful way. Danticat work usually has a melancholy edge to it but these stories seemed so much sadder than usual. One thing I appreciate about Danticat's work is she is able to do a LOT with a short story.

I buddy read this with a GR friend and we had some very interesting commentary to give each other.

JHP is a great writer; her narrative and flow kept me intrigued all the way through the book. The timeline was a bit fuzzy during some narrative parts which had me confused. Gay Girl, Good God is a mix of a memoir and a 'Christian living' book. JHP talks about her own experiences and relates them to how other same-sex attracted (her term) people should see themselves in the world and live their lives. She relates everything back to her idea of a Holy God and how nothing sinful (this coving everything) can be in his presence and in communion with him. I love JHP emphasis on holiness because it makes me evaluate my own life. The reviews on GR about this book are very very mixed and I think it'd be a good idea to go through them and get a taste of what other people thought about this book more in-depth

This Bridgerton book was definitely up there in the tension between the two characters. I'll say for the first time in this series, I was not impressed with the female main character. Francesca annoyed me multiple times throughout the narrative. I know she was just suppressing her feelings but COME NOW. I wish the ending was not as rushed. Michael let his guilty feelings go mid-way through the book while Francesca was guilty UNTIL the last two chapters... I wanted some time for her to bask in her feelings for Michael. I did not like the second epilogue. I did not like how Francesca told no one she was pregnant. I mean I'm happy for her but I thought it was unrealistic (coming from a big family myself - even though I know they emphasise that she likes to be separate from her family.)

As always I enjoyed this Bridgerton book, but this time I felt rushed. The timeline once Eloise meets Philip is so so short, how do you have enough time to fall in love or even do anything?? Also why do all the male characters feel the need to show they are "compatible" by making the female leads org*sm; literally that is nothing special. To be honest out of all the characters so far in the Bridgerton series Phillip is my least favourite. I have nothing against him but he did not stand out, his personality is giving wet cardboard. I did enjoy the romance though

This wasn't the book for me; I couldn't keep myself interested. 

This so far has been my favourite book of the HP series. You can see how the entire cast has grown as people. I will admit Hermoine did annoy EVEN me with adamant things on SPEW. I think it was because Harry's view of her was annoyance so that caused me to be annoyed as well. The ending was amazing; it brought about a myriad of emotions. The violence (iykyk) made me tear up. It set in motion the plot for the other books, and it made me very tense. I can't wait to see the relationship between Hermione and Ron. I LOVE Mrs Weasley!! She's so hilarious. I feel bad for Krum on the relationship level.